The Medical Cannabis Program in New Mexico has continued to be a topic of many headlines across the state and nationally, along with our state’s budget crisis, for several months now. And most recently talk of how “recreational” cannabis legalization can provide much needed funds to an underfunded state budget. New Mexico’s economy is one of the slowest growing economies in the country, now the state legislature is having to conduct a special session and recreational cannabis legalization will be discussed. The state budget shortfalls for 2016 totals near $600 million, and this slow growth reveals too much dependence on largess by the federal government and oil revenues. Those sources of New Mexico’s economic malaise provide funding for Education, Veterans Programs, Police Funding, Firefighter/EMT Funding and Health and Human Services programs like Medicaid in our state.
For all New Mexicans our best platform to date for the legalization of cannabis, has been introduced in the New Mexico legislature special session as HB-11 (Cannabis Revenue & Freedom Act) by Bill McCamley and Javier Martinez .
As a follow up to my previous article, Cannabis, Hemp, and a Paid State Legislature? Legalization done right. The topic of legalization will be discussed and examined further on how it may affect the current medical cannabis program law, along with the potential benefits of legalization for the state of New Mexico.
Is there a difference between recreational and medical cannabis? Technically there is no difference. A cannabis plant’s effectiveness as medicine or recreation is determined solely by the individual. In today’s era of how legalization and financial profits of cannabis has spread, the distinction matters. Much of the basic science on cannabis has lead many industry medical and scientific professionals to realize all use of cannabis is medical. If the person is or isn’t treating a diagnosed condition with cannabis, their choice to use it in place of a more toxic medication or other recreational drug, is a proven healthful choice. A basic over-the-counter drug, like aspirin, are even more dangerous than cannabis. Studies from the CDC, state how aspirin can cause gastrointestinal complications and even death if too much is ingested. On that same note, a individual of good health who chooses to smoke a joint rather than drink a beer is also making a positive health decision. To put that into context, according to the New Mexico Department of Health, and average of FOUR New Mexicans DIE everyday due to alcohol related causes. Cannabis still claims zero lives annually and remains one of the most non-toxic substances safely used in New Mexico since 1978.
Ask an old school California activist like Dennis Peron, who spearheaded the cannabis bill, 
Proposition 215 in 1996, and he will tell you all use of cannabis is medical. Period. Peron is wary of the new legalization laws sweeping the nation.
While some may scoff at that notion, there is plenty of basic science to back it up.
Fundamental to this legalization discussion are the interests of the more than 30,000 New Mexicans statewide, who all benefit from medical cannabis under the 21 health conditions classified by Department Of Health in New Mexico eligible for the medical cannabis program. That’s also 30,000 voting New Mexicans. As the legalization of cannabis debate heats up in New Mexico, we need to insure that the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act, 2007, the state’s medical cannabis program is protected and improved by any legalization legislation.
Conservative estimates based on the legalization of recreational cannabis and increased sales taxes in neighboring states indicate that recurring revenues could be in the range of $75 to $100 million annually. Colorado cannabis tax revenues now greatly exceeds original estimates of $70 million per year. Canada has had industrial hemp since 1998, and farmers there have reported net profits of $200 to $250 per acre. Most Canadian hemp is exported to the United States.
As more states legalize adult use or “recreational” cannabis, state-sanctioned medical cannabis programs have come under attack, just as we have seen by Ultra Health from within the New Mexico medical cannabis program. In an attempt to sell legalization to anti-cannabis voters, legalization advocates have emphasized the financial rewards over harm reduction or freedom. Good old-fashioned American capitalism driving legalization should come as no surprise in today’s world, although the arguments for freedom and liberty should be more powerful drivers for American voters on both sides of the aisle. Especially considering political dynamics of this election season for New Mexico, every legislature seat in the Roundhouse will be voted on in November.
Does there even need to be a distinction between medical and recreational cannabis use? It seems drawing lines in the sand may cause more harm than good, right?
In the case of American states in the era of legalization, it is no longer the individual’s right to determine the benefit of their use, but the government’s decision. If the government thinks you are just wanting to have a good time they can excise 15 or 20 percent or more in tax. This incentivizes states to classify more people’s use as recreational rather than medical for those tax profits.
