1st Judicial District Court

NM judge orders state health department to loosen medical cannabis reciprocity rules

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A district court judge in Santa Fe ruled Tuesday that reciprocal medical cannabis patients can buy, possess and use medical cannabis in New Mexico, regardless of whether their identification matches the state where their medical recommendation to use cannabis came from. 

First Judicial District Court Judge Matthew Wilson’s order will also allow New Mexicans to get a recommendation to use medical cannabis from another state and become a reciprocal patient in New Mexico. 

The ruling came after New Mexico medical cannabis producer Ultra Health filed a petition asking the court to compel the state’s Department of Health to allow anyone with a medical authorization to use medical cannabis to become a reciprocal patient. 

Ultra Health’s attorney, Jacob Candelaria, who is also a Democratic state senator and himself a medical cannabis patient, told NM Political Report that Wilson’s decision will also allow patients to seek medical authorization from another state or from a tribal jurisdiction.    

“The court held that a reciprocal patient can have a proof of authorization and an ID from different jurisdictions, because the department was trying to say that, that you could only become a reciprocal patient if you had your proof of authorization, and your ID from the same jurisdiction,” Candelaria said. 

In his ruling, Wilson said the state DOH had been honoring identification cards issued by a different jurisdiction than respective medical cannabis recommendations. But last month the DOH instructed dispensary operators to only accept identification cards and cannabis recommendations from the same jurisdiction and only recommendations in the form of a card were to be accepted. Last week the department also filed an emergency rule change enacting the guidance they gave to dispensaries weeks before.  

Wilson noted, in his ruling, that prior to the department changing their rules, many reciprocal patients came from Texas, which has a more restrictive medical cannabis program than New Mexico. But some New Mexico residents, Wilson wrote, had the option of becoming a medical cannabis patient in nearby states with even fewer restrictions than New Mexico. 

“In essence, a New Mexico resident could bypass or circumvent the more stringent requirements for becoming a ‘qualified patient’ and elect to participate in the program as a ‘reciprocal patient,’” Wilson wrote. 

DOH spokesman David Morgan told NM Political Report that the department has already complied with the court order, but would not say whether the department plans on appealing the decision. Part of Wilson’s order was also that the DOH re-enroll any reciprocal patients who were removed from the program for not complying with the department’s temporary rule change. 

“The Department of Health’s Medical Cannabis Program has complied with the order,” Morgan said.

cannabis

Growing Forward: Who’s running things?

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Today marks the release of the 4th episode of Growing Forward, a collaboration between NM Political Report and New Mexico PBS, thanks to a grant from the New Mexico Local News Fund. 

In today’s episode, we look at the business side of medical cannabis and talk to a couple of high-profile cannabis business owners. 

One of the most recognizable names in the state’s medical cannabis program is Darren White. 

White is a former law enforcement officer and the former head of public safety for both the City of Albuquerque and the state of New Mexico. He ended his time as Secretary of Public Safety under then-Republican Gov. Gary Johnson, after Johnson publicly said he was in favor of legalizing cannabis. 

At the time, White was staunchly opposed to legalizing cannabis and said he was even opposed to medical cannabis. But now White is the head of PurLife, one of the more prominent cannabis producers in the state. 

White told Growing Forward that he had an “eye-opening experience” after a friend suggested White try a cannabis topical to help combat chronic pain. 

“I was just wrong about it,” White said. “It really does help a lot of people and their quality of life.”

This week’s episode also explores how the state expanded the maximum number of plants producers can grow after a legal battle with another prominent producer. 

But this week’s episode also examines what it’s like to be a producer through the eyes of a female producer, in what seems to be a male-dominated industry. 

If you haven’t listened to the first three episodes, you can catch up below or search for Growing Forward at anchor.fm, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you usually get your podcasts. 

coronavirus

NM deems medical cannabis essential during COVID-19 restrictions

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As New Mexicans brace themselves for an unknown period of restricted over the counter medicine purchases due to the growing number of positive COVID-19 tests, the state’s Department of Health said medical cannabis patients can rest assured that their access to medicine won’t be interrupted. 

