Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
The prime sponsor of the state's medical marijuana law now wants to make the product more affordable.
Rep. Ted Wright, R-Sanbornville, sponsored the 2013 legislation that created the state's therapeutic cannabis program. It was his personal story of how marijuana had restored his wife's appetite and health during a debilitating battle with cancer that convinced many of his fellow lawmakers to create the program.
Now Wright and a few colleagues are planning to start a nonprofit organization that will raise funds to offset the cost of medical marijuana for those who otherwise can't afford it.
Wright's group doesn't even have a name yet, he said. But he's committed to making it a success.
"I'm not running for re-election," Wright told theNew Hampshire Sunday News last week. "I'm going to focus on this issue and our opiate crisis as an activist. I think the time that I'm putting into other things at the State House could be better used to focus on this issue."
The state's first therapeutic cannabis dispensaries have been open for two months, and as of July 15, 1,159 Granite Staters have been approved for the registry cards required to purchase their products.
But while patients say they're getting relief from pain and other symptoms, some struggle to pay for the cannabis, which can cost up to $400 an ounce.
And that points out what some see as a disconnect in public policy when it comes to medical marijuana.
The state health department licenses, inspects and regulates alternative treatment centers (ATCs), and registers qualifying patients and caregivers to purchase products sold at those dispensaries.
But because cannabis remains an illegal drug, insurers - including state Medicaid programs - won't cover it.
In fact, it states right in New Hampshire's medical marijuana law: "Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require ... any health insurance provider, health care plan, or medical assistance program to be liable for any claim for reimbursement for the therapeutic use of cannabis."
Wright's group also wants to reach out to physicians to educate them about how cannabis works. "Because the bottleneck right now is physicians," he said. "They're afraid of it."
Many patients have been paying for marijuana on the street for years, and have shifted to the legal, quality-controlled products sold at dispensaries. But Wright said he knows others who still buy it on the street because it's cheaper.
"Until we can address that, the black market's going to continue to thrive, and we want patients to get stuff that they know what it is and what's in it," he said.
That's where his nonprofit group comes in, he hopes. "If we could give somebody half of their cost, that would go a long way to helping people," he said.
And patients will benefit from using the higher-grade, quality-controlled cannabis sold at the dispensaries, instead of street drugs that could contain pesticides or other contaminants, he said.
Status quo
Jake Leon, director of communications for the state Department of Health and Human Services, said the insurance situation is unlikely to change any time soon.
"At the federal level, it is an illegal drug, and I think as long as cannabis is illegal on a federal level, it's not going to be covered by Medicaid or Medicare - or commercial insurance either," he said.
State-licensed alternative treatment centers opened in May in Plymouth, Dover and Lebanon, and a fourth is expected to open this summer in Merrimack.
By law, the ATCs are required to offer discounts to those on assistance programs such as Social Security disability or Medicaid, Leon said. And the three nonprofit companies that run dispensaries here do so.
But the state doesn't set what that discount must be.
Under New Hampshire's law, qualifying patients can buy two ounces of cannabis every 10 days. At $400 an ounce, that gets costly pretty quickly.
But ATC officials say they've found most patients purchase far less than that allowed amount.
Experts say they don't expect to see any movement toward insurance coverage until the DEA changes how it classifies cannabis.
Cannabis is a Schedule I drug, defined by the Drug Enforcement Administration on its website as "drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse" and "the most dangerous drugs of all the drug schedules with potentially severe psychological or physical dependence." Other Schedule I drugs are LSD, ecstasy and heroin.
Oxycodone, fentanyl, cocaine and methadone are all listed as Schedule II drugs, considered by the DEA to "a high potential for abuse."
Under pressure from some states, the DEA has been considering whether to change how cannabis is listed, and a decision is expected this summer, according to published reports.
Sharon Curole is a board member at Sanctuary ATC in Plymouth, as well as a patient.
She said it's not fair that patients have to pay out of pocket for what she considers medicine. "But that's the system right now, and I'm hopeful that one day ... insurance companies will also consider it to be medicine that needs to be covered under health care plans."
..
She's heard from patients who say cannabis has helped them stop taking prescription drugs.
Curole has been living with multiple sclerosis for 17 years. She's had her registry cards for 10 days and said, "My sleep habits have improved beyond imagination and the painful spasms in my legs are improved."
