By Sarah Rae Fruchtnicht
Former Libertarian candidate for Congress Hardy Macia, who suffers from Hodgkin’s lymphoma, recorded a personal plea to New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan to pass the medical marijuana bill.
Macia said he supported medical marijuana for the last decade, initially because of a cousin who became quadriplegic after a car accident. “Coming down with cancer was not something on my radar at all,” said Macia, who became ill in August.
The state Senate already altered its current medical marijuana proposal to gain the approval of the democratic governor. The revised version of the bill will ban the use of homegrown plants, lengthen the amount of time before marijuana dispensaries can begin operating, and eliminate post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a qualifying condition.
In the video, Macia accuses Hassan of “balking at passing this medical marijuana bill, just because a bunch of police union chiefs are getting up your crotch about it.”
Hassan formerly supported the previous bill four years ago when she was senator, accordingto New Hampshire Public Radio.
Matt Simon of the marijuana policy project was disappointed with the changes to the bill. “We were confident that when [Hassan] met the patients and heard what their needs were that she would be convinced to support this, at least on a short-term basis, and it was shocking and disappointing that the answer was no.”
“Let the patients grow their three plants,” Macia said. “It’s not going to affect the market share of marijuana on the market here in New Hampshire because people can get it regardless … think about the people, think about the patients, ignore the police unions. You really need to do this for the state.”
Macia, who has a collapsed lung, sometimes uses edible marijuana to sleep.
Full Article:
http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/drug-law/cancer-patient-and-former-congressional-candidate-hardy-macia-makes-plea-nh-gov