Superfund Cleanup at Conway site: It’s back

CONWAY — The chemical treatment of the remaining pollution at the former Kearsarge Metallurgical Corp. Superfund site began Monday. The effort is expected to continue for the next few weeks. The site, next to Pequawket Pond, is where KMC made stainless-steel valves from 1964 to 1982. The KMC made stainless-steel castings for the nuclear power industry.

Federal Restrictions Slow Progress on Medical Marijuana Research

Research on marijuana’s potential for medicinal use has been hampered for years by federal restrictions, even though nearly half of the states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana in some form. An analysis by News21 shows that $1.1 billion of the $1.4 billion that the National Institute of Health spent on marijuana research from 2008 to 2014 went toward research on marijuana abuse and addiction. Only $297 million was spent on its effects on the brain and potential medical benefits for those suffering from conditions like chronic pain. “We don’t have new things to treat for pain,” Dr. Todd Vanderah, chief of pharmacology at the University of Arizona, said. “We’re still dealing with narcotics that have been around for thousands of years, and it’s led to this issue of people abusing drugs and the rise of heroin.”

Some parents with children suffering from seizures want to try medical marijuana to treat their children more effectively than current medicine has been able to, but the Food and Drug Administration has not approved any marijuana-based medicines for seizures.

Gov. Hassan Balks at Criticism of Medical Marijuana Dispensary Selection Process

In selecting the nonprofit organizations to grow and dispense medical marijuana, the state followed the proper process despite recent criticism, according to an email yesterday from Gov. Maggie Hassan’s spokesman William Hinkle.

Hinkle was responding to a request four days prior for an interview with Gov. Hassan about selection process complaints claiming there were scoring errors and an unclear definition for what constitutes local support. There was also concern that economic development wasn’t considered a factor.

Complaints Plague Medical Marijuana Dispensary Licensing

If Michael Stirling can prove the evaluation committee that selected the winning bidders for four medical marijuana dispensary licenses made a mathematical error, he expects the state to snatch a license away from the lowest-scoring bidder and award it to him.

Complex Selection Process, Little Public Information

New Hampshire’s medical marijuana law went into effect in July 2013. Between January and November 2014, officials with the Therapeutic Cannabis Program, under the direction of the state Department of Health and Human Services, drafted and enacted administrative rules governing the medical marijuana registry and the rules governing the treatment centers.

?Library Trustees in Lebanon: Turn Tor Relay Back On ASAP?????

The Tor relay that allows anonymous Internet surfing is scheduled to be turned back on Wednesday morning at the Kilton Public Library after a temporary hiatus caused by an email from the Department of Homeland Security. The library board of trustees in Lebanon decided Tuesday night a vote wasn’t necessary, but all agreed at a meeting to turn Tor back on. Kilton was the first public library in the nation to participate in the Library Freedom Project hosting Tor. “The trustees are continuing to work with the Library Freedom Project and Tor will be turned back on tomorrow,” Sean Fleming, the director of Lebanon Public Libraries, said Tuesday after the meeting. Tor has not yet been installed on computers used by the public at the library, but will most likely be in the future, he said.