New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) has signed into a law a major medical marijuana expansion bill that will allow doctors to recommend cannabis for any debilitating condition they believe it would improve. Previously, patients needed to be diagnosed with certain specific conditions to qualify for legal marijuana access.
“This is BIG,” Rep. Wendy Thomas (D), sponsor of the newly signed HB 1278, said in an email to Marijuana Moment. “It opens up the therapeutic program to ANY person who has a debilitating or terminal illness.”
Thomas, a cancer survivor and medical marijuana patient herself, told colleagues at a committee hearing earlier this year that cannabis has helped her manage chronic pain, insomnia, eating issues, gastrointestinal issues, PTSD and anxiety. “I found relief from all of these symptoms,” she said, “some of which are not covered in the program.”
The new law adds to the state’s qualifying conditions for medical marijuana “any debilitating or terminal medical condition or symptom for which the potential benefits of using therapeutic cannabis would, in the provider’s clinical opinion, likely outweigh the potential health risks for the patient.”
The provision does not replace New Hampshire’s enumerated list of qualifying conditions, which Thomas has previously described
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