Nathaniel Gurien: New Hampshire's 'cannabis carry license'

Six years ago, when the first of the current seven medical cannabis dispensaries opened, New Hampshire law was so restrictive that one literally had to be suffering from serious, debilitating or terminal illness to qualify for the Therapeutic Cannabis Program. As a result, very few NH residents qualified.

Over the past couple years, despite opposition from regressive "law and order" policymakers, our legislators nonetheless managed to broaden qualifying medical conditions to include chronic pain, generalized anxiety, and any condition any medical provider certifies that cannabis would provide more benefit than harm.

Also, NH therapeutic cannabis law now allows patient certification by any medical provider in New Hampshire and surrounding states who can prescribe drugs to humans, including physicians, advanced practice registered nurses, psychiatrists, physician assistants, dentists, podiatrists, optometrists and naturopathic doctors, for up to three years initially, and then another three years' renewal.

This effectively legalizes personal cannabis possession, consumption and transport for nearly all New Hampshire residents.

Bear in mind that driving a motor vehicle on public roads is legal in New Hampshire — so long as you have a driver’s license. Similarly, possession and consumption of cannabis is now legal in New Hampshire — so long as you have a medical patient card, which is easier than ever to qualify for.

For example, you’ll now qualify as a patient if you experience chronic anxiety, constantly worrying about whether you’ll get arrested, and feeling like you’re always looking over your shoulder, for which being a registered patient would provide effective relief.

Unfortunately, most NH residents are unaware of any of this, because the dispensaries are prohibited from advertising of any kind, even including displaying an image of cannabis outside their premises or using the words cannabis or marijuana on their road sign unless their legal name includes those words. In fact, one licensee recently changed their legal name to include the word “cannabis” so they could display it on their signage. As a result, only roughly 1% of our population are registered patients, while over 70% are in favor of legalization according to this year’s University of New Hampshire poll.

Although an initial in-person visit with a medical provider is still required, New Hampshire medical cannabis dispensaries now offer all new patients a $200 discount program that can offset your certification cost. And if you don’t have a doctor to provide certification, the website nhcannabis.org has an inexpensive provider referral service.

Cannabis possession remains illegal under federal law, as is cannabis users purchasing and possessing firearms, or using alcohol, cannabis or other drugs while on the job in industries regulated by U.S. Department of Transportation and Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

However, federal law prohibits the U.S. Department of Justice, including the FBI, DEA, and ATF, from interfering with state medical cannabis programs. NH Sen. Keith Murphy (R-Manchester) and state Rep. Tom Mannion (R-Pelham) are each introducing legislation in their respective chambers this year which states: “Registered New Hampshire cannabis patients who use, distribute, possess or cultivate medical marijuana under New Hampshire’s therapeutic cannabis program (TCP) may purchase, possess and transfer firearms in accordance with New Hampshire law.”

Since the aforementioned "law and order" opponents of liberalizing NH cannabis laws would be committing political suicide opposing protection of our residents’ constitutionally protected 2nd Amendment rights, once this measure becomes law next year, cannabis users holding a valid patient card would effectively be immune from state or federal prosecution for both cannabis possession and the purchase, transfer or possession of firearms as a cannabis user.

So, it’s now more appropriate to think of the medical patient card as an easy-to-obtain cannabis carry license.

Regarding the U.S. DOT and OSHA issue, no reasonable person would advocate for drug or alcohol use on the job, especially in those instances of operating commercial vehicles, heavy machinery, construction, et. al. And those workers are routinely and properly subjected to mandatory drug and alcohol testing. On the other hand, no one would reasonably prohibit a worker from spending Friday night at a bar, then reporting for work sober on Monday. Yet the obsolete blood or urine test still used for cannabis does exactly that. Several companies such as houndlabs.com and cannabixtechnologies.com now offer reliable cannabis breathalyzer sobriety tests that will produce negative results a couple days later.

Persuading DOT and OSHA testing facilities to adopt this more accurate and equitable technology would relieve the current injustice, especially for patients for whom cannabis is a more effective treatment than pharmaceuticals with often unwelcome side effects.

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Nathaniel Gurien lives in Sandwich and is executive director of the New Hampshire Cannabis Party. He can be reached at nathaniel@nhcannabis.org.