cannabisnews.com: New Mexico Won't Supply MMJ To Medical Patients





New Mexico Won't Supply MMJ To Medical Patients
Posted by CN Staff on August 15, 2007 at 16:47:22 PT
By The Associated Press
Source: Albuquerque Tribune
Santa Fe, NM -- New Mexico won't be growing its own after all. The state Health Department said Wednesday it will not comply with the portion of the new medical marijuana law that requires it to oversee production and distribution of the drug."The Department of Health will not subject its employees to potential federal prosecution, and therefore will not distribute or produce medical marijuana," said Dr. Alfredo Vigil, who heads the agency.
The department will continue to certify patients as eligible to possess marijuana, protecting them from state prosecution, Vigil said.Thirty patients have been approved to participate in the program since the law took effect July 1, according to a department spokeswoman. The law was passed by the 2007 Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Bill Richardson, who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination.Medical marijuana advocates urged the agency to reconsider its stance on producing marijuana so that patients would be able to get the drug from a source that was legal under state law."I remember certain legislators talking about how they didn't want their grandmother to have to go into some alley and deal with some criminal element," said Reena Szczepanski, a lobbyist for Drug Policy Alliance New Mexico who helped push the legislation through this year.Szczepanski also said the department is "leaving itself vulnerable to a lawsuit" for not complying with the law."I hope that the department is not closing the door to production and distribution entirely," Szczepanski said.New Mexico - alone among the dozen states with medical marijuana laws - requires that the state license marijuana producers and develop a distribution system. The rules were to be issued by Oct. 1.Attorney General Gary King cautioned last week that the agency and its employees could face federal prosecution for implementing the new law, and that the attorney general can't defend state workers in criminal cases.Marijuana is illegal under federal law, but medical marijuana advocates say no state employee ever has been federally prosecuted for implementing a state medical marijuana law.King should provide "more meaningful legal direction to the department," Szczepanski said.Under the current program, certified patients may possess a three-month supply of marijuana, including plants.The department will go ahead with the process of making permanent rules governing that part of the program, said spokeswoman Deborah Busemeyer."What we're doing now is what every other state is doing that has a medical marijuana law. . . . Those states have set a precedent in being able to successfully do that," she said.Going beyond that by overseeing a production and distribution system could put state employees at greater risk of federal prosecution, she said.Source: Albuquerque Tribune (NM)Published: August 15, 2007Copyright: 2007 The Albuquerque TribuneContact: letters abqtrib.comWebsite: http://www.abqtrib.com/Related Articles:State Workers Could Face Charges for MJ Lawhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23245.shtmlLocal Doctors To Have Say in Marijuana Programhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23212.shtmlLaw Requires N.M. To Grow Its Own Pothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23140.shtml 
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Comment #33 posted by FoM on August 16, 2007 at 17:22:50 PT
whig
I understand. 
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Comment #32 posted by whig on August 16, 2007 at 17:16:30 PT
FoM
When people have to pay all of their money to a landlord or a bank that they don't have enough to eat there is a problem and it is a recipe for enslavement and tyranny.
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Comment #31 posted by whig on August 16, 2007 at 17:13:34 PT
FoM
I specifically said, "I don't think we should get rid of land titles or banks" sorry for any confusion if this seems like I want to abolish either. I just think that we need to address concentrated paper wealth.
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Comment #30 posted by whig on August 16, 2007 at 17:12:20 PT
FoM
No disagreement. The banking and land monopolies are people who control vastly more money and land than you or 99% of the people.
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Comment #29 posted by FoM on August 16, 2007 at 16:37:49 PT
whig
I still don't understand. We need banks and we need a title to land if we buy it. 
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Comment #28 posted by FoM on August 16, 2007 at 16:35:58 PT
Governor Bill Richardson's Comment
Excerpt: Richardson also was asked about New Mexico's decision not to grow medical marijuana because of concern that the federal government could prosecute state employees. Richardson previously supported legislation that required the state to oversee production and distribution of the medical marijuana. “The Bush administration, instead of going after cocaine dealers and big drug dealers has seen fit to go after sick people with cancer that deserve medical marijuana treatment,” Richardson said. “It shows their misguided priorities, and so I'm evaluating the situation.”  http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20070816-1241-onthe2008trail.html
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Comment #27 posted by whig on August 16, 2007 at 15:41:09 PT
FoM
I don't think we should get rid of land titles or banks, both serve a purpose but too much concentration of any kind of wealth is bad for everyone and leads many people to starve just to pay rent.
