Patients in Rural Areas Have to Pick Up Weed in Parking Lots Medical marijuana patients in Albuquerque and Santa Fe can go to a nearby dispensary to obtain their marijuana. But patients in rural New Mexico - many of them ill - often are forced to meet with delivery drivers in parking lots of businesses such as McDonald's and Walmart to purchase their pot. That puts them at risk of violating federal drug laws, violates their privacy and puts them in danger because they have to carry cash, according to a lawsuit filed against the state Department of Health. [continues 601 words]
ALMOST EVERY DAY or two in our local paper or the one in Las Cruces, there are articles about how many backpacks full of marijuana have been brought across the border in southwest New Mexico. One week, the paper said it was almost 1 million dollars' worth. Where did it go when it was picked up? I can make a bet that much of it was sold to others, some by our own DEA agents. Why in the world don't we legalize all drugs and sell them in stores? The money wasted on enforcement might then do some good. It could help to fund our dismal education system, which has the lowest graduation rate in the nation. [continues 195 words]
As reported by The Washington Post and reprinted in The New Mexican ("Justice Department about to free 6,000 prisoners," Oct. 6), the Justice Department is prepared to release 6,000 prisoners. That started on Oct. 30 and is the largest one-time release by the feds ever. The U.S. Sentencing Commission retroactively reduced the sentence for drug offenses, which precipitated this response. Everyone from Obama, the American Civil Liberties Union to Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina are in support of further reducing the mandatory-minimum sentences that were set for drug offenses during the sweeping "war on drugs" campaign of the 1980s and 1990s. [continues 177 words]
Looser PTSD Rules Boost Prescriptions The number of New Mexicans licensed to buy medical marijuana surged by almost 50 percent this year, in part because of a court ruling in April that eased some qualifications required to get a license, a state official said. About 18,780 people are now licensed by the state Department of Health to buy medical pot, up 48 percent from 12,647 on Jan. 1, said Andrea Sundberg, director of the agency's medical cannabis program. An advocate for the state's medical cannabis law said the spike in licensed patients also reflects a growing acceptance of medical marijuana among patients and physicians. [continues 399 words]
Lieutenant Who Shot Undercover Officer Says He Was at Briefing The city of Albuquerque and the police lieutenant who shot and seriously injured a fellow undercover officer in a drug sting gone awry early this year have denied in court filings that the lieutenant missed a briefing prior to the operation. That contradicts Albuquerque police reports on the shooting and officer Jacob Grant's lawsuit, which both said Lt. Grag Brachle wasn't present at the meeting to discuss details such as where the police officers would be sitting when they purchased drugs from the suspects. [continues 552 words]
SANTA FE - New Mexico Health Secretary Retta Ward says New Mexico has seen a significant jump in the number of patients participating in the state's medical marijuana program over the past year. Ward testified Tuesday before the Legislative Finance Committee in Santa Fe. She told lawmakers about 18,000 people are enrolled in the program, an increase of about 7,000 since the beginning of the year. Ward attributed the increase to changes made earlier this year. There are currently more than 20 qualifying conditions, including chronic pain and posttraumatic stress disorder. The state has been petitioned to add attention deficit hyperactivity disorder to the list. That petition will be discussed during a public meeting later this week. The state also is in the process of licensing a dozen more nonprofit producers. [end]
Groups Work to End Harsh Sentences for Addicted, Mentally Ill and Non-Violent Offenders WASHINGTON - You would have been hard-pressed to find a police chief in his office in the past few days. Dozens of them were in Washington, lobbying to get more people out of prison. They want to end the mandatory jail terms judges are forced to bestow for what are seen less as criminal acts than cries of desperation. America's prisons are overflowing. The United States has more people in jail than any other country, including some of the harshest, most backward nations. [continues 607 words]
The New Mexico Supreme Court, taking up a controversial 2006 marijuana raid for a second time, ruled Monday that a warrantless aerial search was unconstitutional because a low-flying helicopter - said to have damaged property, kicked up dust and raised a panic - was too intrusive. The court didn't rule out all aerial searches, citing case law supporting searches using aircraft flying at "navigable" altitudes of 400 feet or higher and with little impact on the ground. The 2006 raid, part of a State Police operation, netted 14 pot plants from Norman Davis' rural Taos County home. [end]
Reversal Cites Damage Caused by Low-Flying Helicopters in Raid SANTA FE - The New Mexico Supreme Court, taking up a controversial 2006 marijuana raid for a second time, ruled Monday that a warrantless aerial search was unconstitutional because a low-flying helicopter - said to have damaged property, kicked up dust and raised a panic - was too intrusive. Justice Richard Bosson wrote that "when low-flying aerial activity leads to more than just observation and actually causes an unreasonable intrusion on the ground - most commonly from an unreasonable amount of wind, dust, broken objects, noise and sheer panic - then at some point courts are compelled to step in and require a warrant before law enforcement engages in such activity." [continues 468 words]
