Many Patients Complained They Couldn't Afford $50 Card

State health officials have scrapped a proposed $50 annual fee for more than 12,000 New Mexicans licensed to buy medical marijuana, according to new proposed rules unveiled this week by the state Department of Health.

The proposed $50 fee to renew a registry ID card was one of several proposed rule changes announced in May that drew fire from many licensed medical pot users and producers. About 500 people turned out at a public hearing in June, with most opposed to the proposed changes.

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State House Dem Plans Legislation Modeled on Oregon Law, but Measure May Face GOP Challenge

ALBUQUERQUE - The conversation about whether New Mexico should join other Western states in legalizing marijuana is cranking up as state lawmakers prepare for the 2015 legislative session.

Rep. Bill McCamley, a Democrat from Southern New Mexico, took his case for legalization to fellow lawmakers Tuesday during a meeting of the interim Health and Human Services Committee.

McCamley dismissed the stoner humor of 1970s comics Cheech and Chong and said this should be a serious debate.

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The conversation about whether New Mexico should join other Western states in legalizing marijuana is cranking up as state lawmakers prepare for the 2015 legislative session.

Rep. Bill McCamley, a Democrat from southern New Mexico, took his case for legalization to fellow lawmakers Tuesday during a meeting of the interim Health and Human Services Committee.

McCamley dismissed the stoner humor of 1970s comics Cheech and Chong and said this should be a serious debate.

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NOW THAT THE voters have spoken, I hope New Mexico small government Republicans rethink their lockstep support for the 80-plus-year failed big government federal prohibition on the cannabis plant.

In 2010, Gov. Susana Martinez campaigned vowing to repeal New Mexico's medical marijuana law, which helps New Mexicans who have chronic conditions, or who might be terminally ill with cancer. After her inauguration, Martinez relented, saying "We have bigger issues that we have to deal with."

In 2014, Martinez claimed that merely reducing marijuana penalties is a "horrible, horrible idea"?

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SANTA FE - Santa Fe's city judge is dismissing citations issued by police for misdemeanor marijuana violations because the City Council has decided that people possessing small amounts of pot should instead be charged with a civil infraction.

City employees were caught by surprise when the council in August approved an ordinance outright instead of having voters decide the issue.

The ordinance took effect in September, but city employees didn't have new forms ready to charge violators with a civil infraction instead of a criminal violation.

Municipal Court Judge Ann Yalman says she's been dismissing citations filed under the old law because she no longer has jurisdiction.

Police say they'll stop sending misdemeanor citations to Municipal Court.

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One of the major arguments often heard in favor of marijuana decriminalization and legalization is that the only thing smoking weed threatens is a bag of Doritos.

Now a groundbreaking study that originated at the Mind Research Network on the campus of the University of New Mexico shows regularly getting high causes more damage than late-night munchies on a waistline.

In the study, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Dr. Vince Calhoun, a distinguished research professor of electrical and computer engineering at UNM, used three MRI techniques over several years to monitor a group of "chronic" pot smokers and compare them to a control group. Working closely with the Center for BrainHealth at the University of Texas at Dallas - including Dr. Francesca Filbey, director of Cognitive Neuroscience Research in Addictive Disorders and a former Mind Research Network colleague - he found that smoking marijuana at least three times a day over an extended period of time measurably reduces the volume of gray matter in a part of the brain associated with decision making and addiction.

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Officials Defend Practice, 'Stops Criminal Activity'

The amount of money the Albuquerque Police Department receives annually from federal forfeiture proceedings has doubled in the last five years, exceeding more than $1 million in the 2014 fiscal year, according to police records.

That money is in addition to what the city receives from seizing and sometimes selling vehicles used in repeat DWI cases. Overall, Albuquerque received about $11 million from 2010 through 2014 fiscal years from property seized by law enforcement, according to the records.

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Legalization Is Not About What State Condones but Rather What's Allowed

This past week, D.C. advanced America's 21st-century war on its 20th-century war on drugs. Now that marijuana is somewhat legal, the city's African-American residents are less likely to be disproportionately arrested for a victimless crime.

If the cannabis industry stays out of town, D.C. Council members, who should spend time fixing the city's public schools, won't be preoccupied with regulating a substance arguably less harmful than alcohol. And police officers who should be chasing bank robbers and murderers will no longer bust college students carrying dime bags.

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UNM Professor Plays a Key Role in the Groundbreaking Research

Longtime, chronic marijuana use causes significant abnormalities in brain function and structure - and perhaps lower IQ - according to a major new study conducted in part at the Mind Research Network on the campus of the University of New Mexico.

Chronic users tend to have a smaller volume of gray matter in a part of the brain associated with decision making and addiction and a marked increase in a function called brain connectivity, which researchers said may be an attempt by the brain to make up for the decreased gray matter volume.

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SANTA FE - Santa Fe police continue to file some marijuana citations under state criminal law despite a new city ordinance that reduces penalties for possession of small amounts of pot.

About two of every five citations issued since the City Council's Aug. 27 vote were issued under the state law that carries a higher potential penalty than the city ordinance.

City Councilor Signe Lindell said the council clearly asked that those cases be the lowest priority for police and that they stay in the city court system.

Police spokeswoman Celina Espinoza said possession of small amounts of pot continues to be a low law enforcement priority for police.

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I WOULD LIKE to offer my opinion about marijuana decriminalization.

