Partners in Planned Medical Cannabis Chain Blame State Obstruction Duke Rodriguez's plan to build a statewide chain of cannabis retail stores has hit a snag. Rodriguez, owner of Ultra Health LLC, contends that state regulators have slow-tracked his request to open at least 14 new stores, most in communities that now lack dispensaries. "We're just caught in this limbo with no formal response," Rodriguez said this week. "We have met every single request that they have presented, including evidence that we were able to secure product." [continues 362 words]
Marijuana is just one of many issues in which the government is so far behind the people, it's beyond funny. The Drug Enforcement Administration proved this again just last week when it announced that after weeks of reviewing a petition to reclassify marijuana so it's no longer a Schedule 1 drug, along with heroin, Quaaludes and various psychedelics. Some who follow this issue were optimistic that the DEA might might actually reverse its long-held ironclad Reefer Madness policy. Perhaps the DEA would would reclassify marijuana as a Schedule 2 drug - along with cocaine and methamphetamine - or even lower. [continues 630 words]
Some Attorneys Given Pause by 'Gray Area' Between State, Federal Cannabis Policies Nine years after the New Mexico Legislature legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes, the state's lawyers are feeling uneasy about clients involved in the cannabis industry. The New Mexico State Bar Association, citing federal drug laws and rules of professional conduct prohibiting lawyers from assisting clients in committing a crime, is cautioning attorneys on representing medical cannabis growers and dispensaries. An opinion from the association's Ethics Advisory Committee published this week comes as businesses and regulatory groups navigate the legal gray area surrounding the licensed growing and selling of a product the federal government still classifies as a Schedule I narcotic. [continues 781 words]
IT IS WITH bewilderment that I read the article in the July 28 paper ("Gov. backs shutting teen addict center") that Turquoise Lodge is closing its adolescent unit due to "lack of demand." Couple that with the state handcuffing addiction counselors, it seems that the "war on drugs" is seen by our health officials as a "war on drug addicts." These are not evil people who freely choose to stay addicted - they are sick and need help, not the turning of our backs! [continues 116 words]
Colorado experience shows it's a winner Well, it's been long enough since Colorado became one of the first two states to approve recreational marijuana legalization in November 2012. The rumor was that New Mexico was taking a wait and see stance before embarking on it's own legalization. But now the stats are everywhere: Colorado is ranked as one of the fastest growing economies in our nation. The unemployment rate is at its lowest since 2008, well below the national average. Incarceration rates have dropped through the floor. [continues 575 words]
This is the time of year parents start worrying about back-to-school stuff. For those with college-age kids who will soon go off to live by themselves, there's an extra bit of preparation to think about. You may not realize it, but police departments across the country, especially those near colleges and universities, often "flip" students caught with even a tiny amount of marijuana and recruit them into the ranks of "confidential informant." [continues 712 words]
Without a doubt, we Americans are in a bad way. The senseless deaths last week in Baton Rouge, La., Falcon Heights, Minn., and now Dallas are devastating beyond comprehension for the victims and their families. Each shooting also is an act in a shared national tragedy. The problems go down to the very roots. The question of whether, as a country, we are headed in the right or wrong direction can no longer be answered simply with reference to policy matters such as the economy, education or foreign relations. Instead, we face the fundamental question of whether we, the people, as a single people, are holding together and can hold together. [continues 546 words]
Without a doubt, we Americans are in a bad way. The senseless deaths this week in Baton Rouge, La., Falcon Heights, Minn., and now Dallas are devastating beyond comprehension for the victims and their families. Each shooting is also an act in a shared national tragedy. The problems go down to the very roots. The question of whether, as a country, we are headed in the right or wrong direction can no longer be answered simply with reference to policy matters such as the economy, education or foreign relations. Instead, we face the fundamental question of whether we, the people, as a single people, are holding together and can hold together. [continues 554 words]
Slowly but surely, marijuana prohibition is ending. Legalization can help undo the racist impact of the war on this widely used drug - but it could also help perpetuate injustice. Four states and the District of Columbia have passed measures to legalize marijuana for adult recreational use, and many more allow use for medical purposes. Those numbers will almost certainly grow this year, with my home state of California likely leading the way. But state governments, as well as the burgeoning legal marijuana industry, need to get this right. [continues 429 words]
Former Sheriff Who Uses Medical Cannabis Can't Legally Own a Firearm Former Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White says he is no longer a certified law enforcement officer, doesn't have a concealed handgun carry license but does own a firearm. White has also publicly disclosed that he is a medical cannabis user and an investor in a new medical marijuana grower and dispensary in Albuquerque, as well as its chief administrator and security chief. But medical marijuana use - regardless of whether it's permitted by state law - remains illegal under federal law, and federal law prohibits unlawful users of controlled substances, such as marijuana, from possessing firearms, according to the long-held position of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. [continues 1205 words]
New Mexico's Program Is a Model of Efficiency but Still Needs More Money to Function New Mexico is experiencing vast budget shortages stemming from a historically limited private-sector economy and lower than expected oil and gas revenues. Rarely, if ever, have the state coffers been sufficient to fully fund the programmatic needs for improved education, a stronger justice system and expanded but needed health care. Of the three largest budget demands, only one is both a true economic and social positive multiplier to the improved well-being of the state's individual residents and the overall statewide economy: Medicaid. New Mexico is in an envious position of being able to obtain $3 in a federal match for each $1 the state provides. [continues 548 words]
