cannabisnews.com: Medical Marijuana Dies in Senate Panel Medical Marijuana Dies in Senate Panel Posted by FoM on February 09, 2002 at 13:25:52 PT By Deborah Baker, The Associated Press Source: Santa Fe New Mexican Gov. Gary Johnson's proposal to legalize medical marijuana died in a Senate committee Friday, and its sponsor said it's unlikely to be revived. "We don't have the time," said Sen. Roman Maes, D-Santa Fe. The 30-day legislative session ends Thursday. The measure died in the Judiciary Committee on a tie vote, with opponents objecting that it would conflict with federal law and expose New Mexicans to federal prosecution. The bill would have required the Health Department to create a program under which qualified patients could use marijuana to relieve pain or other symptoms of their debilitating illnesses, including cancer, AIDS and glaucoma."The people who will use this in its intended way are going to die, and they're going to die soon," said Sen. Cisco McSorley, D-Albuquerque. "I think it comes down to mercy and to individual freedom."A year ago, the same bill passed the same committee and was approved by the full Senate. Since then, the U.S. Supreme Court barred a private group in California from distributing medical marijuana.And the administrator of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration said in a recent letter that the bill authorized activities that would be contrary to federal law.Marijuana for medical use would have to be grown, distributed and possessed in violation of federal law, said DEA Administrator Asa Hutchinson.Clifford Rees, assistant general counsel for the Health Department, said it was "very unlikely private patients will be prosecuted by the federal government."The bill required the department to decide where to obtain the marijuana and how it would be dispensed to patients.The office of Attorney General Patricia Madrid said in its analysis of the legislation that the U.S. Supreme Court ruling did not address the production and distribution of marijuana by a state.New Mexico could argue that Congress did not have the authority under the federal Commerce Clause to regulate that conduct, the attorney general also said."I don't think the Legislature ... ought to be enacting laws to provide test cases," Sen. William Payne, R-Albuquerque, said.Another opponent, Sen. Ramsay Gorham, R-Albuquerque, complained there were no firm projections of how much the program would cost.The Johnson administration is asking lawmakers to cut Medicaid for children to save money, but "suddenly has money to fund a pot farm," she said.Sen. Steve Komadina, R-Corrales, a doctor, said the bill would "give physicians one more tool to help patients."Komadina voted for the bill, along with McSorley and Sens. Manny Aragon, D-Albuquerque; Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque; and Richard Martinez, D-Espaņola.Voting against it were Payne; Gorham; Judiciary Committee Chairman Michael Sanchez, D-Belen; Sen. Stuart Ingle, R-Portales; and Sen. Lidio Rainaldi, D-Gallup. Source: Santa Fe New Mexican (NM)Author: Deborah Baker, The Associated PressPublished: February 09, 2002 Copyright: 2002 The Santa Fe New MexicanContact: letters sfnewmexican.comWebsite: http://www.sfnewmexican.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Medical Marijuana Information Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/medical.htmRepublicans Feud Over Drug-Reform Legislationhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11930.shtmlMedical Marijuana Bill Draws Objections http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11833.shtmlA Doctor's Look at Medical-Marijuana Lawhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11880.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Post Comment