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.
The New Mexico Department of Health is seeking public input on some proposals for changing the state’s medical marijuana program, including ways to make the program financially self-sufficient and more tightly regulated.
One of the proposals would levy an annual fee of 7 percent on the annual gross receipts of the nonprofit organizations that produce medical marijuana in the state. Because the producers are nonprofit, they do not already pay gross receipts tax.
The department is also considering increasing the producers’ application fee from $100 to $1000.
Other proposed changes would allow the department to test medical marijuana produced by the nonprofits for mold, bacteria and other contaminants.
The proposed regulations also clarify that producers and patients may possess seeds; that the names and contact information of medical practitioners certifying patients’ conditions and primary caregivers will be kept confidential; and that board members of the nonprofits must be from New Mexico. Those boards would also not be allowed to have more than two individuals who serve on another board and individual board members would not be allowed to serve on two boards.
“When we established our first-of-its-kind program we knew we had lessons to learn about the best way to manage this complex program effectively,” Secretary of Health Alfredo Vigil said in a statement released Monday. “We will consistently evaluate and make changes so we have a sustainable program that meets patients’ needs without jeopardizing public safety.”
The program now has 2,250 active patients, 1,022 of whom are licensed to produce their own supply of medical marijuana.
The Department of Health’s Medical Advisory Board will hold a public hearing to consider the proposals at 9:30 am on September 30 in the Harold Runnels Auditorium in Santa Fe.