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Comment #26 posted by FoM on August 16, 2007 at 15:30:39 PT
whig
What is a landed monopoly? The only think I can think it could mean is like what Farm Aid fights against. Corporations force small farmers out of business and then they make inhumane factory farms. I don't know if a farmer can plant his own seeds or if he must buy them every year which makes no sense to me.
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Comment #25 posted by RevRayGreen on August 16, 2007 at 15:07:16 PT
Do to work
I wasn't able to make Gov. Richardson's soapbox at the Iowa State Fair, but next time I don't have to work and
he is appearing in DSM, I will be there to talk to him again about this very issue. Missed the Gouliani soapbox
as well, but when I was leaving the fair Sunday I did give one of
his supporters a piece of my mind, of course the young
Republican't handing out lit had no idea about his position and the Perdue Pharmiscam he helped broker.
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Comment #24 posted by whig on August 16, 2007 at 14:04:57 PT
museman
The banking monopoly is secondary to the landed monopoly.
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Comment #23 posted by museman on August 16, 2007 at 12:01:09 PT
say it again and again
"Our neighborhood bullies just happen to be our government, and they're just a punk-ass gang of rich kids who are hopelessly outnumbered by those who are being bullied.""...just a punk-ass gang of rich kids..."No representation, no humanity, no compassion, no constitutionality, no reason for having power except...
 
"...just a punk-ass gang of rich kids..."And our bank accounts are petty cash for their wars and economic slavery, our lives mere statistical place-setters for their mythical assets- manifested by OUR ENERGY -not theirs. Our system is corrupt, and doomed. It cannot be saved. And as long as we keep feeding the beast with the substance and time of our lives, the beast will keep empowering the "punk-ass gang of rich kids" and they will luxuriate while we struggle;"It is pleasant, when the sea is high and the winds are dashing the waves about, to watch from the shores the struggles of another." - Lycurgus of Sparta (the royal founder of Sparta - a Nephalim)Time to disband the aristocracies, the elite social clubs, and especially the Masons. Time to equalize, and if we don't do it by refusing to supply the "punk-ass gang of rich kids" with their cannon fodder, and their slave-labor pool, then God and Nature are poised and ready to clean up the "punk-ass gang of rich kids" mess, but at a price that no one wants.Unfortunately, most of America has been heavily brainwashed by materialism, and most of the rest of the world -peoplewise- gives us no credibility any more, because though it is obvious as obvious can be that we not only have an emporer, but that it is naked, ugly, and stinkin', and most of America - at least 'comfortable America' is in extreme denial.If we don't give them the power by valuing their choice of mental inventions (air-based economy = the illusory and usury banking system. Political power completely dependant upon that device and invention. Class superiority.) over the REAL substance and providence of Creation, then they wither and fade, become dust in the wind. But they have so many convinced that their game is the only one, they can act with relative impunity - like the current monkey tribe in office.Truth, justice, and social balance is not in their toolkit, but it can be in ours.Find ways to refuse their power. Take away the support of the duped, and the "punk-ass gang of rich kids" will suddenly be a bunch of lost and crying babies in dire need of a butt whoopin'.
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Comment #22 posted by whig on August 16, 2007 at 11:42:03 PT
Storm Crow
A lot of people think that Bill Richardson doesn't have a chance to be president in 2008 and maybe not but he's a good man and I haven't withdrawn my endorsement. I'm glad he's standing up for us and I hope he will continue to do so.
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Comment #21 posted by Storm Crow on August 16, 2007 at 09:55:45 PT
Also...
Ed was "deputized", not a regular employee of the state. I think this distinction is an important one in this case. And I wonder what Richardson is going to say about this turn of events? Or if he will dare to address it. 