Most states with medical cannabis programs have a list of conditions for which recommendations are approved. These usually include the most serious and common fatal and chronic illnesses, such as cancer, AIDS, autoimmune disorders and epilepsy. When it comes to mental disorders, diseases so obscure they don’t fit on the list or the right to use cannabis in place of “as needed” drugs like aspirin, state governments have determined that this use is recreational, not medical.
Even in legal states, patients are losing access to doctors. In Oregon, Washington and Colorado state legislators have been quite concerned about who still can have access to lower-priced tax-free medical cannabis. This has led to a “decoupling” of patients from their caregivers and many patients being told they no longer qualify as medical. How many patients can live together, cultivate, how many plants can be cultivated, and useable amounts of medical cannabis have all seen reductions in medical following recreational. Look at the Arizona medical cannabis program and the three things they have that New Mexico’s program does not have; a 25 Mile No Grow Rule for Patients (within 25 miles of a dispensary), unlimited plant count for dispensary growers, and much higher prices for medical cannabis products.
Why? Because the argument for American greed is winning over the argument for American liberty. As we move closer to a federal solution, we should emphasize the conservative and liberal held views that freedom means autonomy over one’s body, especially regarding one’s health and the medications they choose to use to treat whatever it is that ails them. It is un-American to allow the state to determine the best medical care for patients, rather than the doctors and patients themselves. Despite the legislature not authorizing the New Mexico Department of Health to insert itself into the doctor-patient relationship and second-guess the merits of a particular prescription, as they continually have done and currently still do to state residents by not following the Lynn and erin Compassionate Use act, 2007.
The heart of the first medical cannabis initiative to pass in California in 1996, was freedom. Instead, it simply said a person has the right to use cannabis for any condition for which a doctor sees fit. Today Legislators, the Governor and Department of Health officials in our state and other states point to this as what they – as responsible politicians – will not do. Governments, not doctors, dictating care options for patients…
The Colorado Tourism Office reports that 12% are visiting Colorado dispensaries and 5% specifically due to cannabis legalization there. The activities that cannabis tourist reported engaging in included: sightseeing and wine tours, historical sites, hiking, camping, mountain biking, winter snow sports, nightlife, festivals and farmers’ markets, according to the survey. All great activities we have in New Mexico with a Balloon Fiesta to boot.
As we dive into the 2016 election season, pro-cannabis voters and concerned patients need to recognize their power. We are the majority. And, more importantly, as free people – especially Americans – we must make a choice: liberty or greed?
The state of New Mexico should legalize recreational cannabis and industrial hemp to first and foremost start paying the state legislators. A hybrid state legislature: Meeting for most of the year and pays the legislators as full-time employees. They can serve the constituents well because of their extended time in office and ability to devote more time to each issue. New Mexico is the only state with a unsalaried legislature.
Of the three most crucial budget demands upon the state: Public Schools, Medicaid, and Higher Education. Combined they provide the true economic and social multiplier with the greatest opportunity of success for the state’s residents and the state’s economy. Providing funding for these invaluable programs in our state can be achieved with recreational cannabis and industrial hemp legalization; in conjunction with the utilization of solar, wind, and geothermal energy sources.
The state has the renewable resources to potentially provide 1,000 times more clean energy than Public Service Company of New Mexico’s current demand, according to the state Energy Conservation and Management Division.
It’s time for New Mexico to return as the leader and pioneer in the sciences of medical cannabis and recreational cannabis. We need to define a model for cannabis legalization, that protects and improves the state’s medical cannabis program and by showing how recreational cannabis legalization can be done without regulating completely like alcohol. New Mexico should legalize cannabis, regulate, and tax cannabis like herbal and nutritional supplements and by combining the high standards of alcohol regulation specific to craft brewery regulations we have in New Mexico. As all use of cannabis has true therapeutic aspects and the state budget can benefit from it regulated without excessive taxes.
Legalization Is About Freedom And Good Health, Not Greed. For all New Mexicans our best platform to date for the legalization of cannabis, has been introduced in the New Mexico legislature special session as HB-11 (Cannabis Revenue & Freedom Act) by Bill McCamley and Javier Martinez .
To contact your New Mexico state legislator and voice your opinion go to, Find My Legislator or call the roundhouse at (505) 986-4600.
Ahóá New Mexico.
By Jason Barker
(Medical Cannabis Patient & Organizer -LECUA Patient’s Coalition Of New Mexico)