In N.M. and a number of other states, cannabis manages to be legal, illegal all at the same time When I was growing up in Albuquerque in the 1970s, every teen knew two things about marijuana: it was illegal, and it was everywhere. That should have been a contradiction, but wasn't. Pot was easier for kids to acquire than beer. Cheaper, too. Forty years later, weed remains ubiquitous. It provides one of the characteristic fragrances of Albuquerque's summer streets. But it's no longer entirely accurate to say it's illegal. Like nothing else in our society, cannabis manages to be legal and illegal at the same time. [continues 859 words]
Decriminalizing Pot Will Have Little Effect on Crime, Courts or Corrections On the heels of the U.S. Congress announcing its initiative of lower drug sentencing, Albuquerque Mayor R.J. Berry vetoed the city council's passage of decriminalization of marijuana. In his veto message, the mayor was firm; it is bad public policy to enact city ordinances that preempt state and federal law. I agree, this type of conflict in laws makes for legal chaos, and does not give citizens who want to be law abiding guidance on what is legal and illegal. It becomes confusing for law abiding citizens and sets the police up for civil rights lawsuits for either acting or failing to act against certain behaviors. [continues 548 words]
Mayor Richard Berry's veto of a marijuana decriminalization bill withstood a challenge from Albuquerque city councilors on Wednesday. Democrats on the City Council failed to persuade one of their Republican colleagues to change positions and join them in favor of a veto override. But no one changed positions. The override attempt failed on a 5-4 vote along party lines. It takes six of nine councilors to override a mayoral veto. About a half-dozen speakers urged councilors to override the veto and enact the legislation - which called for making it a civil offense, not a criminal violation, under city law to possess an ounce or less of marijuana. [continues 318 words]
If All Pass Muster, Medical Pot Growers in NM Will Rise to 35 Health officials have selected 12 applicants to become licensed nonprofit producers for New Mexico's medical cannabis program, subject to site visits showing they comply with state regulations. If all 12 receive licenses, it would increase the total number of licensed medical pot producers to 35, the New Mexico Department of Health said Monday. No licensed producers have been added to current list of 23 since 2010. The agency did not identify the 12 selected applicants, despite a directive announced in July by Gov. Susana Martinez that the names of medical marijuana producers and their employees be made public. [continues 275 words]
LAS CRUCES - Dona Ana County sheriff's deputies arrested a Sunland Park city councilor on minor drug charges Monday during a council meeting. Sergio R. Carrillo was arrested at the meeting and booked on misdemeanor charges of possession of marijuana, less than an ounce, and possession of paraphernalia, according to sheriff's spokeswoman Kelly Jameson. Carrillo, who also works as a substitute teacher in the Gadsden Independent School District, did not respond to an emailed request for comment and could not be reached at City Hall. [continues 106 words]
Legislation Would Have Applied to Small Amounts of Marijuana Citing his oath of office, Mayor Richard Berry vetoed legislation Wednesday that sought to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana. He also rejected a companion proposal - to make marijuana a low priority for law enforcement. Berry, a Republican, said the oath of office he took included a promise to uphold the law. "I just have hard time signing any legislation that preempts state and federal law, whether it's marijuana or any other issue," Berry told reporters Wednesday. [continues 226 words]
Albuquerque City Council Approved Changes, and Now Final OK Lies With Mayor Richard Berry The Albuquerque City Council on Sept. 21 voted to reduce marijuana penalties for possessing an ounce or less for personal use. Mayor Richard Berry has 10 days from the vote to veto it. Will the mayor, who vetoed the legislation last year, change his mind this time around? He should. Let me count the ways. 1. Over 115 million people, or one-third of the U.S. population, lives in jurisdictions where marijuana has been decriminalized. Oregon decriminalized marijuana more than 40 years ago. Santa Fe, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia decriminalized marijuana last year. [continues 493 words]
Five Albuquerque city councilors say they don't want people going to go to jail for having less than an ounce of marijuana. And that argument - which prevailed last Monday night and resulted in legislation destined for a mayoral veto - would have more street cred if police officers were actually busy with, and jail cells were actually full of, good-natured, nonviolent, recreational stoners. But they aren't. Albuquerque Police Department spokesman Tanner Tixier says "in my experience, officers very rarely arrest for possession under an ounce, if that is the only charge. Typically if an arrest is made, it's dependent upon the offender's attitude. But the argument that we are consistently arresting people with a joint isn't accurate." [continues 401 words]
