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Updated on January 7, 2019. Medical content reviewed by Dr. Richard Koffler, MD, Board Certified Physiatrist
In the summer of 2013, New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan, signed and enacted into legislation, a medical marijuana measure that’s intended purpose is to legalize the medicinal use of cannabis. The measure’s language contains the framework for a program that would allow physicians to legally provide relief to qualifying patients, through the use of an appropriately regulated and dispensed medical marijuana program.
Under the language of the approved measure, patients can qualify for medical marijuana under the state-guideline listed conditions that feature thirteen varying conditions. Conditions must “significantly” interfere with a patient’s daily activities as documented by their medical practitioner.
Patients in New Hampshire diagnosed with one of the following severe, debilitating, or life-threatening medical conditions, are afforded legal protection under the New Hampshire Medical Marijuana law, as per House Bill 573:
or one or more injuries that significantly interferes with a patient’s daily activities as documented by the patient’s licensed medical practitioner.
Patients may also qualify for medical marijuana if they suffer from a severely debilitating or terminal medical condition or its treatment that has produced at least one of the following negative side effects:
New Qualifying Condition signed into Law by Gov. Sununu
Patients can then submit a paper application to the Department of Health and Human Services to qualify for medical marijuana.
Some medical marijuana patients will claim they have a doctor’s prescription for medical marijuana, but marijuana prescriptions are in fact illegal. The federal government classifies marijuana as a schedule I drug. Therefore doctors are unable to prescribe marijuana to their patients, and medical marijuana patients cannot go to a pharmacy to fill a prescription for medical marijuana. Instead, medical marijuana doctors in New Hampshire will supply patients with a medical marijuana recommendation in compliance with state law.
According to New Hampshire medical marijuana laws, the maximum amount “a qualifying patient shall obtain, is no more than 2 ounces of usable cannabis, either directly or through the qualifying patient’s designated caregiver, during a 10-day period.” Registered patients may NOT possess more than two (2) ounces of usable cannabis, at any one time.
Patients who meet medical marijuana qualifications in New Hampshire were encouraged in April 2017, when the state Senate passed legislation to expand the state’s medical cannabis program. The bill would add a group of conditions known as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) to the list of qualifying conditions. EDS includes disorders that affect the connective tissue, resulting in soft, velvet-like skin that is extremely fragile. In addition, patients typically suffer from joint instability and are at a high risk for dislocations of joints such as the hips and several others.
In March 2017, the New Hampshire House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to change New Hampshire medical marijuana qualifications and decriminalize possession of no more than a half an ounce of weed. The measure, which passed by a 318-26 margin, would make possession of this amount more akin to a civil infraction, much like a traffic ticket.
MarijuanaDoctors.com provides regular updates on cannabis-related news concerning New Hampshire and the rest of the U.S. on a regular basis. We also provide a great deal of helpful information, such as how to obtain a medical marijuana card in the state. Check back with us often so you can stay as well informed as possible regarding the extremely important issue of medical cannabis.
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