[420 Girl]

As a committed Republican activist, it has not been easy coming forward and describing my experience with cancer and medical marijuana.

I kept quiet for years after I successfully used marijuana to relieve my nausea when expensive prescription drugs had failed. I didn't want this on my medical records, and I certainly didn't want everyone to know that I had to break the law to find an effective treatment.

I only recently came forward because I strongly believe that HB 648, which recently passed the House and Senate, should become law in New Hampshire.

The bill would create the most tightly crafted medical marijuana law in the country, and it would probably be used as a model for other states that want to allow access but are concerned about ensuring accountability and security.

All legitimate concerns about how the cultivation and dispensation of marijuana can be controlled are addressed in the final version of the bill, which will soon make its way to Gov. John Lynch's desk.

Unfortunately, most Republican leaders have been unwilling to reconsider our party's longstanding opposition to medical marijuana. A large majority of Republicans I have spoken to are in favor of the bill, yet our leaders have dismissed the effort entirely.

A 2008 poll by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc. found that 56 percent of New Hampshire Republicans supported allowing medical marijuana, while only 32 percent opposed it, so the disconnect between rank-and-file Republicans and leadership on this issue can't be all in my head.

The same poll found that 71 percent of all New Hampshire voters support medical marijuana, so it's obvious that opposing medical marijuana can only hurt Republicans at the polls and further alienate us from younger voters.

My own experience shows that medical marijuana is fiscally responsible. I replaced a $1,600 prescription that didn't work that well with $50 worth of marijuana. Passage of this bill would give seriously ill patients access to a more affordable option to treat their symptoms, possibly saving programs like Medicare and Medicaid many thousands of dollars.

Allowing patients access to this medicine would also reduce the need for expensive and dangerous painkillers like OxyContin and Demerol. No one has ever overdosed on marijuana, while the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention counted 19,838 drug-overdose deaths in 2004, up from 11,155 in 1999.

Most of these deaths were from legally prescribed medications, some available over the counter. By reducing the need for these hard drugs to control pain, nausea and other ailments, medical marijuana can reduce these tragic numbers significantly.

We also should remember the needs of those who have faced painkiller addiction in the past and can't use these drugs anymore to relieve their suffering. Many admit that marijuana works for them, but they, too, must break the law to use a less dangerous and non-addictive herbal medicine.

If this bill does become law, New Hampshire will have a medical marijuana program that is responsible and well managed. The senators and representatives who sponsored and wrote this bill have worked tirelessly to ensure that the program will work and should be commended for their efforts.

It is wrong to think that the compassion centers called for in this bill will be like the clubs in California, where abuse of their medical marijuana law has hurt efforts to provide access in the rest of the country.

The sole purpose of HB 648 is to provide relief to a small group of severely and terminally ill patients in our communities, and it will achieve that purpose if Gov. Lynch simply allows it to pass.

This shouldn't be about politics. It should be about doing the right thing.

Dennis Acton, of Fremont, is a cancer survivor and an activist for the legalization of medical marijuana.

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