Legalizing Weed: 4 Quotes From Lawmakers After Medical Marijuana Became Legal in New Hampshire

New Hampshire legislators approved the state’s medical marijuana law in 2013, paving the way for implementation in 2015 after the state health department completes the rule making process.

In order to be protected from prosecution, patients must carry an identification card issued by the program. Cards are acquired after physicians sign off on the paperwork required. According to the Medical Marijuana Policy Project, patients can acquire up to two ounces of legal weed every 10 days.

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Here's what lawmakers are saying:

1. Lawmakers are going to seek guidance from other states that have legalized medical marijuana, the Concord Monitor reported.

“A lot of other states now have implemented this, so there’s somewhere to look for direction,” said Sen. John Reagan, a Deerfield Republican. “We don’t have to invent the wheel. We just have to pick out the segments of the wheel that already exist to do what we want to do.”

2. The medical marijuana law created a council to oversee the program’s implementation, according to the Concord Monitor.

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“When we did the committee of conference, I pretty much had to give in on the home grow and the PTSD out of concern about a veto,” said Rep. Jim MacKay, a Concord Democrat and chairman of the House Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee. “But in doing that, I said the Senate had to join with us to make it a priority to get this committee started, and they agreed with us.”

3. Nearly 60 percent of New Hampshire’s population is in favor of legalizing weed, a figure Rep. Adam Schroadter considered when he introduced his decriminalization bill to the House of Representatives earlier this year, Aljazeera America reported.

“New Hampshire is a grassroots state," he said. "People here are very politically aware. I think people just see (decriminalization) as common sense."

4. The medical marijuana bill was signed by Gov. Maggie Hassan in July 2013, Rt.com reported. She issued the following statement:

“Allowing doctors to provide relief to patients through the use of appropriately regulated and dispensed medical marijuana is the compassionate and right policy for the state of New Hampshire, and this legislation ensures that we approach this policy in the right way with measures to prevent abuse.”

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