The New Hampshire state legislature passed two controversial bills Wednesday, legalizing medical marijuana and modifying voter identification laws. Students can vote using valid student IDs and senior citizens can use expired driver's licenses.
State Senator John Reagan, R-Deerfield, the prime Senate sponsor for the legalization of medical marijuana, said marijuana is an important medical tool for treating illness that causes chronic pain. Cancer patients may starve to death because they are nauseous and unable to eat after chemotherapy and radiation.
He said that the government can also generate revenue through the purchase and taxation of medical marijuana.
Reagan voted to legalize medical marijuana, but not to allow the use of student IDs in voter registration.
New Hampshire is the 19th state in the country to legalize medical marijuana and the last New England state to do so. Reagan said New Hampshire's laws for providing medical marijuana will be the strictest in the country.
State Representative Patricia Higgins, D-Grafton, who voted in support of both bills, said their passage brings New Hampshire in line with other states.
State Representative Bernard Benn, D-Hanover, who also voted for both bills, said medical marijuana can help alleviate suffering for people with serious conditions.
"The only thing about the law that just passed versus what we actually hoped for was that it doesn't start immediately," Benn said. "The provision for homegrown marijuana was also excluded from bill."
Gov. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H. previously said she would not sign a bill that allowed patients to grow medical marijuana at home. The current bill will enable dispensaries to open in approximately one year.
Despite these drawbacks, Benn said he is happy with the progress made and that provisions regarding home growth and general legalization could be added in a future bill.
"That's the way laws work in our democracies you to have to get them started and then they can be modified," he said. "If the public feels the law is going well, some of its limitations could be eliminated."
Benn, who has supported the legalization of medical marijuana since he was elected to the state legislature 14 years ago, said it is conceivable that all marijuana could be legalized with strong public support.
State Representative Sharon Nordgren, D-Grafton, who has long supported medical marijuana legalization, said she is disappointed that the bill does not allow patients with post traumatic stress disorder to be recipients.
Students responded positively to the legalization of medical marijuana and said that the United States needs to reform its drug policies.
"Reevaluation of the U.S.'s current drug policies is a good thing," Sam Sherman '15 said. "It's been a long time since we've had a serious conversation about what drugs should and should not be legal."
Katie McConnell '15 said legalization could lead to the decriminalization of marijuana, especially in light of the cohesive policies in the New England area.
Regarding the voter ID bill, Benn said that members of the House were pleased. He added that Dartmouth is specifically mentioned in the law as a reference to how student IDs will remain acceptable forms of identification for voters.
"There's a growing movement against the voter requirements put in by the last legislature, which was fairly right-wing," Benn said.
Nordgren said living down the street from Dartmouth influenced her decision to vote for the voter ID bill, as the previous bill would have denied out-of-state students the right to vote.
Higgins said she felt confident that Tea Party Republicans' efforts to reform voter ID laws were meant to limit student voters. The compromise reached in the conference committee was "remarkable" for the way opposing sides were capable of working together successfully, she said.
Higgins added that the crux of the bill will go into effect in 2015, when further restriction on the forms of valid identification are scheduled to occur, such as a photo requirement for voters without ID.
"The part that is most interesting for me is that the Secretary of State has undertaken a study at the possibilities of voter fraud in elections," Higgins said. "That report has not been finished and there are certainly factions that believe there is widespread fraud."
Benn said he is aware of virtually no documented cases of voter fraud in New Hampshire, said he expects this stipulation will be revoked in a future bill.
Reagan said the votes of ineligible voters can cancel out the votes of people who are eligible to vote.
"You can't have a total lack of control over people who are voting," he said. "It's not about disenfranchisement."
He noted that there are many constituents who do not believe that temporary residents, such as university students, should be able to vote for New Hampshire representatives.
"The students decide a lot of things that should be rightfully decided by people who live here," he said.
Students applauded the passage of the voting bill since it supports their ability to vote in New Hampshire.
"It's really important to have young voters, and any unnecessary obstacles in their way should be eliminated," McConnell said.
Ester Cross, Ashley Ulrich and Madison Pauly contributed reporting.