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Comment #20 posted by FoM on August 16, 2007 at 09:47:14 PT
whig
I love Ice Road Truckers because truckers are my kind of people. I agree diamonds aren't worth it though. Truckers are gruff but they have good hearts at least the one's I know. I admire these men for fighting the elements and doing what they do even though it is risky. They want to take care of their families.
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Comment #19 posted by whig on August 16, 2007 at 09:46:37 PT
Penalty phase
Remember Ed Rosenthal was convicted but only sentenced to one day.That's no excuse for him being made a felon, and if he is appealing I hope he will prevail or ultimately he will deserve a pardon at any rate.Can someone in New Mexico simply stand up and say to the governor and the AG and whoever else, I volunteer to take this job, I want to grow cannabis and save the lives of New Mexicans, and I defy the federal government to prosecute me for healing the sick on behalf of the government of my state. -- And if someone did this, could the governor refuse to overrule the AG and appoint someone who will take this job?
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Comment #18 posted by whig on August 16, 2007 at 09:40:49 PT
Some jobs are risky
I'm not a fan of Ice Road Truckers or whatever the show is called because I don't think diamonds are worth human lives being put at such risks, but people take risks for their jobs sometimes. Nobody should ever be forced to take a risky job but if you choose it because you think it's something worth doing then that's your choice.
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Comment #17 posted by whig on August 16, 2007 at 09:38:47 PT
Solution
The AG could make an opinion that the participation in the state program may carry the risk of federal prosecution and that the state would underwrite the defense of that person but that anyone who accepts that job accepts the risk of prosecution by the federal government.Then people volunteer who want to take that risk knowing the circumstances.
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Comment #16 posted by whig on August 16, 2007 at 09:36:13 PT
Storm Crow
I don't know but I think the federal government's prosecution of Ed Rosenthal is very important at this stage because it shows they are willing to use federal law against someone deputized under state authority.
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Comment #15 posted by Storm Crow on August 16, 2007 at 09:16:16 PT
Selective non-enforcement of the law?
"The state Health Department said Wednesday it will not comply with the portion of the new medical marijuana law that requires it to oversee production and distribution of the drug."The Department of Health will not subject its employees to potential federal prosecution, and therefore will not distribute or produce medical marijuana,"So the state government (DoH) is now SELECTIVELY obeying the laws the people have passed???? THEY get to pick and choose WHICH of the laws they follow???? What's wrong with this picture?
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Comment #14 posted by FoM on August 16, 2007 at 08:55:41 PT
BGreen
I liked what you said about pumping speed into our young people and soldiers. That really bothers me too.
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on August 16, 2007 at 08:53:06 PT
Whig
You are doing fine so don't let it worry you. We all see this issue our own way and have our own beliefs. I respect that. I want to see the laws changed so that no one has to go to jail or lose a job over using cannabis. 
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Comment #12 posted by BGreen on August 16, 2007 at 08:51:28 PT
Stop pumping kids full of speed, too!
We pump our kids full of speed to calm them down and make them more manageable, and we pump our soldiers full of speed to make them stay awake and kill more effectively.Nobody REALLY cares about the kids when they lie to destroy the cannabis plant and its' partakers, they just hate.If this government thinks they can destroy us, they've got a big face slap awaiting them. Driving us underground won't destroy us, it will just make their jobs even more futile.History shows that every repressive regime eventually falls due in large part to the efforts of those they have pushed underground for their beliefs and thoughts.We won't stop, but it'll be harder than hell to keep track of us and destroy us when we're not out in the open for you to easily find.Somebody has to stand up to the neighborhood bullies or we will be senselessly beaten every day for the rest of our lives.Our neighborhood bullies just happen to be our government, and they're just a punk-ass gang of rich kids who are hopelessly outnumbered by those who are being bullied.The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #11 posted by whig on August 16, 2007 at 08:42:04 PT
FoM
I tried to explain but I don't think I can do so without talking more specifically than I want to about things especially since this is a public forum. I just feel like I'm not always focused on the local situation because I'm talking to people around the country and elsewhere much more than I am people in my own community. Political compromises aren't easy for me, but they are necessarily part of any real world solution. So what I'm saying is not everyone does things for the same reasons I do and that's okay, and that doesn't mean either I am wrong or the other people are wrong just different if that makes sense.There are a lot of reasons for ending cannabis prohibition, and a lot of people to gain a lot by it, nothing wrong with that at all. I'm focused on medical need and the religious right to use cannabis more than I am concerned for larger objectives, and money issues really make me unable to really feel like a full partner in some things. There are some people who are really helping to provide cannabis to people who need it and I want to help and support their activities but I can't be a dispenser myself and still say the things I do because it would affect my ability to say things and be respected and I think it would weaken my ability to defend and promote cannabis as beneficial.I guess I just want to know that I'm doing more good than harm overall by talking and writing about this from my perspective or should I shut up and let people who have been doing this longer and know the politics of the situation do what they need to do and stay out of their way. I'm so likely to make mistakes I feel like I'm creating problems and I feel stupid and unhelpful sometimes.
