New Hampshire lawmakers have blocked a governor veto against medical cannabis expansions in the state; the veto would have cemented the state’s three-month waiting period before approved cannabis patients could access their medicine.
New Hampshire Lawmakers Override Medical Cannabis Bill Veto
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New Hampshire lawmakers have overturned a veto by Gov. Chris Sununu (R) that would have cemented a three-month waiting period before a patient could get a medical cannabis recommendation from a provider, according to a New Hampshire Union Leader report.
Sununu said he vetoed the measure to “preserve responsible prescribing,” according to an NHPR report. The Senate overrode the veto 17-7 after three Republican senators joined all 14 Democrats. The override passed in the House 238-117 – one vote more than the required two-thirds majority required to override a governor’s veto.
Democratic State Sen. Tom Sherman, a licensed gastroenterologist, pointed out that patients didn’t have to wait at all to get other drugs like opioids and antipsychotics, which have more serious side effects than medical cannabis. The law does require that the patient have a relationship with the provider.
“With therapeutic cannabis, we are waiting three months. What do we call that? Malpractice, delay of care. This is a good bill.” – Sherman, during the debate, via the Union Leader
The House had also overridden the governor’s veto of a bill allowing the state’s medical cannabis patients to grow their own cannabis, the Concord Monitor reports, but that measure was rejected in the Senate. The Senate had originally passed the bill by a 14-10 margin – two votes short of the two-thirds majority.
The waiting period bill was just one of two vetoes overridden by the legislature this session. The first was in May after the governor vetoed a measure to repeal the state’s death penalty.
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