Anyone who believes that medical cannabis patients can receive any meaningful benefit from being able to obtain one over-priced ounce every three months, delivered cloak-and-dagger style in shopping center parking lots, is deluded. As an alternative, how about a $60 ounce of high-quality, organically grown cannabis available on demand and in sufficient quantity whenever it is needed through participating local pharmacies, with $20 of that cost going to properly fund and staff the state's mmj program, with the considerable excess left over going into the state's general fund? Read on.

The main problem with New Mexico's program (though certainly not its only one) is the assumption that a producer can provide cannabis to 100 patients while being allowed to grow only 95 cannabis plants, regardless of their sex or maturity. In my experience (growing and providing medical cannabis to seriously ill folks for almost 20 years), 95 cannabis plants (even if all female and grown to full height) will produce enough usable medicine for around six to eight patients per year, not 100. That is why the first NM producer ran out of cannabis within a week of their first harvest. (BTW, the DEA agrees with me on these estimates, which is about the only thing that the DEA and I agree on.)

Unfortunately, New Mexico still has people overseeing their program who are inexperienced in medical cannabis production and who are apparently unwilling to take advice from anyone other than an equally uninformed NM/DPA (including ignoring the concerns and suggestions of former NM caregivers, many of whom have withdrawn participation in NM's program because of this situation.) It would be nice if state officials would stop patting themselves on the back long enough to hear the high volume of discontent among currently approved patients and the deafening disinterest of the 99% of eligible patients who haven't even bothered applying for the program (a time-consuming and unnecessary process), when those patients would still be forced to go to the streets for almost all of their medicine anyway.

If anyone is interested in one state-sponsored medical cannabis production and distribution model that would very likely work (and work well) in New Mexico, please email me ( tracevu@bellsouth.net ) for a copy of Tennessee's draft medical marijuana program prospectus. With the recent policy shifts at the USDOJ and the AMA, we certainly can do better.

To be clear: I fully support New Mexico's legislative approach (which I helped influence) and Governor Richardson's leadership and the opportunity that these positives provide, while having serious problems with New Mexico's current regulations and the current administration of its program.

Anyone who believes that medical cannabis patients can receive any meaningful benefit from being able to obtain one over-priced ounce every three months, delivered cloak-and-dagger style in shopping center parking lots, is deluded. As an alternative, how about a $60 ounce of high-quality, organically grown cannabis available on demand and in sufficient quantity whenever it is needed through participating local pharmacies, with $20 of that cost going to properly fund and staff the state's mmj program, with the considerable excess left over going into the state's general fund? Read on.

The main problem with New Mexico's program (though certainly not its only one) is the assumption that a producer can provide cannabis to 100 patients while being allowed to grow only 95 cannabis plants, regardless of their sex or maturity. In my experience (growing and providing medical cannabis to seriously ill folks for almost 20 years), 95 cannabis plants (even if all female and grown to full height) will produce enough usable medicine for around six to eight patients per year, not 100. That is why the first NM producer ran out of cannabis within a week of their first harvest. (BTW, the DEA agrees with me on these estimates, which is about the only thing that the DEA and I agree on.)

Unfortunately, New Mexico still has people overseeing their program who are inexperienced in medical cannabis production and who are apparently unwilling to take advice from anyone other than an equally uninformed NM/DPA (including ignoring the concerns and suggestions of former NM caregivers, many of whom have withdrawn participation in NM's program because of this situation.) It would be nice if state officials would stop patting themselves on the back long enough to hear the high volume of discontent among currently approved patients and the deafening disinterest of the 99% of eligible patients who haven't even bothered applying for the program (a time-consuming and unnecessary process), when those patients would still be forced to go to the streets for almost all of their medicine anyway.

If anyone is interested in one state-sponsored medical cannabis production and distribution model that would very likely work (and work well) in New Mexico, please email me ( tracevu@bellsouth.net ) for a copy of Tennessee's draft medical marijuana program prospectus. With the recent policy shifts at the USDOJ and the AMA, we certainly can do better.

To be clear: I fully support New Mexico's legislative approach (which I helped influence) and Governor Richardson's leadership and the opportunity that these positives provide, while having serious problems with New Mexico's current regulations and the current administration of its program.

Anyone who believes that medical cannabis patients can receive any meaningful benefit from being able to obtain one over-priced ounce every three months, delivered cloak-and-dagger style in shopping center parking lots, is deluded. As an alternative, how about a $60 ounce of high-quality, organically grown cannabis available on demand and in sufficient quantity whenever it is needed through participating local pharmacies, with $20 of that cost going to properly fund and staff the state's mmj program, with the considerable excess left over going into the state's general fund? Read on.

The main problem with New Mexico's program (though certainly not its only one) is the assumption that a producer can provide cannabis to 100 patients while being allowed to grow only 95 cannabis plants, regardless of their sex or maturity. In my experience (growing and providing medical cannabis to seriously ill folks for almost 20 years), 95 cannabis plants (even if all female and grown to full height) will produce enough usable medicine for around six to eight patients per year, not 100. That is why the first NM producer ran out of cannabis within a week of their first harvest. (BTW, the DEA agrees with me on these estimates, which is about the only thing that the DEA and I agree on.)

Unfortunately, New Mexico still has people overseeing their program who are inexperienced in medical cannabis production and who are apparently unwilling to take advice from anyone other than an equally uninformed NM/DPA (including ignoring the concerns and suggestions of former NM caregivers, many of whom have withdrawn participation in NM's program because of this situation.) It would be nice if state officials would stop patting themselves on the back long enough to hear the high volume of discontent among currently approved patients and the deafening disinterest of the 99% of eligible patients who haven't even bothered applying for the program (a time-consuming and unnecessary process), when those patients would still be forced to go to the streets for almost all of their medicine anyway.

If anyone is interested in one state-sponsored medical cannabis production and distribution model that would very likely work (and work well) in New Mexico, please email me ( tracevu@bellsouth.net ) for a copy of Tennessee's draft medical marijuana program prospectus. With the recent policy shifts at the USDOJ and the AMA, we certainly can do better.

To be clear: I fully support New Mexico's legislative approach (which I helped influence) and Governor Richardson's leadership and the opportunity that these positives provide, while having serious problems with New Mexico's current regulations and the current administration of its program.