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Comment #10 posted by FoM on August 16, 2007 at 06:56:44 PT
Whig
You mentioned children and I wanted to add this. Parents are the ones that raise their children. Most parents want the very best for their children. Parents don't want childrens heads full of mind alterating substances I don't believe. I am not for children doing any substance and believe the only people that should try to change the laws for children are parents not activists. If parents want their children to smoke marijuana then they need to get involved in reform. I respect parent's rights. That goes with drug testing in school too. 
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Comment #9 posted by FoM on August 16, 2007 at 06:13:59 PT
Whig
What's wrong? You might as well say what is bothering you and we can talk about it.Let me explain why I feel like I do at this time. When I became interested in changing the laws on marijuana it was because of my son being denied medical marijuana when he asked his hospice nurse back in early 1996. He passed away on Memorial Day in 96 and Prop 215 passed that November. I saw Dennis Perone on the news and he was the one that inspired me to do something even though I never talked with him. His energy was contagious. I needed to find a way to stay busy and try to do something good for Aids patients. That's why I started reading news and posting news on Marihemp.com before it became Marihemp.com.Now I'll jump forward. I was given CannabisNews.com by Ron Bennett and this all began. I didn't get involved in any online fights and did my own thing since fighting isn't what I wanted to do. I asked if all political parties were ok or did I have to be a Libertarian or a Republican. I wouldn't have even begun doing CNews if I hadn't been reassured that political party affiliations isn't an issue. Now that I know what I know I don't think that marijuana reform has ever been anything but a Libertarian push and I am not even close to being part of that movement. That's all I can think to say for now but I'll try to explain more if anything comes to me.
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Comment #8 posted by Toker00 on August 16, 2007 at 05:09:28 PT
Whig
That's what I think.Toke.
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Comment #7 posted by whig on August 15, 2007 at 22:20:14 PT
What do you think?
I've only been doing cannabis advocacy for a little bit and I think I'm kind of an idiot sometimes. I really feel like I have no idea what is going on around me and I don't want to be creating problems for everyone else who is doing what they need to do.I don't have all the answers. I just talk way more than I probably should, before I know what I'm talking about sometimes, because I want the conversation, because that's how I learn, and that's how I think a lot of people learn. I can't know what you know unless you tell me, and how do I find out what you know unless I tell you something that I think and you correct me. Or else I can ask it as a question but when I was taught to do mathematics it was always produce the answer first even if it's wrong.I manage to do this pretty well most of the time (but not always) when I'm writing, because I can stop and back up what I wrote if I think it was especially idiotic. If you think I've said some idiotic things, you should have seen what you never read.Hopefully I'm not making the same mistakes repeatedly, and learning from them, and passing on something useful when I do learn lessons. Life is an educational process.I guess my question is, Would it be better to be silent? I mean, if I'm going to say the wrong thing and people are going to either do something dumb or be angry at me for saying it, should I shut up? Sometimes, yes. Sometimes, I should just keep my dumb mouth shut.But posting online is different in some ways from being in a physical setting, very important ways. Time isn't really limited here, nobody is really interrupting anyone or taking anyone's time away from anything they don't care to read.I'm tempted to just delete all of this but I want to put my stream of consciousness up for the sake of this, so you can help me understand what I should be doing differently or better or more of or less of.
