NH Moves Closer to Medical Marijuana Approval

But with a watered-down bill

House and Senate negotiators reached a deal on a medical marijuana bill Tuesday, positioning New Hampshire to join more than a dozen other states in legalizing the drug for seriously ill patients.

Both chambers had previously passed the bill, but the Senate version eliminated a House-proposed option for patients to grow the drug at home as well as obtain it at a dispensary, and Gov. Maggie Hassan said she wouldn't sign the bill if the home-grow provision remained.

In a negotiation session Tuesday, House lawmakers agreed to drop that provision and go along with other Senate changes in exchange for specifying that the commission implementing the new system be appointed as soon as the bill is passed.