New Mexico Signs Med-Pot Law

[motorhead]

New Mexico will be the 12th state to pass medical marijuana legislation. This is good news. Only 38 more to go!

Presidential Candidate - New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson Signs Med-Pot Law
by Marijuana Policy Project (02 Apr, 2007) New Mexico Medical Marijuana Law Sets Stage for Drive in Congress. The "it grows as it goes" state becomes the 12th US state with a medical marijuana program.
Today's signing of the nation's 12th state medical marijuana law by New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) will jump-start efforts to reform federal policy on medical marijuana, advocates said today. The signing comes in the wake of new research further documenting marijuana's medical value.

New Mexico now joins Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington in protecting medical marijuana patients from arrest.

Richardson, a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, actively lobbied for the bill's passage.
"Governor Richardson's action is the clearest sign yet that the politicians are finally catching up with the people on the issue of medical marijuana," said Aaron Houston, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) in Washington, D.C. "Support for medical marijuana is overwhelming — 78 percent in a national Gallup poll — and backing from the medical community is solidifying as new research continues to document marijuana's medical benefits. Support in Congress keeps growing, and this could be the year the federal government finally ends its cruel attacks on the sick in states where medical marijuana is legal."

MPP is working closely with other organizations and supportive members of Congress to pass an amendment to end federal medical marijuana raids in states with medical marijuana laws. Former Republican Congressman Bob Barr of Georgia recently joined MPP's lobbying effort.

A University of California study published in the Feb. 13 issue of the journal Neurology found that marijuana effectively relieved a type of severe nerve pain that afflicts hundreds of thousands with HIV/AIDS, and is similar to the type of pain experienced by many patients suffering from multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and other illnesses. A wide variety of medical and health organizations support legal access to medical marijuana, including the American Public Health Association, American Nurses Association, American Academy of HIV Medicine, and Lymphoma Foundation of America.

With more than 21,000 members and 100,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol.

For more information, please visit www.MarijuanaPolicy.org.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Well done sir!

[Trebor]

Yay!!! Yet another place Siwm has the option of moving to.

[motorhead]

STATE TO LET PATIENTS GROW THEIR OWN POT

Friday June 29, 2007
Diana Del Mauro, The New Mexican
http://www.freenewmexican.com/

When lobbyists rallied this year at the Roundhouse to legalize medical marijuana, they distinctly said patients wouldn't be growing this mind-altering herb. Rather, the state Health Department would create a secure production and distribution system - the first state to do so.

After years of failed attempts, the measure won approval, making New Mexico the 12th state with such a law. Now, as the law is about to go into effect Sunday, the message has changed. In a surprise move Thursday, the Health Department unveiled a provision that allows patients to grow a limited number of marijuana plants with protection from state prosecution.

That angered the law-enforcement community. Jim Burleson, director of the state sheriffs' and police association, said having individual growers in the state could be a big problem.

"If a person is growing their own ( marijuana ), there is no quality control and no quantity control - and it's absolutely contrary to what was discussed at the ( legislative ) session," he said.

Also, it "sets up" patients for a high amount of scrutiny from federal law-enforcement agencies, he added. Using or distributing marijuana is illegal under federal law, and state law cannot protect violators from federal prosecution.

The Health Department says qualified patients and caregivers may cultivate as many as four mature marijuana plants and three immature marijuana seedlings. The rule also gives the Health Department the power to audit the number of plants at a patient's home, said Dr. Steve Jenison, the program's medical director. Jenison said even if a state-licensed production and distribution system is put in place, patients would still have the option to grow marijuana plants at home. Jenison said the Health Department decided to allow patients to grow pot because a state-run system could be months in the making, if it happens at all. Under the new law, the Health Department is supposed to issue rules about developing the production and distribution system by Oct. 1.

Because of a potential conflict between state and federal law ( the federal government still views marijuana as an illicit drug that has no medicinal properties ), the Health Department is seeking advice from the Attorney General's Office for the best way to carry out that aspect of the new law.

"We cannot proceed ... until we have a better understanding of the legal implications," Jenison said. Burleson was unaware of this development until the Health Department issued a news release about the Medical Cannabis Program on Thursday. Though the Health Department invited various law-enforcement associations to planning meetings about how to implement the new law, most refused to participate.

Burleson said the association's lawyer warned against taking part in the planning sessions, "lest we be considered co-conspirators in distributing a controlled substance."

Jenison said the Health Department won't give patients information on where to obtain seeds or plants or how to grow marijuana.

But Burleson asks, "Where is the first seed or plant going to come from? That's going to be the first illegal act." Patients who don't want to grow marijuana must find a way to obtain their medicine on the black market - at least for now. Patients and caregivers on the state's registry can possess up to 6 ounces of marijuana and be protected from state prosecution, as long as they don't use it fraudulently.

"This program is about providing much-needed relief for New Mexicans suffering from debilitating diseases," Dr. Alfredo Vigil, the new health secretary, said in a news release. "We will also monitor the use of medical marijuana and prevent abuse."

The law is limited to people with conditions such as cancer, HIV-AIDS, glaucoma and multiple sclerosis.

[sidebar]

A USER'S GUIDE TO THE STATE'S NEW MEDICAL-MARIJUANA LAW

1. Fill out an application for the Health Department's Medical Cannabis Program. Starting Monday, forms will be available at www.nmhealth.org, or call Melissa Milam at 827-2321.

2. Make an appointment with a physician. A New Mexico-licensed physician must certify you have one of the qualifying conditions, explain how that condition is debilitating for you and advise that the potential benefits of using marijuana outweigh the potential harms for your situation. Qualifying conditions are limited to cancer, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord with intractable spasticity, epilepsy and HIV-AIDS. If your condition isn't on the list, you can appeal to the program's medical advisory committee.

3. By law, the state has up to 30 days to process an application. At this time, no fee is charged. Dr. Steve Jenison, medical director for the new program, will call your doctor and discuss your case.

4. Approved patients and primary caregivers will receive plastic cards that say they are immune from state prosecution for possessing up to 6 ounces of medical marijuana ( considered a three-month supply ) or cultivating a specified number of plants. However, the new law cannot protect patients or caregivers from federal prosecution. The registry of patients is confidential, but police can call the Medical Cannabis Program to confirm whether someone is a legitimate card-holder.

5. For now, patients and caregivers must obtain marijuana or marijuana plants on the black market. The Department of Health will not provide assistance. Drug dealers are not protected by the law.

6. Patients must research their own information about the proper dosage and method of intake for their condition. Don't count on pointers from the Health Department or your doctor. "Their physicians will likely feel constrained in making specific recommendations," Jenison said.