Mayor Plans to Veto Legislation, Citing State, Federal Law Conflict Albuquerque city councilors don't want people going to jail simply for possessing small amounts of marijuana. But they may not get to decide. The council late Monday voted 5-4 along party lines in favor of making it a civil offense - not a criminal violation - under city law to possess an ounce or less of marijuana. The council also adopted a resolution declaring marijuana a low law enforcement priority for city police. [continues 555 words]
On September 21st, the Albuquerque City Council will consider a bill to remove criminal penalties for possession of marijuana for adults. The measure filed by Council President Rey Garduno and Councilor Isaac Benton makes possession of an ounce or less of marijuana a civil infraction, punishable with a fine of $25. Eighteen states and the District of Columbia have already decriminalized marijuana. More and more people are realizing that this is a necessary policy change that will make a difference in people's lives and improve public health. [continues 424 words]
Garduno, Benton to Introduce Plan; Mayor May Oppose the Idea Two Albuquerque city councilors plan to introduce legislation next week that would make it a civil offense - not a criminal violation - under city law to possess an ounce or less of marijuana. Their proposal would also declare marijuana as the lowest law-enforcement priority for city police. Officers, however, would still have discretion to cite people under the state law for marijuana possession - the penalties for which can include up to 15 days in jail and fines up to $100 as a criminal petty misdemeanor. [continues 377 words]
Nonprofit Has Applied for License From State State Department of Public Safety chief. Two-term Bernalillo County sheriff. City of Albuquerque public safety director. And now, aspiring medical marijuana producer? The professional evolution of Darren White has taken a new turn. White, through his private investigations and security company, is affiliated with a firm that is one of 17 applicants seeking state Department of Health approval to become a licensed medical marijuana producer. State corporation records list White as one of the directors of Purlife, a nonprofit whose listed purpose is "conducting medical marijuana sales in New Mexico." [continues 813 words]
Here is a challenge for you. Reconcile the following: In 1791, the Bill of Rights was ratified, including the Fourth Amendment, guaranteeing "the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures." In 2015, a 21-year-old woman named Charnesia Corley says she underwent a public body-cavity search for drugs at a gas station in Texas. Explain, if you can, how the former and the latter can be simultaneously true. [continues 560 words]
Prosecutors Get Too Much Power As They Stack Charges and Threaten Long Terms The new consensus that something is wrong with American criminal justice is welcome. The amazing number of people in prison - a measure on which, adjusting for population, no other nation comes close - is indeed a sign that the U.S. system is broken. It's good that the will to fix it seems to be growing. Yet dwelling too much on that one statistic is unwise. There's a danger of missing the point. [continues 481 words]
CHICAGO - Don Winslow's epic new novel, "The Cartel," about Mexican drug lord Adan Barrera's desperate moves to stay on top of a quickly changing political and competitive landscape, couldn't have been released at a better time. The book, which begins with a Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman-esque prison break, came out mere weeks before the real Guzman, the head of the Sinaloa cartel, disappeared from a Mexican prison cell through a tunnel. This wasn't solely coincidental - "The Cartel," along with Winslow's 2005 novel "The Power of the Dog," is well researched and chronicles the recent history of the Mexican drug cartels from 1975 to 2004. [continues 636 words]
The City Different is in a unique position, at just the right time in history, to have a small but powerful impact on how low-level drug offenders are treated, and, ultimately, on whether or not they are offered a chance at recovery. With increasing awareness of the social, economic and political effects of mass incarceration, it is more important than ever to begin thinking outside the box about the war on drugs. Some $60 billion is being spent annually to keep people incarcerated, and destructive mandatory-minimum sentences continue to flood our jails and prisons with individuals who are nonviolent drug offenders. [continues 501 words]
Spokesman: Marijuana Is 'Still Illegal Under Federal Law' SANTA FE - Medical marijuana is legal in New Mexico, but the federal Drug Enforcement Administration seized and destroyed numerous pot plants from a licensed dispensary in Santa Fe after a recent explosion burned two employees. The Santa Fe police asked the DEA to help investigate after the blast at the NewMexiCann Natural Medicine dispensary in Santa Fe on July 23. Two employees were seriously burned as they were using a process that involves soaking marijuana in butane and then using propane heat to extract THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, to produce concentrated hash oil. [continues 754 words]
