HEALTH DEPARTMENT MAY BACK MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW

Lawmakers are expected to take a look next year at a law that would
allow use of marijuana by people with certain medical conditions who
can be helped only through smoking a joint.

Health Secretary Alex Valdez said Monday he thinks such an approach is
needed for people who can't get relief any other way.

"I think (legislators) will give careful consideration to it," said
Steve Jenison, physician-administrator of the infectious diseases
bureau for the state Department of Health.

"New Mexico already has a law on the books," Valdez said. "It
shouldn't be viewed as a new or radical issue."

Since 1978, New Mexico has had a law to allow for the medical use of
marijuana -- but only within a formal research study. The state
Department of Health used to oversee the marijuana research that had
been conducted at the University of New Mexico a number of years ago
under that law.

But when advocates of marijuana use tried to restore the program this
year, the Department of Health was unable to find researchers willing
to take it on, Jenison said.

Both UNM's Health Sciences Center and an HIV clinic declined to revive
a marijuana research program, he said. The HIV clinic was approached
because people undergoing treatment for HIV or AIDS often find
marijuana helps ease nausea and revive their appetites, he said.

With no research avenues left, advocates are pursuing legislation that
would open up medical marijuana use in New Mexico without an
associated research program. Jenison said the Department of Health
would need to take a look at whatever is introduced in the Legislature
but would tend to support a bill with a couple of key provisions:

* The medical conditions for which marijuana is allowed must be
carefully defined. A National Institute of Medicine study, for
example, found marijuana most helpful for people undergoing
chemotherapy for cancer, people infected with HIV, and people with
neuromuscular diseases that cause spasticity, such as multiple sclerosis.

* A physician would certify that a person suffers from such a
condition and is unable to find relief through standard medications
and therapies.

Hawaii's legislature passed a medical marijuana bill this year that
included such provisions, Jenison said. Under that law, people are
registered with the Department of Public Safety after a physician
certifies that they fit the definition of someone who can benefit from
the use of marijuana for their medical condition. They no longer could
be prosecuted, then, if they are caught possessing or growing small
amounts of marijuana for personal use.

They also can name one caregiver to acquire or grow the marijuana for
them, according to Jenison. A dealer selling marijuana to such a
person, though, still would be violating drug laws, he added.

California, Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Oregon and Washington also have
adopted similar laws, and voter initiatives just passed this month in
Colorado and Nevada to allow medical use of marijuana.

Advocates for such a law in New Mexico are looking at Hawaii's bill as
a model, according to Katharine Huffman, director of the New Mexico
Drug Policy Project. That office is part of the Lindesmith Center Drug
Policy Foundation.

"There are quite a few potential patients interested in this," she
said. She said the Governor's Drug Policy Advisory Group has
considered the issue but has not made any recommendations on it yet.