Medical pot has had a slow start in NH, but dispensaries could open soon as painkiller epidemic pressures mount.

A bill introduced Thursday in the New Hampshire state assembly seeks to add post-traumatic stress disorder to the list of ailments eligible for medical marijuana treatment, which was legalized in 2013 but remains hard to obtain in the Granite state.

The proposed legislation comes as New Hampshire grapples with an opioid and heroin addiction and overdose crisis. Medical marijuana advocates argue that better access to cannabis would offer an alternative means of pain relief to people now using painkillers or heroin.

In 2015 the state’s medical examiner attributed 385 deaths to opiates, almost double the 192 fatalities in 2013, according to New Hampshire Public Radio.

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Wilson Dizard ~ Al Jazeera America ~