As the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol begins in earnest collecting the thousands of signatures needed to qualify for the 2016 statewide ballot, the voices of those wishing to hang on to prohibition ring loud. But in trying to raise their voices, opponents are failing to advance the debate. Instead, those who want to block Arizona adults from approving the responsible regulation and taxation of marijuana are resorting to scare tactics and faulty stats to advance their arguments. While people like Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk may sincerely believe in her goal of continuing prohibition policies by claiming marijuana is more dangerous than alcohol, she's conveying an erroneous message. [continues 455 words]
School Districts Take Pre-Emptive Strikes in an Attempt to Steer Students From Drugs and Alcohol The misconception is easy to have, and often it leads to the wrong conclusion: Only teenagers in big cities can lay their hands on drugs. "You can get drugs anywhere," said Billy Burns, the athletic director at Logan High, a school in a remote area of eastern New Mexico with about 85 students in grades 8-12. "If you believe the hearsay, a small town is just like a big town. We have the same problems." [continues 3256 words]
So many good things have happened to Joseph Rivers lately that it's easy to forget that the good came from a bad experience in Albuquerque four months ago when Drug Enforcement Administration agents took his $16,000 and thus his dream without benefit of arrest or criminal charge. Which is not to say that the bad is completely over - because it isn't. Rivers, you may recall, is the young man from the Detroit suburbs who was headed west to Los Angeles to seek his fortune as a rapper and music video producer when the Amtrak train he was traveling in made a stop April 15 in Albuquerque and his $16,000 in cash, stored in an envelope in a blue suitcase, was seized by DEA agents who had a hunch - - but no search warrant, charging document or probable cause - that the cash was connected with criminal activity. [continues 729 words]
WASHINGTON - Don Winslow, novelist and conscientious objector to America's longest "war," was skeptical when he was in Washington on a recent Sunday morning. This was shortly after news broke about the escape, from one of Mexico's "maximum security" prisons, of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, head of the Sinaloa drug cartel. Guzman reportedly escaped through a 5-foot-tall tunnel almost a mile long and built solely for his escape. Asked about this, Winslow, his fork poised over an omelet, dryly said he thinks Guzman might actually have driven away from the prison's front gate in a Lincoln Town Car. What might seem like cynicism could be Winslow's realism. Fourteen years ago, Guzman escaped from another "maximum security" prison simply by hiding in a laundry cart. With exquisite understatement, The Wall Street Journal reports that his recent escape raised "new concerns about corruption in Mexican law enforcement." [continues 610 words]
When someone dies, it's common for loved ones to shake a fist at whatever deity they believe in and ask "why?" In the U.S. of A., it's almost as common to look for someone to blame. And then file a lawsuit. Any death of a vibrant young person is a tragedy. When it's absolutely avoidable, such as a drug overdose, even more so. But barring gross negligence, it adds insult to injury to expect others to take responsibility for a death an autopsy report attributes to an overdose of illegal hallucinogenics - especially those who tried to save her life. [continues 311 words]
State Among 10 Defendants Named in Wrongful Death Complaint SANTA FE - Just shy of the second anniversary of the death of Hannah Bruch, a 14-year-old Santa Fe girl who died after ingesting a hallucinogenic drug while attending a rave concert at Expo New Mexico, a lawsuit alleging negligence was filed against 10 defendants in Santa Fe District Court on Monday. In the wrongful death complaint filed by a representative of Hannah Bruch's estate, the defendants are listed as the state of New Mexico, three companies that co-promoted the event, two security companies, an ambulance company, a hospital, and two paramedics who provided emergency medical care at the show. [continues 751 words]
Editor, The Rio Rancho Public Schools Board of Education needs to educate itself on the downside of student drug testing. Student involvement in after-school activities, like sports, has been shown to reduce drug use. They keep kids busy during the hours they are most likely to get into trouble. Forcing students to undergo degrading urine tests as a prerequisite will only discourage participation in extracurricular programs. Drug testing may compel marijuana users to switch to more dangerous prescription narcotics to avoid testing positive. This is one of the reasons the American Academy of Pediatrics opposes student drug testing. Despite a short-lived high, marijuana is the only drug that stays in the human body long enough to make urinalysis a deterrent. [continues 159 words]
SO LET ME get this right, Gov. (Susana) Martinez intends to "out" producers and employees of a legitimate business in the name of transparency. I understand she is getting pressure to release the names of the producers. I get that. I get that it's important to prevent cronyism. What I don't get is why Gov. Martinez is dragging the employees of a Licensed Non-Profit Producers into her political ping pong game. I have a close relative that works for an LNPP. Their workplace has a very sophisticated alarm system. My relative keeps a panic button on their person at all times. Not only that, but the regulations forbid the employees from carrying a firearm for protection! Believe me, a business would not spend money on this type of security if they did not need it. [continues 113 words]