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Comment #6 posted by whig on August 15, 2007 at 21:51:59 PT
Local/State/Federal
All levels are different and have different priorities, and different localities and different states don't think about things the same. On top of that there are many competing interests in each of these, which are hard to reconcile with one another.I can become very confused to hear all of these different ways people are approaching this and what we are all trying to achieve.I think perhaps I get very enthusiastic and perhaps overstate my case in order to consider the ramifications, while understanding that everything that can be thought can be achieved and may or may not be good.The front-lawn cannabis thing is pretty silly, okay?You know you can tell me when I'm going too far. We don't really need to be making it too accessible to the children. It's not good to give cannabis to children because they haven't really developed yet. Unless a doctor says the child must have it for some reason, in that case it should be done.But I think we should be honest about it, and explain that like other things adults do we don't think it's right for children.
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on August 15, 2007 at 20:30:29 PT
Federal Law
I don't believe that state's rights even matters to this administration. They don't want any medical marijuana anywhere and they are on a mission. Many people could go to jail over this and it really bothers me. We really need to change the Federal Law.
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Comment #4 posted by dongenero on August 15, 2007 at 20:04:33 PT
NM should press to expand Fed. program
Medical Marijuana
220 Pounds and Still Smoking
 On November 20, 2005 Irv Rosenfeld, a Ft. Lauderdale stockbroker, will have smoked 220 pounds
of US government marijuana/cannabis over a 23-year period.The longest using patient in the federal governments Compassionate Use Program,
with only 7 US citizens being shown such compassion, Irv has benefited from this
medicine without negative side effects of any type.
“The US government has never had a moment’s hesitation about providing him
and the other six US citizens this medicine. The researchers at NIDA knew
from the outset of this program that cannabis was non-toxic to humans
and of significant benefit for the health of some individuals”,   said Al Byrne, co-founder of the national educational charity called Patients Out of Time.
“They knew, because all of the more than two-dozen studies conducted by countries
around the globe, including the US, have come to that conclusion.”“Chronic Cannabis Use in the Compassionate Investigational New Drug Program:
An Examination of Benefits and Adverse Effects of Legal Clinical Cannabis”
by E. Russo, MD and M.L. Mathre, RN,
confirmed that for four of the federal patients studied including Irv
(the others wished to remain anonymous) the government was right. View PDFIrv is both a teacher and competitor in the sport of sailing for the handicapped.
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Comment #3 posted by Wayne on August 15, 2007 at 19:56:42 PT
AFRAID of the government
'"The Department of Health will not subject its employees to potential federal prosecution, and therefore will not distribute or produce medical marijuana," said Dr. Alfredo Vigil, who heads the agency.'Well I bet that makes them feel warm and cozy. Don't want the big bad Feds to get their greasy hand on those fine employees of yours, now do we? That might cut down on productivity!Where's that libertarian spirit that the West is supposedly so famous for? This guy sounds like a p--sy to me.
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Comment #2 posted by RevRayGreen on August 15, 2007 at 18:44:55 PT
This could get
very interesting.............
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Comment #1 posted by mayan on August 15, 2007 at 18:21:39 PT
Fear of Feds
The terrorist feds are so out of control. That should be obvious by now to even the most loyal republicans. I'm wondering how much longer before EVERYONE marches on the white house with pitch-forks and torches as we tar & feather Bush Laden and the rest of the crooked regime. THE WAY OUT IS THE WAY IN...FED ATTEMPTS TO BAIL OUT BANKRUPT WALL STREET SPECULATORS; CHENEY DEMANDS STAGED TERROR ATTACKS, WAR WITH IRAN: 
http://mujca.com/tarpley8_07.htmTerrorism windfall: Investigate thoroughly if defenses fail again:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/25851ABC: Al Qaeda Videos May Be Doctored: 
http://prisonplanet.com/articles/august2007/150807Doctored.htmChina's Tallest Building Catches Fire, Does Not Collapse:
http://infowars.com/articles/sept11/china_tallest_building_catches_fire_no_collapse.htmWHAT ABOUT THE PENTAGON?
http://911proof.com/13.html9/11 WAS AN INSIDE JOB - OUR NATION IS IN PERIL:
http://www.911sharethetruth.com/
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