Legislators voted yesterday to legalize marijuana for some seriously ill patients, sending Gov. John Lynch a bill he said he has yet to study.

If passed into law, New Hampshire would become the 14th state to allow medicinal marijuana use for severely sick patients. In a move geared to winning the governor's approval, senators and representatives passed a bill that - unlike versions passed in March and April - would not allow patients to grow marijuana at home.

Supporters congratulated one another after the House vote yesterday, but Rep. Evalyn Merrick, the bill's sponsor and a cancer patient, said she would temper her celebration.

"I'm hesitant to get too excited until I hear from the governor," said Merrick, a Democrat from Lancaster. "I respect and admire the governor, and I believe the decision he's going to make is going to be the right one."

Lynch had previously expressed concern about the distribution method in the original bill - which would allow patients to grow marijuana on their property - saying he thought if marijuana is to be treated as a prescription drug, its distribution should be as tightly controlled as that of other prescription drugs.

Yesterday, Lynch declined to say whether he would veto the final bill, saying he had not had time to consider it.

"I haven't read the bill that has come out of committee of conference," he said.

The bill passed yesterday would establish three nonprofit "compassion centers" to be licensed and inspected by the state. Patients would not be allowed to grow their own marijuana or obtain it from other permitted users, and center workers would undergo background checks.

The changes should allay concerns about security and distribution, said Rep. Cindy Rosenwald, a Nashua Democrat and chairwoman of the House Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee.

"Now we're talking about three places in the state under lock and key," she said after the House vote.

Earlier versions had allowed people with "debilitating medical conditions" to grow and possess up to six marijuana plants after a doctor's recommendation and registration with the state. Legislators stopped short of finalizing a version that both houses agreed upon when they learned Lynch would likely veto a bill without tighter control over the growth and distribution of the plant.

Merrick, the bill's sponsor, said the new version hammered out by a House and Senate conference committee would become "the national standard" in medicinal marijuana legislation.

To qualify for marijuana use, patients with a chronic or terminal disease would have to suffer symptoms of the disease or the side effects of treatment for three months. Marijuana use would not be approved when standard drugs or treatments could relieve pain or nausea.

The bill passed the Senate 14-10 and the House 232-108. There was little debate. Rep. David Hess, a Republican from Hooksett, asked legislators to reject a bill that would contradict federal drug laws and put New Hampshire law enforcement "in an impossible position."

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in March that federal drug raids would target only people breaking state as well as federal law. State Attorney General Kelly Ayotte has spoken out against the bill, arguing that marijuana use leads to the use of other drugs and that any legalization would compromise enforcement.

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