On July 6 at the public library in Candia, I finally got my chance to thank New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson for supporting the rights of seriously ill patients to access marijuana with a doctor’s recommendation. Not only did the governor support his state’s medical marijuana bill with public statements and sign the bill in March, he used his personal influence to lobby state legislators in the days before the vote.

So I thanked the governor for his efforts, and asked him why he’d thought medical marijuana was an important reform for his state. His answer was authentic, reasonable, and humane.

He told me and the crowd of 30 Candia democrats about the ten (or so) cancer patients who had apprehended him at a town hall meeting in New Mexico. He said they told him, “We want medical marijuana to ease our pain.”

Richardson, whose support in New Hampshire has risen into double-digits, said he told the patients he’d see what he could do to get them medical marijuana. After consulting with his health department, he said they found a responsible way to implement the measure, and he then began advocating for medical marijuana legislation.

“I got all the sheriffs in the United States mad at me, “ he added half-jokingly, “but I believe the War on Drugs is not working. I’m tough on crime -- I’m not going to let somebody out that commits a violent crime, and I know we’ve got problems in our prisons, but I’d have more treatment of our incarcerated people, more rehabilitation, more educational programs.”