HOW AND WHY we have let the police engage in what is essentially racketeering is beyond my comprehension. The fact that we seem to have little ability to control the police troubles me terribly. Because our taxes pay for what police do, we are complicit when they unjustly harm people and seize their property.

Today, an acquaintance of mine told me about an incident in which he was pulled over and told the officer that he'd had one drink. The officer put him through several tests, including a Breathalyzer, which he easily passed.

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Governor to Decide Fate of Legislation; Federal Bill Paved the Way

SANTA FE - With the federal government loosening its grip on industrial hemp, there's a resurgence of interest in growing it in New Mexico - and a bill on the governor's desk to kick-start that.

It authorizes the state Department of Agriculture to oversee and license the growing of industrial hemp for research and development purposes.

That would be a big breakthrough for the pl a nt that has been out lawed for decades because it's part of the marijuana family.

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Men Told State Officer Cop Took Cash, Drugs

What are the chances of two men who say they were carrying a large amount of cash and transporting marijuana being pulled over twice by police on the same day on interstate highways in New Mexico?

Despite the odds, that's what the drug carriers and federal investigators say happened - with widely varying results.

The second traffic stop, for following too closely on Interstate 40 about 9:30 p.m. June 25 in Cibola County, eventually led investigators to the recent bust of a northern New Mexico deputy accused of making deals with drug carriers.

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City Ordinance to Decriminalize Marijuana Possession Is Ignored

SANTA FE - Last summer, the Santa Fe City Council took action to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, making it a civil nuisance violation under city law as opposed to a criminal charge under a coexisting state statute.

But it appears Santa Fe police officers, who retained the discretion to cite offenders under either law, lately have been ignoring the city ordinance altogether.

The difference is significant. Those charged under state law face a criminal petty misdemeanor - punishable by up to 15 days in jail and fines up to $100 - that remains on a person's record.

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Part-time farmer Jerry Fuentes has spent the last 15 years championing industrial hemp as the perfect crop for drought-ridden New Mexico and corporate America.

Hemp is used to make auto dashboards, briefcases, carpeting, insulation and an array of other products. Even so, Fuentes' attempt to legalize industrial hemp seemed like a fool's errand or a cause for rebels, not button-down businessmen.

Industrial hemp is a cousin of the marijuana plant. So no matter how straight-laced industrial hemp production is, and no matter how many captains of industry import products made of hemp in other countries, it could not shake outlaw status in the United States.

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As Marijuana Becomes Increasingly Acceptable, Contradictory Federal and State Laws Raise Numerous Issues, Ignite Disputes

Marijuana has evolved from a substance that a former U.S. president "tried but never inhaled" to a state tax bonanza, exotic medical treatment and a frequent subject of employment-related disputes.

Colorado, Washington, Alaska and the District of Columbia have now legalized recreational use, although the District's enactment is complex and has significant limits.

Almost half the states and the District of Columbia permit medical marijuana. Nonetheless, under federal law, marijuana is still listed as a Schedule One drug under the U.S. Controlled Substances Act. U.S. attorneys can pursue growers and dispensers of marijuana, even though such business may be "legal" under state law.

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HB 560 Targets Abuse but Is Still Tough on Crime and Takes the Profits Out of Serious Crime

For those New Mexicans who believe in bipartisan government, reaching across the aisle and the political spectrum - there is good news. The New Mexico Legislature unanimously passed HB 560, without a single dissenting vote in either house.

HB 560 revises the procedure involved in the forfeiting of citizens' assets by government agencies, a practice referred to as "asset forfeiture."

Every year, federal and state law enforcement agents seize billions of dollars during traffic stops, simply by alleging the money is connected to some illegal activity. Under federal and New Mexico's laws, these agencies are entitled to keep most - and sometimes all - of the money and property, even if the property owner is never convicted and, in some cases, never charged with a crime.

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Law Enforcement Seeks Veto of Legislation Ending Civil Asset Forfeiture

SANTA FE - Prompted by calls from across the political spectrum, New Mexico lawmakers took aim during this year's 60-day legislative session at civil asset forfeiture - decried by some as "policing for profit."

The measure, which was approved unanimously by the House and Senate, would prevent law enforcement from seizing money, cars or other types of property from people on civil grounds during an arrest or traffic stop on suspicion the property was connected to a crime.

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When is this country going to wake up - really wake up - to the catastrophe that prescription opioid painkillers have caused since they came into widespread use in the early 1990s?

Before then, deaths related to prescription opioid overdose were practically unknown. In 2013, though, opioids killed 16,235 people; that's approximately half as many as died in traffic accidents that year, and about 2,000 more than were murdered. Both traffic accidents and murder have been declining for years, however, while painkiller-related deaths quadrupled between 1999 and 2013, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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A majority of the nonprofits licensed to grow medical marijuana for the state are suing the state Department of Health and Secretary Retta Ward over new rules adopted last month for the state's Medical Cannabis Program. They claim the new rules are arbitrary and capricious, are not evidence-based and are unenforceable because they exceed the department's authority.

