I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
State public health officials will hold a hearing Monday in Santa Fe to gather public comment on proposed rules that will further streamline two aspects of the use of medical marijuana in the state: the licensure, distribution and manufacture of medical marijuana and patient identification cards.
More information about the hearing, which begins at 9 a.m. at the Harold Runnels Auditorium, 1190 St. Francis Drive, is available at this Department of Health site.
The department says the objective of the rules is to ensure the "safe production, distribution and dispensing of marijuana for the sole purpose of medical use" and allow for its safe use, as allowed under the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act.
The only qualifying conditions under the act, which was enacted in the 2007 legislative session, are cancer, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, spinal cord damage with intractable spasticity and HIV/AIDS. In addition, any patient in hospice care could qualify.
The Health Department rule proposals note that although federal law currently prohibits any use of marijuana:
"… the laws of Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington permit the medical use and cultivation of marijuana. New Mexico joins this effort to provide for the health and welfare of its citizens … to allow for the beneficial use of medical cannabis in a regulated system for alleviating symptoms caused by debilitating medical conditions and their medical treatments, while at the same time ensuring proper enforcement of any criminal laws for behavior that has been deemed illicit by the state."
Written comments will also be taken through Monday, and should be sent to melissa.milam@state.nm.us.
The Drug Policy Alliance of New Mexico, an advocate of the program, offers a summary of the law and the recommendations it is submitting on its Web site.