LED Developers Seeking to Become Go-to Source for Cannabis Industry On New Mexico's economic Richter scale, Lifted LED, with a workforce of just five, barely registers. But just wait, say those energetic employees, which includes brothers and business partners Jaxon and Geoff Patterson. "It's all comes down to the right light," Jaxon Patterson said of Lifted LED's future potential, especially on the cannabis growing front. They have ambitious plans for their lighting company, inspired by an increasing emphasis on energy conservation that's expected to be a major factor in determining which companies survive in the fast-evolving cannabis industry. [continues 491 words]
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Rachael Speegle, 34, left a full-time job as a critical care nurse last year to work at an Albuquerque medical marijuana dispensary and growing operation started by her husband. Speegle quickly discovered that people who came to the Verdes Foundation dispensary in Albuquerque had lots of questions that called for her nursing skills. "Their questions were so simple," she said. For example: "How do I talk to my doctor about this? Why does my nausea feel better when I smoke it than when I eat it?" [continues 1002 words]
One of the last singles by the late Merle Haggard was a fun little tune he sang with his old crony, Willie Nelson, and younger country star, Jamey Johnson, called "It's All Going to Pot." With obvious glee radiating from their weathered voices, Hag and his pals sang, "It's all going to pot / Whether we like it or not. ..." Yep, it looks like they do smoke marijuana in Muskogee after all. Willie's been a leading advocate for marijuana legalization for decades now, but some who heard that song (released on April 20, 2015 . 4-20, get it, get it?) were surprised to hear Merle singing it. After all, he first rose to national fame in the late '60s when "Okie from Muskogee" captured the hearts of President Richard Nixon's Silent Majority and was hailed as a troubadour of the right. Those who have actually followed his career realize that Haggard's stance on drugs softened not long after that hit and that his politics were all over the place (one of several reasons I loved him so much). [continues 488 words]
Miracle Medication or Dangerous Drug? to Many Using Marijuana, It Can Be Both It is both a plant and a drug, a recreation and a medication, and it is a substance weighed with both pros and cons in our society: marijuana. Some states have decided to legalize it while others have not. Marijuana, also known as weed, ganja, pot, etc., remains one of the most common illicit drugs in the country. In New Mexico alone, 28 percent of teens reported using marijuana in 2013, according to a statewide Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey. And New Mexico tops the list of states where teens said they started using marijuana before the age of 13 - at 17 percent. [continues 1381 words]
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Attorneys general for New Mexico and 32 other states have asked the federal government to require methadone clinics to report to prescription drug monitoring programs, which track patients who received prescriptions of controlled substances, including narcotic painkillers. New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas said prescribers in the state need to know if people enrolled in methadone maintenance programs are trying to get prescriptions of opioid drugs from other sources. "Patients should not be able to go to methadone clinics and then also doctor shop for other drugs," James Hallinan, a spokesman for Balderas, said in a written statement. [continues 321 words]
I've long supported drug legalization for many reasons, but like many other advocates, I consider the reduction of violent crime to be the main benefit. Deprived of the ability to enforce contracts through the relatively peaceful legal process used by other markets, black markets are accompanied by high levels of violence: Gangs fight for territory, enforce business agreements and try to defer defections. The more profitable the black market is, the more incentive there is to use violence to protect your profits, which may be one reason that the introduction of crack cocaine was accompanied by such a huge increase in violent crime. Legalizing drugs cuts into the profits, and gives industry players legal means to settle their disputes, so in theory, this should reduce the prevalence, and the brutality, of violent gangs. [continues 496 words]
If our nearsighted legislators had approved the sale of marijuana, we would have tons of new revenue. If they even had the brains to allow cultivation of hemp, that could create more income. And if our governor would raise taxes, that would help. Of course, if the state had invested in clean energy years ago instead of relying so much on fossil fuel sales, we wouldn't be in such a pickle. Tracy Neal Santa Fe [end]
One step, one person at a time, participants in the Longest Walk 5 are bringing attention to the problems of substance abuse and domestic abuse in Native communities in the United States. An initiative of the American Indian Movement, walkers arrived in Santa Fe on Tuesday, taking a break in the 3,600-mile walk to share their mission. The 30-plus participants will be in the area through Friday, when AIM founder Dennis Banks will take part in a governors conference for the Eight Northern Pueblos Council. On Wednesday, Banks and other walkers met with students at the Institute of American Indian Arts. [continues 536 words]
Ranchers Rally Over Security Problems ANIMAS - Several hundred ranchers gathered at a small-town high school in the Bootheel on Thursday to rally against what they described as a broken border. Also present were members and representatives of New Mexico's congressional delegation and officials from public security agencies, including the Border Patrol, Army, National Guard and sheriffs. More than 600 people showed up at a school auditorium in Animas, population 237. Ranchers here have been steaming over the reported kidnapping of a ranch hand in December, when drug runners allegedly hijacked the man's vehicle, loaded it with narcotics and drove him to Arizona. He came home "roughed up," his employer Tricia Elbrock said, but he survived the ordeal. [continues 621 words]
Inside New Mexico
