cannabisnews.com: State To Let Patients Grow Their Own Pot





State To Let Patients Grow Their Own Pot
Posted by CN Staff on June 29, 2007 at 06:18:24 PT
By Diana Del Mauro, The New Mexican
Source: New Mexican
New Mexico -- 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.Source: New Mexican, The (Santa Fe, NM)Author: Diana Del Mauro, The New MexicanPublished: June 28, 2007Copyright: 2007 The Santa Fe New MexicanContact: webeditor sfnewmexican.com Website: http://www.freenewmexican.com/ Related Articles:Medical Marijuana To Be Legal Next Week in N.M. http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23137.shtmlNew Mexico's New Pot Law Becomes Effectivehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23133.shtmlNew Mexico Approves Medical Use of Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22836.shtml
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Comment #16 posted by FoM on June 30, 2007 at 07:20:11 PT
John Tyler
I believe that that is what happened to the Republican Party too. I was a conservative, fundamentalist Christian and when I saw Pat Robertson getting involved in the RP I stopped going to church. I knew it was wrong. They need to dump the religious right if they want to survive. I don't want them to jump over to the Democratic Party though. That would wreck it too. Politics should be politics and religion should be religion. 
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Comment #15 posted by John Tyler on June 30, 2007 at 07:06:26 PT
one more thing
One more thing if I may, well several… Last night on PBS on the Bill Moyer show he was interviewing some old time Republican guy who wrote a book about the Neocon and the right wing Christians stealing the Republican Party. Anyway, he quoted old time bedrock conservative Barry Goldwater as saying, “People should be able to do whatever they want to do, as long as it doesn’t hurt anybody else”. Wasn’t that the Cardinal Rule of the hippies? Goldwater and hippiedom sharing the same philosophy? Weird, isn’t it?
Another thing… On the History Channel, there was a show about WWII bomb shelters in London. Don’t go to sleep on me yet. They said they were made from sections of large steel pipe bolted together using waterproof seals made from HEMP.
One last thing… On Entertainment Tonight they showed Paris Hilton smoking something in a cute little pipe. They said the film was taken in Amsterdam, where cannabis is LEGAL. You and I know that that is not exactly correct, but that is what the ET reporter said.  
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Comment #14 posted by John Tyler on June 30, 2007 at 06:40:12 PT
medical policy
I’ve seen this on numerous occasions where the leader or chief or whatever of some law enforcement organization testifies or is quoted about being against some cannabis related regulation as if they should have some say in the matter. Usually police functions are under the Executive branch of the various governments. They are paid employees. Paid to do their job. They should have little or no influence in setting what is now becoming social and medical policy. I’m tired of seeing all of these people squirming over basically a personal freedom issue. If it were relegalized etc., it would be all right. After a year or two every thing would settle down and most people would wonder want all the fuss had been about anyway.  
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Comment #13 posted by OverwhelmSam on June 29, 2007 at 16:10:13 PT
Two Problems
Roberts & Alito...Can't we impeach Justices? Nobody's perfect.
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Comment #12 posted by RevRayGreen on June 29, 2007 at 15:30:41 PT
In the words of Bugs Bunny
.........see you in Albuquerque"
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Comment #11 posted by Sam Adams on June 29, 2007 at 12:28:14 PT
Great news!
Wow, this really is fantastic. Sure, 7 plants isn't enough - but 6 ounces, wow, that makes NM one of the best states in the US for medical MJ.Even sweeter was the snub of LEO by the health community. The silly, simple-minded stubborn oinkers wouldn't even park their ample butts on a chair for a few hours, and now they LOSE!  Home cultivation is the result.Maybe there really are some good people left in this country! Always stand up to bullies, it's the only solution folks. Congratulations DPA, who surely lobbied the Health Dept. on this one.
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Comment #10 posted by FoM on June 29, 2007 at 10:27:15 PT
Marc
I'm doing fine. I might be moving at a little slower pace but at least I'm still keepin' on! 
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Comment #9 posted by whig on June 29, 2007 at 10:22:21 PT
World History
U.N. Commission on Narcotic DrugsAt its first session in 1946 the Commission decided not to appoint a subcommittee on Indian hemp as the Advisory Committee had before.At its third session in 1948 the question of the medical use of cannabis was raised and the Commission agreed with a proposal of the Soviet Union to insert in the future Single Convention a provision prohibiting the preparation of hashish.
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Comment #8 posted by Marc Paquette on June 29, 2007 at 10:19:34 PT:
Hi again!