Here in the state of New Mexico, we have some of the weakest marijuana laws of all states. Now obviously this would not include states that have already legalized marijuana - Washington and Colorado. You will hear the argument that too many people are in prison for non-violent - drug - crimes. Yet if we are specifically talking about marijuana ... this is not true.

As you research our state laws regarding marijuana, you will find that you need to have over 100 pounds to get any significant time - over one year in prison. Having said that, we are wasting much time and taxpayer dollars to essentially lower a $50 fine to a $25 fine. This is basically what decriminalization will do

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Results Are Not Binding, and It's Unclear If They Will Turn into Government Action

Both advisory questions on the Bernalillo County ballot - marijuana decriminalization and a mental health tax - won big at the polls this week.

But whether those results will translate into government action isn't clear.

The county itself has little authority over marijuana laws, for example, and Tuesday's election results aren't binding, in any case. The issue hasn't advanced far in the Legislature during past sessions and that was before Republicans this week won control of the House.

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A little-known battle in this country's marijuana war is underway in a small town of 1,500 in western Colorado, known (if at all) for its underground coal mines, 12 wineries, a microbrewery, organic vegetables and fruit - and its perfect climate for growing pot.

The town is Paonia and, this November, its registered voters will decide whether to allow the sale of pot for recreational use. Looking back at the history of this town, nestled at the base of 11,400-foot Mount Lamborn on the North Fork of the Gunnison River, it is clear that the battle lines in today's culture war were drawn long ago.

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Non-Binding Question on Tuesday's Ballot Will Ask About Support for Decriminalization

You might call it an "altitude check."

Voters in Santa Fe County have a chance to weigh in on just how high they are on seeing their elected officials, law enforcement and courts lighten up on marijuana laws.

They will do so by answering an advisory question appearing on the Tuesday general election ballot that asks whether the County Commission should "support county, city and statewide efforts to decriminalize possession of one ounce or less of marijuana."

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Legalizing Drug Would Lower Violence, Other Negative Factors, but Discussion of Addiction Is Vital, Too

On a warm Seattle summer evening in 1978, my wife wanted to talk about my increasingly frequent pot smoking: "I feel you've abandoned me, that the person I married - even when you're sitting next to me on the couch - is not there."

She had complained before about my use, and I'd tried to reassure her. "It's not as if I'm stoned every day," I'd counter. "Is it that different from having a drink or two?" I'd promise to cut back, but my resolve would give way, and I'd start to cut corners, making exceptions to the rules I'd set. Eventually I'd slide right back to where I started.

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Advisory Questions Can Serve a Role in Public Policy Decisions

As the people working on marijuana decriminalization, we appreciate the opportunity to respond to the "emphatic no" that the Albuquerque Journal Editorial Board gave to our advisory question.

We have heard opponents of marijuana policy reform time and again use every excuse in the book against us. Now the excuse is that your vote doesn't count. We're sure that left many asking: Then why show up?

It's important to show up because every single vote counts. The simple fact is that advisory questions do matter, they do affect the laws our lawmakers enact, and you can help create that change.

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Critics Say Question Is Misleading; Supporters Say It Lets Voters Speak

Voters in Bernalillo and Santa Fe counties have a chance this fall to offer their advice to policy-makers on state and local efforts to decriminalize possession of an ounce or less of marijuana.

The election results won't enact a specific ordinance or otherwise require the counties to take action.

Supporters say it's a chance for voters to weigh in ahead of next year's session of the state Legislature and to encourage local policy-makers to respond. Critics say it is disingenuous, misleading and a transparent effort to encourage pot-smoking advocates to vote rather than stay home.

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A non-binding question about pot seems to be growing interest in Bernalillo County ballots.

Eighteen early voting centers opened throughout the county on Saturday, the first day early voting was available at numerous locations.

Several people who cast a ballot on Saturday afternoon at the Glenwood Village shopping center near Tramway and Montgomery in Albuquerque said the pot question was one of the issues that they felt most strongly about this year. The governor's race was the another question on several voters' minds.

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SANTA FE - A Santa Fe City Council majority Wednesday night reaffirmed its support for decriminalizing possession of small amounts marijuana under city code, adopting administrative procedures needed to implement a decriminalization ordinance that the council approved in a 5-4 vote Aug. 27

Three councilors - Bill Dimas, Ron Trujillo and Chris Rivera - also restated their opposition to making possession of an ounce or less of pot merely a civil infraction punishable by a fine of $25 or less.

"We're just inviting drug dealers into our community," said Dimas. Rivera noted that city police continue to have the option to charge violators under a state criminal statute, punishable by jail time, and said many people don't realize they can still "be in trouble" for having pot. Rivera also said officers who charge violators in criminal court instead of issuing a civil citation will face accusations that "you charged my son because he's Hispanic" or because he wears baggy pants.

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The Lessons Learned From Legalizing Alcohol Should Be a Role Model for Why Decriminalizing Drugs Is a Bad Idea

When I first read Diane Dimond's column, "When will we really listen to the experts on drugs?", my first mental response was, this woman really is out of touch as to how and why we have the prisons overflowing and the social issues that plague us today over drugs.

I only agree with one portion of her column, "We believe that by placing drug abuse in the hands of medical professionals instead of the criminal justice system, we will reduce rates of addiction and overdose deaths," says LEAP's mission statement. "We believe that in a regulated and controlled environment, drugs will be safer for adult use and less accessible to our children."

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