Governor orders agency to resume planning for medical marijuana program, NM

The Associated Press, August 18, 2007

By Barry Massey

SANTA FE (AP) _ Gov. Bill Richardson has ordered the state Health Department to resume planning of a medical marijuana program despite the agency's worries about possible federal prosecution.

However, the governor has stopped short of committing to implement a state-licensed production and distribution system for the drug if the potential for federal prosecution remains unchanged.

The department announced earlier this week that it would not implement the law's provisions for the agency to oversee the production and distribution of marijuana to eligible patients. That decision came after Attorney General Gary King warned that the department and its employees could face federal prosecution for implementing the law, which took effect in July.

The distribution and use of marijuana are illegal under federal law.

On Friday, Richardson directed the department to plan for full implementation of the program, such as preparing the regulations that will permanently govern how it operates.

Under the law, the department is to issue the rules by October, including for licensing marijuana producers and developing a system to distribute the drug to qualified patients.

However, Gilbert Gallegos, a spokesman for the governor, said a decision would be made later whether to implement the production and distribution system if federal prosecution remained possible.

Gallegos said the administration was pursuing possible "legal options" to allow the state to provide patients with access to medical marijuana. He said he couldn't provide details of what was being considering.

The new state law allows the use of marijuana for pain or other symptoms of debilitating illnesses such as cancer, glaucoma, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, HIV-AIDS and certain spinal cord injuries.

New Mexico is the 12th state to legalize marijuana for certain medical uses, but it's the only one calling for state-licensed production and distribution of the drug.

King advised the state agency that U.S. Supreme Court rulings make clear that the manufacture and distribution of marijuana _ even for medical use _ is illegal and that federal authorities have prosecuted citizens for growing medical marijuana.

Even before Richardson's announcement, the department planned to continue to certify patients as eligible to possess marijuana. That protects the individuals from state prosecution, but leaves them to find their own supply of marijuana _ potentially growing it themselves or obtaining it from friends or drug dealers.

About 30 patients have been approved to participate in the program since the law took effect.

Advocates of the program applauded Richardson's decision to have the state prepare to implement a system for producing and distributing marijuana to patients.

"My biggest problem is finding marijuana," Aurore Bleck of Santa Fe, who has enrolled in the state program, said in a statement. "The control and distribution of medical marijuana through legal, safe channels under the jurisdiction of the state of New Mexico has so much potential for good."

Also Friday, Richardson sent a letter to President Bush urging the federal government to allow states like New Mexico to implement medical marijuana programs without fear of federal prosecution.

Richardson, a Democratic presidential candidate, complained about "the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy's misguided priority and wasted resources spent to intimidate states trying to implement medical marijuana programs."

Richardson also wrote, "Mr. President, you still have an opportunity to leave a legacy of compassion by adding an exemption in federal law for states that enact medical marijuana and be an ally instead of an adversary in assisting critically ill people."

Such as exception would require Congress to approve legislation changing the law, Gallegos acknowledged.

Last month, the U.S. House rejected a proposal _ on a 165-262 vote _ that would have blocked the Justice Department from taking action against state medical marijuana programs, including New Mexico's. The proposal would have prohibited the department from using federal money to prevent implementation of state laws allowing the use, possession, distribution or cultivation of marijuana for medical purposes.

Tom Riley, a spokesman for the White House drug policy office, said it's up to federal prosecutors and the Justice Department to decide what drug cases to prosecute.

"The federal government doesn't spend time prosecuting low-level marijuana possession cases. It's drug traffickers who go to jail and it's drug traffickers who get prosecuted," said Riley. "There is a charade going on here with people who are interested in drug legalization using genuinely sick people as pawns to get sympathy to get their agenda through."

Riley described Richardson's letter to the White House as a "primary campaign fundraising document" aimed at potential donors such as billionaire George Soros, who has financed medical marijuana initiatives in several states.

Soros and the Drug Policy Alliance Network each contributed $25,000 to Richardson's gubernatorial re-election campaign last year.