Hi FoM, thanks for your kind words dear friend! :)Still alive but not kicking too hard!The good herb still improves my quality of life after all those years! :)I'm glad that you are still around FoM - how are you? :)As for ekim's post - you are welcome, and I if I said that NONE of us burned down because of our legal grow in the last 8 years, I'm surprised that you didn't deduct that I was talking about home insurance.:) No problemo ekim! Our Canadian insurance companies are controlled by their counterparts in U.S. - so our companies have to obey and comply with their regulations under the American justice system.Since 1999, today we are around 1,700 (on 33 million people) in Canada who have a legal federal medical marijuana license (MMAD exemption) from the CDSA (Controlled Drugs and Substances Act) to consume and (or) grow medicinal marijuana legally. So I hope that you can deduct that it's not easy to be legal for medical marijuana in Canada.Most of us have the right to grown our own either indoor, outdoor or both.You have to re-apply every year - if your doctor still want to sign or didn't move or die since. And it's not easy to find a doctor to sign and want to take the risks to get involved with such an application.Whatever our feds touch and manage, things never work like they were suppose to - it usually turns into "bzzz".I'm just polite - this time! LOLMarc
http://medpot.net/forums
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Comment #7 posted by museman on June 29, 2007 at 10:12:08 PT
max
Exactly!
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on June 29, 2007 at 10:11:36 PT
Related Article from The New Mexican
A User’s Guide To The State’s New Medical-Marijuana Law 
 *** 
June 28, 2007 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.
 
 
 Copyright 2007 The New Mexican, Inc. http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/63981.html
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Comment #5 posted by Max Flowers on June 29, 2007 at 10:02:41 PT
I hear ya museman
Police in this country are confused about their positions. They have come to believe that they are policy-makers and not mere civil servants, just like librarians. Whatever new law is enacted, they are bound to accept it and enforce it, and are not supposed to try to create political action to reverse it. There's a conflict of interest there when they do that, in my opinion.
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Comment #4 posted by museman on June 29, 2007 at 09:45:32 PT
Too much power
"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."Since when was the power to influence and obstruct democracy given to 'Law Enforcement?'Since cannabis was made illegal by a bunch of fat-cat losers in congress, without allowing the American people a chance to make the decision for themselves.Your 'leaders' are corrupt people, and their mercenary 'police force' is composed of more criminals than are currently behind bars.Time to shed the invisible 'cloth' of the naked emporer, and start wearing the truth. It's here.
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Comment #3 posted by ekim on June 29, 2007 at 08:11:51 PT
thanks Marc
but what about the insurance on homes and cars ect.seems that once a company is known for insuring mmj patients the word would spread fast-- with hundreds of thousands here in the US i am not sure on Canada-- might be quite the company- or Co-op
http://www.stoparrestingpatients.org
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on June 29, 2007 at 07:27:08 PT
Hi Marc
It's good to see you and I hope you are doing fine. Thank you for sharing your story. 
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Comment #1 posted by Marc Paquette on June 29, 2007 at 07:12:44 PT:
Not enough plants!
Hi my Friends! :)It's okay if they let these legal medical marijuana patients grow their own, but it's important to let them grow enough plants to respect their daily prescription.An excellent alarm system is also recommended, because marijuana prohibition makes marijuana expensive, and it's legal medical marijuana users and growers are easy targets and second class citizens!Many legal medical marijuana growers also lost their home insurance - because our insurance companies say that growing marijuana is "illegal" and "criminal" (even if you are legal), and that growing marijuana indoors is a fire hazard! However, in Canada, since the inception of our federal medical marijuana program in 1999, hundreds of legal medical marijuana patients were issued a license to grow, and NONE burned down because of their legal grow - NONE in the last 8 years!I'm allowed to consume and grow my own for medical reasons since March 2000, but I only grow it since about 5 years.In Canada, it's a federal government ministry called Health Canada which issues medical marijuana exemptions (permit) under it's MMAD (Marihuana Medical Access Regulations), and they estimated that each prescribed gram of marijuana represents around 5 indoor plants - including both vegetation and flowering periods.You need to use the s.o.g. (sea of green) method to bring enough cannabis medicine in around 60 days total to respect your daily prescription.These plants are no more than 10" to 12" tall, and they will give between an average of 5-10 grams of buds each, depending the strain and variety, the amount of lighting, and also the fertilizers and nutrients used.My daily prescription of medical marijuana is 10 grams a day - so I'm allowed to grow a total of 49 indoor plants.An ounce is around 28 grams, so if a NM medical marijuana patient is prescribed 10 grams a day like me, at 7 plants total, it will surely not be enough to respect their daily prescription, and these patients will be suffer needlessly!Marc
http://medpot.net/forums
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