In a letter to medical cannabis producers, patients and other stakeholders, Medical Cannabis Program Director Dr. Dominick Zurlo said medical cannabis Licensed Non Profit Producers (LNPP) qualify as essential services under Secretary of Health Kathyleen Kunkel’s latest emergency health order. 

“Accordingly, LNPPs are not required to limit operations pursuant to that order,” Zurlo wrote. Medical cannabis patient cards that are set to expire between March 11 and June 13 will get a 90 day extension, according to Zurlo. He also encouraged patients to use telemedicine to consult with a medical professional for new patient and card renewal recommendations. Anticipating a possible staffing shortage for producers, Zurlo said the department is also “temporarily suspending” criminal background checks for new employees until producers send in their relicensing applications, which are due in June. #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; }
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Medical Cannabis Program

The line between trafficking and transporting

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Last August, about four miles east of theNew Mexico-Arizona border, a New Mexico State Police officer clocked a white van heading east going about 12 miles per hour over the posted speed limit in a construction zone. According to the officer’s report, once he pulled the van over and approached the passenger-side window he detected “an overwhelming odor of marijuana.” In fact, the officer wrote in his initial report, “The smell was so strong that I had to move back a bit.” 

The passenger of the van, Cevin Stambough, told the officer he was a New Mexico medical cannabis patient and had about five grams of cannabis on him. Stambough showed the officer the small amount of cannabis, but the officer told Stambough the smell of cannabis was too strong to be the result of just five grams. The officer was right. After a search warrant he reportedly found “10 individual plastic bags of marijuana” along with roughly 2 pounds of cannabis concentrate or extracts. All together, the officer found about 14 pounds of cannabis or cannabis derivatives.

2020 Legislative Session

Small wins for cannabis in 2020 legislative session

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Cannabis legislation was not a complete loss for Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham during this year’s legislative session, but it was far from a complete win. Despite almost a year of work from a group assembled by Lujan Grisham to come up with proposed legislation for cannabis legalization, the proposal she backed failed early on in the session. The only Lujan Grisham-backed proposal that made it to her desk is a bill that would limit enrollment in the state’s Medical Cannabis Program to New Mexico residents. 

During a press conference after the Legislature adjourned on Thursday, Lujan Grisham said she will keep pushing for a safe and comprehensive legalization measure, even if it means changing the state constitution. New Mexico law does not allow for voter initiatives, which is how most states, including Colorado, legalized cannabis. The only way to change law through an election question is to propose a constitutional amendment, and Lujan Grisham said that’s not off the table. 

“I’m open to any number of pathways,” Lujan Grisham told reporters. 

New Mexicans only

SB 139, sponsored by Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque, was promoted as a fix to legislation that was passed into law last year.

medical cannabis

Medical cannabis qualified patient bill has one last stop before the governor’s desk

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A bill aimed at limiting who can enroll in the state’s Medical Cannabis Program was approved in committee Monday morning and now has one more stop before the governor’s desk. 

The House Health and Human Services Committee passed SB 139 on a 6-1 vote. 

Update: The legislation passed the full House on Monday afternoon. See the story here. The bill would change the law to allow only New Mexico residents who have a qualifying condition to get a medical cannabis patient card. 

Though sponsored by Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque, the committee’s chair Democratic Rep. Debbie Armstrong of Albuquerque presented the bill, with the help of Secretary of Health Kathyleen Kunkel as her expert witness. 

Kunkel told the committee that a change in law last year that was aimed at forging a path to reciprocity, or allowing certified medical cannabis patients from other states to purchase and use cannabis in New Mexico, inadvertently resulted in about 600 out-of-state patients enrolled in New Mexico’s program. 

Kunkel said it has been an “administrative burden” on the Department of Health since the state started allowing non-residents to enroll in the program. Plus, she said, she fears that the current law will attract unwanted attention from the U.S. Department of Justice. 

“I am concerned that we are tempting the federal government to come in and interfere with our program,” Kunkel said. 

All three Republicans on the committee raised questions and concerns, but ultimately the only dissenting vote came from Rep. Zach Cook, R-Ruidoso. Early on in the hearing, Kunkel said there is currently a resident of Mexico enrolled in the state’s Medical Cannabis Program because of the law change.