Organized under the name Cannabis Producers of New Mexico Inc., 19 producers say in documents filed in District Court late Monday that they want the court to declare the new administrative rules void, stop the department from enforcing them and require that patient forms published after the rule conform to state statute.

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Having Less Than 1 Ounce Means a Fine

SANTA FE - The Senate on Saturday voted to lessen penalties for possessing small amounts of marijuana, while the House voted to clamp down on medical marijuana providers.

The bill to decriminalize the possession of an ounce or less of marijuana squeaked out of the Senate on a vote of 21-20 and went to the House, with a week to go in the legislative session.

Under the bill, an offender would be ticketed and fined $50 for having an ounce or less of the drug.

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Three senators, two Democrats and a Republican, introduced a bill on Monday that would allow patients to use marijuana for medical purposes in states where it is legal, without fear of federal prosecution for violating narcotics laws.

The bill makes a number of important changes to federal marijuana policies - and it deserves to be passed by Congress and enacted into law. Though this legislation would not repeal the broad and destructive federal ban on marijuana, it is a big step in the right direction.

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A Senate bill that would allow farmers in the state to grow industrial hemp for research only has sailed through its first New Mexico House panel.

The Agriculture, Water and Wildlife Committee Wednesday unanimously approved and moved Albuquerque Democrat Sen. Cisco McSorley's proposed legislation to the Judiciary Committee.

McSorley's proposal would allow the New Mexico Department of Agriculture to set up regulations and fees for the processing of hemp for research and development, not for sale.

Hemp has a negligible content of THC, the psychoactive compound that gives marijuana users a high. Many products made from hemp, such as oils and clothing, are legal.

The federal government currently allows growing hemp for research. A bill pending in Congress, if passed, would approve cultivation for commercial production as well.

[end]

Privacy Arguments Aside This Testing Is Expensive and Does Not Effectively Screen for Good Employees.

Legal barriers to marijuana are falling all over the United States. Pot, tried by nearly half of all Americans at some point in their lives, is already legal in some form in 23 states, and four states allow recreational use. Last month, two House bills were filed that could end the federal prohibition of marijuana, including one which would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act's schedules and regulate it similarly to alcohol.

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High-Value Crop Would Be for Research and Development, Not for Sale

SANTA FE (AP) - The New Mexico Senate has given a thumbs-up to allowing farmers in the state to grow industrial hemp for research only.

The Senate voted 33-8 Monday to approve Albuquerque Democrat Sen. Cisco McSorley's legislation.

The federal government currently allows growing hemp for research. A bill pending in Congress would approve cultivation for commercial production as well.

The state will be poised to capitalize on the drought-resistant plant as a cash crop once federal restrictions are lifted, McSorley said. Farming groups have supported the legislation because of ongoing drought in the state and hemp's potential as a cash crop.

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A former Bernalillo County prosecutor told a group of UNM law students Wednesday that the decades-old war on drugs "has failed in every respect and exacerbated every problem it was called on to fix."

Ethan Simon, an assistant district attorney from 2008 to 2011, spoke on behalf of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, a group of police officers and former officers who oppose the prohibition on drugs. He was invited to the University of New Mexico School of Law by Students for Sensible Drug Policy.

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No pot smoker would put hemp in his pipe. No pot grower wants his (outside) crop to be anywhere near a hemp patch because cross-pollination would ruin his crop's potency. Many useful products come from hemp fibers: A World War I poster reads "Hemp for the War" to make ropes. It is ignorant, illogical and wasteful to classify hemp with cultivated marijuana. Let hemp growing be allowed.

Bob Williams

Los Alamos

[end]

Producer Licenses Are on Hold for Now

Increasing the maximum allowable concentration of THC in cannabis products from 60 to 70 percent, and eliminating a proposed rule requiring patients to submit "biometric" information when applying for cards, are among the revisions to proposed new rules for the state's Medical Cannabis Program.

The recommendations were made by Albuquerque attorney Susan Hapka, the hearing officer hired to oversee the state Health Department's overhaul of the program. Her report was filed with the Health Department on Thursday, which is "in the process of reviewing it" before making final decisions about rules, said department spokesman Kenny Vigil on Friday. He added that there was "no set time frame for finalizing the rules."

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A bill to allow New Mexico farmers to grow an industrial version of marijuana's nonintoxicating cousin has passed a Senate panel.

The Senate Conservation Committee voted unanimously this week to send the Industrial Hemp Farming Act to the Senate Judicial Committee without a recommendation.

Sen. Cisco McSorley, an Albuquerque Democrat, recently filed the legislation, Senate Bill 94, aimed at legalizing the selling of hemp and licensing of farmers to grow the crop.

[end]

A hearing officer hired to oversee the state Health Department's overhaul of its Medical Cannabis Program is recommending several revisions to the proposed new rules, including elimination of a requirement that applicants submit biometric information and an increase in the allowable concentrations of THC in marijuana produced for the program's patients.

Patients, producers and would-be producers for the program have been closely following the rule-change process, in part because the Health Department has said it would not begin issuing licenses to new producers until after the new rules are in place.

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