I AM 88 years old and have never used marijuana or other illegal drugs. I think revealing the names of owners and employees who produce medical marijuana will expose them to danger - possible theft, possible death. Gov. (Susana) Martinez will be responsible for any wrongdoing that will result. It is wrong to reveal their names. Albuquerque [end]
New Mexico has a nasty habit of landing at or near the top of the list of states with the highest drug overdose death rates, and the state Health Department isn't making any headway toward reversing that trend. Despite some recent efforts to lower that statistic, our state still has the second-highest number of per capita overdoses in the nation. While the department has made progress in defining the problem and identifying what should work, the numbers are not dropping consistently. In fact, overdose deaths hit an all-time high last year. [continues 372 words]
Regulations May Result From Enquiry SANTA FE - An explosion at a Santa Fe medical marijuana dispensary that severely burned two employees is being investigated by federal Drug Enforcement Administration and multiple city and state agencies. Nicholas Montoya, 29, and Aaron Smith, believed to be 28, were severely burned while using butane and propane in a process to extract THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, from cannabis around 4:40 p.m. on Thursday at NewMexiCann Natural Medicine, one of the state's licensed medical pot producers. A process using butane and boiling over heat is widely used to produce concentrated hash oil. [continues 608 words]
Painkillers Fuel 19% Increase in 2014 More New Mexicans died last year of drug overdoses than in any other year on record. The 536 deaths in 2014 mark a 19 percent increase over the year before, following a two-year decline, according to the state Department of Health. That number shows the state needs to step up efforts to curb addiction, including better monitoring of prescription painkillers, according to state Epidemiologist Dr. Michael Landen. He said New Mexico also needs to expand the use of naloxone, a prescription drug that can counteract a drug overdose, by making it more widely available to law enforcement officers and the public. Far more New Mexicans could have died last year without naxalone, which was used successfully in over 900 cases. [continues 517 words]
The United States does not have a justice system. If we define a justice system as a system designed for the production of justice, then it seems obvious that term cannot reasonably be applied to a system that countenances the mass incarceration by race and class of hundreds of thousands of nonviolent offenders. Any system that vacuums in one out of every three African-American males while letting a banker who launders money for terrorist-connected organizations, Mexican drug cartels and Russian mobsters off with a fine is not a justice system. [continues 523 words]
We applaud the Rio Rancho Public Schools Board of Education for adopting the area's first random drug-testing policy for student athletes. Hopefully, it will go a long way toward making a student who elects to go out for a sports team think twice about using alcohol, marijuana, amphetamines, opiates and other substances the contractor selected to handle the program will test for. We are disappointed, though, that the program will omit steroid tests. While district policy prohibits steroid use, the board was informed that testing for them would be too costly to include in the program. [continues 226 words]
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Suiting up will now come with the possibility of a random drug test for athletes in the Rio Rancho school district. The school board on Monday unanimously passed a policy that will allow for the random drug testing of students in grades eight through 12 who are playing on a district sports team. Rio Rancho Public Schools is the first public school district in the metro area to drug test its athletes. District officials will inform parents of the policy during the annual mandatory meeting Cleveland and Rio Rancho high schools hold for the parents of all athletes at the beginning of each school year. [continues 317 words]
When a state regulation has no compelling reason to exist - especially one that shrouds an important state function in secrecy - it takes decisive leadership to get it off the books. Gov. Susana Martinez's decision to direct the New Mexico Health Department to dump a provision in the state's Medical Cannabis Program that kept the names of licensed medical marijuana producers secret is a perfect example of logic - and transparency - prevailing over furtive regulation. Ever since New Mexico approved its medical marijuana program in 2007, regulations have kept the names of licensed pot growers, dispensaries and their employees confidential. Although proponents of such secrecy claimed that making that information public would prove detrimental - for reasons ranging from federal prosecution of growers to security of production locations - no such problems have arisen. The federal government has not intervened in state-sanctioned programs, and information on dispensary locations has always been relatively easy to find. Dispensaries advertise their businesses. [continues 145 words]
Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's most recent prison escape is a tremendous blow not only for Mexican authorities but also for the U.S. government. One of the world's most notorious criminals escaped last week from one of Mexico's most secure prisons in a rather conventional fashion: by digging a tunnel. This is not El Chapo's first escape. In 2001 he escaped from another Mexican maximum security prison, reportedly by sneaking out in a laundry cart. The Mexican government's failure to keep one of the world's most dangerous criminals behind bars is astonishing. [continues 409 words]
Martinez Directs Change, Says Confidentiality No Longer Needed SANTA FE - The names of New Mexico medical marijuana dispensaries and their employees will soon be made public, under a directive announced Wednesday by the office of Gov. Susana Martinez. The Republican governor's decision will reverse a long-standing confidentiality provision in the state's Medical Cannabis Program and comes less than a week after a lawsuit was filed in an attempt to strike down the regulation that allows for the names of medical marijuana producers to be kept secret. [continues 396 words]
Heroin use and fatal overdoses are on the rise across the U.S., especially among young adults and poor people, the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says in a report released this week. Meanwhile, in New Mexico, where drug overdoses have been a chronic problem, preliminary data indicate that after a two-year reprieve, overdose deaths spiked in 2014. The CDC analyzed vital statistics and results of a national survey on health and drug use to conclude that heroin-related overdose deaths across the country surged by a startling 286 percent between 2002 and 2013. At the same time, heroin use has been the rise among most demographic groups, with use of the drug among adults ages 18 to 25 more than doubling. [continues 951 words]
Among its benefits, medical pot smokers claim that it shuts down various pains and opens the senses. And it's only right that the state should be open about those it licenses to grow and sell medical marijuana. A lawsuit filed last week accuses the state Department of Health of violating state law by refusing to release the names or other information about people who have applied for a license to produce medical marijuana. Among the allegations: refusal to make the information public "distorts the market for medicine" and deprives residents of "information about their neighborhoods, and has the potential to promote cronyism and corruption in the awarding of valuable state licenses." [continues 166 words]
Prisons Haven't Prepared Them for a Better Life Seems like Washington is enjoying a rare political kumbayah moment these days. Both Democrats and Republicans now agree that our justice system ran off the rails with overly burdensome, mandatory sentencing for nonviolent drug offenders. Convicts like Antwon Rogers of Cleveland, Ohio, who was sentenced to life in prison for conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine - less than 5 ounces of the drug. But because Rogers had two previous drug convictions, the mandatory federal three-strikes law kicked in, and at the age of 22, he was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison. He's been there more than 20 years. [continues 654 words]
A lawsuit filed Thursday accuses the New Mexico Health Department of violating state law by refusing to release the names of people with a license to produce medical marijuana. Freelance journalist Peter St. Cyr and the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government filed a complaint Thursday asking a judge to strike down a state regulation that aims to keep secret the names of people or groups who have applied for or received licenses to produce medical marijuana. The secrecy "distorts the market for medicine, deprives New Mexicans of important information about their neighborhoods, and has the potential to promote cronyism and corruption in the awarding of valuable state licenses," the lawsuit says. [continues 160 words]
SANTA FE - The New Mexico Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of an injured worker in a medical marijuana case. The recent decision marks the third time in a year the court has sided with a medical marijuana patient in a workers' compensation claim. According to the ruling issued in late June, a patient in the medical marijuana program who is injured on the job must be reimbursed by an employer for the expense of marijuana used for treatment. Appellate Judge James Wechsler wrote that a workers' compensation judge was correct in ruling that American General Media, which owns several radio stations in New Mexico, had to reimburse Sandra Lewis of Albuquerque. The company had argued that the state's medical marijuana law created a conflict with federal law. [end]
FARMINGTON - A state law intended to prevent police from seizing money or assets from people unless they're convicted of a crime took effect this month, and law enforcement officials say it's going to cut deeply into their budgets. Before House Bill 560 became law, most police departments and other local law enforcement agencies in New Mexico could auction items they had seized and use the revenue to pay for training or equipment. That process funds a fourth of the Region II Narcotics Task Force's operational finances each year - which was approximately $100,000, according to its director, Sgt. Kyle Dowdy. [continues 617 words]
New Mexico