2020 Legislative Session

House minority leader takes issue with special process for medical cannabis bill

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An unconventional process for a somewhat controversial medical cannabis bill provoked the ire of the House Republican floor leader Sunday afternoon. 

House Minority Leader James Townsend, R-Artesia, told acting Speaker of the House Daymon Ely, D-Albuquerque, he felt like House Democrats have been changing rules for the majority’s benefit. 

The bill in question, SB 139, would change state law to only allow New Mexico residents to enroll in the state’s Medical Cannabis Program. The problem is, the bill is also directly tied to a state Court of Appeals case where Speaker of the House Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, represents the appellees. In attempt to eliminate the perception of a conflict of interest, Egolf said in a letter last week, he would remove himself from the legislative process for that bill. Egolf’s letter asked leaders from the House majority and minority to make the decision about what sort of House committee assignments the Senate bill would get. 

Ely, who Egolf assigned as Speaker Pro Tempore for the assignment process of the bill, told the body on Sunday afternoon that Townsend declined to take part in the process. 

“There was a process proposed that the minority leader and majority leader would try to reach an amicable arrangement as to what committee or committees Senate Bill 139 would be referred to,” Ely said. “The minority leader, as is his right, has decided not to recommend that, so I as the presiding officer will make the referral.”

Townsend took issue with how Ely characterized the letter.

cannabis legalization

Cannabis legalization stalls in committee

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A recreational cannabis legalization bill stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday, while a bill that would limit who can become a medical cannabis patient moved on. Both bills are sponsored by Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque, who has pushed for legalization in various ways for a number of years. 

Ortiz y Pino’s legalization bill, SB 115, by far received the most debate and criticism, particularly from the committee’s chairman Sen. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces. Cervantes, who has long pushed for decriminalization, but has said he does not favor full legalization, said he was more concerned with problematic language in the almost 200-page bill. He spent more than 30 minutes going through some of his concerns, one of which was fairness. 

“This bill reflects one of the weaknesses in this state which is the propensity to pick winners and losers,” Cervantes said. 

He meticulously picked apart the bill and cited provisions that he said seemed unfair like a section that aims to include organized labor in cannabis production companies and a section that would create a subsidy program for indigent medical cannabis patients. Cervantes also said he didn’t like that the bill would allow those with previous drug convictions to get into the industry, even invoking the name of infamous drug lord El Chapo. 

The bill was tabled on a 6-3 vote.

Quick Reads

Judge: State still can’t deny medical cannabis cards to out-of-state residents

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A judge reaffirmed his ruling that out-of-state residents are eligible for medical cannabis cards on Monday. State District Court Judge Bryan Biedscheid again ordered the state Department of Health to provide medical cannabis cards to those non-New Mexico residents who qualify for the state’s program. The state had previously provided cards to three non-residents. But it had not given cards to other non-residents not part of the initial court filing. Monday, the judge also ordered DOH to begin giving cards to other non-residents who qualify for the program.

Duke Rodriguez

State judge says DOH will have to issue medical cannabis cards to out-of-state residents

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A state district court judge on Monday ordered the state’s Medical Cannabis Program to start issuing medical cannabis cards to individuals who qualify, regardless of where they live. 

The question of whether non-residents of New Mexico could become medical cannabis patients started when major changes to the state’s medical cannabis law went into effect. One minor word replacement drastically changed who could become a patient, argued Duke Rodriguez, president and CEO of medical cannabis producer Ultra Health. Before July 2019, the law stated that qualified patients must be a resident of New Mexico. Now, the law defines a qualified patient as a “person.” Rodriguez’s company bought both internet and radio ads promoting the change. But the Department of Health, which oversees the Medical Cannabis Program, along with the governor and at least one legislator, argued the intention of the law was never to open the program up to non-residents. 

Now, barring a compelling argument from DOH, the state could be forced to expand eligibility to anyone from across the country. 

The law is clear

In his ruling Monday morning, Santa Fe district Judge Bryan Biedscheid wrote that the law is clear.