NM law sets stage for new federal drive in Congress

Presidential candidate and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson signed the nation’s 12th state medical marijuana law April 2 in a move advocates said will likely jump-start efforts to reform federal policy.

The signing came in the wake of new research documenting marijuana’s medical value and public outrage at the Appeals Court’s rejection of Angel Raich’s medical marijuana due process claim.

GREENING OF AMERICA — Map of medical marijuana states is superimposed over the window sign of a Los Angeles dispensary. Passage of New Mexico’s law gives more Americans safe access. Arizona’s law is invalid due to its wording. Oaksterdam News photo by Jaime Galindo

New Mexico joins Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington in protecting medical marijuana patients from arrest.

Democrat Richardson, the first presidential candidate to have supported medical marijuana by signing it into law, has consistently voiced his strong support for the bill and was a major proponent in ensuring its passage.

“Gov. Richardson is showing his compassion for seriously ill people, and he is also reflecting the will of the majority of New Mexicans and the American people,” said Drug Policy Alliance NM director Reena Szczepanski.

“I hope other elected officials take note: Americans will stand behind those that believe in compassion and mercy for our most vulnerable, our sick and dying patients struggling for relief.”

Added Rob Kampia, director of the Marijuana Policy Project, “The American public, too, is solidly behind medical marijuana. An October 2005 Gallup poll found that 78 percent of voters supported allowing physicians to prescribe marijuana to reduce pain and suffering. Politicians are learning that supporting medical marijuana doesn’t cost support — it gains votes.”

The hallmark of New Mexico’s medical marijuana bill is its strict controls and safeguards to prevent abuse. It will be one of the most tightly regulated programs in the country. The State Department of Health will develop the program’s rules and regulations and also regulate licensed producers, ensuring that security and safety issues are addressed.

Following the NM Senate’s passage of SB523 by 32-3, the New Mexico House of Representatives passed the SB 523 by a 36-31 margin during the 2007 legislative session.    “Governor Richardson’s action is the clearest sign yet that the politicians are finally catching up with the people on the issue of medical marijuana,” said Aaron Houston, director of government relations for MPP.

“Backing from the medical community is solidifying as new research continues to document marijuana’s benefits. Support in Congress keeps growing, and this could be the year the federal government finally ends its cruel attacks on the sick in states where medical marijuana is legal.”

Former Republican Congressman Bob Barr of Georgia recently joined MPP’s lobbying effort. MPP is working with DPA and other organizations and supportive members of Congress to pass an amendment to end federal medical marijuana raids in states where it is legalized.

A University of California study published in the Feb. 13 issue of the journal Neurology found that marijuana effectively relieved a type of severe nerve pain that afflicts hundreds of thousands with HIV/AIDS, and is similar to the type of pain experienced by many patients suffering from multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and other illnesses.

A wide variety of medical and health organizations support legal access to medical marijuana, including the American Public Health Assn, American Nurses Assn, American Academy of HIV Medicine, and Lymphoma Foundation of America.

With more than 21,000 members and 100,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the US and believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For online information, visit MarijuanaPolicy.org.