I suspect this is old news, but this nuance just missed my attention somehow. I knew that New Mexico was joining the medical marijuana club in terms of protecting patients in the state, but I didn't realize that the state is going one step further: its medical marijuana legislation, passed in March, requires the state to come up with its own grow op and distribution plan:
The state Department of Health must issue rules by Oct. 1 for the licensing of marijuana producers and in-state, secured facilities, and for developing a distribution system....
The distribution and use of marijuana are illegal under federal law, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2005 in a California case that medical marijuana users can be prosecuted.
Faced with that dilemma, the health department has asked state Attorney General Gary King whether its employees could be federally prosecuted for running the medical marijuana registry and identification card program, and whether the agency can license marijuana producers and facilities.
"The production part is unprecedented. ... No other state law does that," said Dr. Steve Jenison, who is running the program for the health department. "So we're trying to be very thoughtful in how we proceed."
This is very much taking the medical marijuana "debate" between state governments and the federal government to a completely new level, since you can't just bust down the doors of, you know,
New Mexico the way you can an individual patient in California. How will New Mexico protect the health department officials who run the program from interference and prosecution? This is exciting new ground.
Contrast this to recent news in the state of Washington, meanwhile, where the state legislation is being asked to clarify its medical marijuana policy. Currently, patients are allowed a 60-day supply, but there's no strict definition of a 60-day supply; consequently police officers often simply throw the patients to the mercy of the courts to try to figure out what's legal. That's soon going to change, although some medical marijuana activists are very wary that the definition of 60-day supply is going to turn out to be too restrictive. But not if a certain University of Washington professor has anything to say about it:
Hiatt and others say they've already got their ammunition: a marijuana dosing study led by a University of Washington rehabilitation-medicine specialist, Dr. Gregory Carter.
Following the study's guidelines, Hiatt said, patients should be allowed anywhere from a half-pound to 2 ¾ pounds of marijuana in two months. If the Health Department goes drastically lower, Hiatt said a lawsuit could follow.
"I know the people of Washington state didn't want lawyers and judges and prosecutors arguing about little piddly details like this," Hiatt said. "Is the person sick? Yes. Are they using it with a doctor's permission? Yes. Then leave them alone."