"Pain and sleep are my two biggies, that I don't have to take a prescription for anymore."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: NH Lawmaker Who Pushed For Medical Marijuana Wants To Help Make It More Affordable
Author: Shawne K. Wickham
Contact: (603) 668-4321
Photo Credit: David Lane
Website: New Hampshire Union Leader
Rep. Ted Wright, R-Sanbornville, sponsored the 2013 legislation that created the state's therapeutic cannabis program. It was his personal story of how marijuana had restored his wife's appetite and health during a debilitating battle with cancer that convinced many of his fellow lawmakers to create the program.
Now Wright and a few colleagues are planning to start a nonprofit organization that will raise funds to offset the cost of medical marijuana for those who otherwise can't afford it.
Wright's group doesn't even have a name yet, he said. But he's committed to making it a success.
"I'm not running for re-election," Wright told theNew Hampshire Sunday News last week. "I'm going to focus on this issue and our opiate crisis as an activist. I think the time that I'm putting into other things at the State House could be better used to focus on this issue."
The state's first therapeutic cannabis dispensaries have been open for two months, and as of July 15, 1,159 Granite Staters have been approved for the registry cards required to purchase their products.
But while patients say they're getting relief from pain and other symptoms, some struggle to pay for the cannabis, which can cost up to $400 an ounce.
And that points out what some see as a disconnect in public policy when it comes to medical marijuana.
The state health department licenses, inspects and regulates alternative treatment centers (ATCs), and registers qualifying patients and caregivers to purchase products sold at those dispensaries.
But because cannabis remains an illegal drug, insurers - including state Medicaid programs - won't cover it.
In fact, it states right in New Hampshire's medical marijuana law: "Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require ... any health insurance provider, health care plan, or medical assistance program to be liable for any claim for reimbursement for the therapeutic use of cannabis."
Wright's group also wants to reach out to physicians to educate them about how cannabis works. "Because the bottleneck right now is physicians," he said. "They're afraid of it."
Many patients have been paying for marijuana on the street for years, and have shifted to the legal, quality-controlled products sold at dispensaries. But Wright said he knows others who still buy it on the street because it's cheaper.
"Until we can address that, the black market's going to continue to thrive, and we want patients to get stuff that they know what it is and what's in it," he said.
That's where his nonprofit group comes in, he hopes. "If we could give somebody half of their cost, that would go a long way to helping people," he said.
And patients will benefit from using the higher-grade, quality-controlled cannabis sold at the dispensaries, instead of street drugs that could contain pesticides or other contaminants, he said.
Status quo
Jake Leon, director of communications for the state Department of Health and Human Services, said the insurance situation is unlikely to change any time soon.
"At the federal level, it is an illegal drug, and I think as long as cannabis is illegal on a federal level, it's not going to be covered by Medicaid or Medicare - or commercial insurance either," he said.
State-licensed alternative treatment centers opened in May in Plymouth, Dover and Lebanon, and a fourth is expected to open this summer in Merrimack.
By law, the ATCs are required to offer discounts to those on assistance programs such as Social Security disability or Medicaid, Leon said. And the three nonprofit companies that run dispensaries here do so.
But the state doesn't set what that discount must be.
Under New Hampshire's law, qualifying patients can buy two ounces of cannabis every 10 days. At $400 an ounce, that gets costly pretty quickly.
But ATC officials say they've found most patients purchase far less than that allowed amount.
Experts say they don't expect to see any movement toward insurance coverage until the DEA changes how it classifies cannabis.
Cannabis is a Schedule I drug, defined by the Drug Enforcement Administration on its website as "drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse" and "the most dangerous drugs of all the drug schedules with potentially severe psychological or physical dependence." Other Schedule I drugs are LSD, ecstasy and heroin.
Oxycodone, fentanyl, cocaine and methadone are all listed as Schedule II drugs, considered by the DEA to "a high potential for abuse."
Under pressure from some states, the DEA has been considering whether to change how cannabis is listed, and a decision is expected this summer, according to published reports.
Sharon Curole is a board member at Sanctuary ATC in Plymouth, as well as a patient.
She said it's not fair that patients have to pay out of pocket for what she considers medicine. "But that's the system right now, and I'm hopeful that one day ... insurance companies will also consider it to be medicine that needs to be covered under health care plans."
..
She's heard from patients who say cannabis has helped them stop taking prescription drugs.
Curole has been living with multiple sclerosis for 17 years. She's had her registry cards for 10 days and said, "My sleep habits have improved beyond imagination and the painful spasms in my legs are improved."
"Pain and sleep are my two biggies, that I don't have to take a prescription for anymore."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: NH Lawmaker Who Pushed For Medical Marijuana Wants To Help Make It More Affordable
Author: Shawne K. Wickham
Contact: (603) 668-4321
Photo Credit: David Lane
Website: New Hampshire Union Leader
