MEDICAL MARIJUANA RESEARCH PROGRAM COULD BE REVIVED

Efforts are being made to revive a long-dormant medical marijuana research
program in New Mexico. Health Secretary Alex Valdez said he began looking
into restoring the Lynn Pierson therapeutic program after advocates
threatened a class-action lawsuit if funding for the program wasn't
reinstated.

Valdez said Friday he was informed by the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration about what federal requirements he must fulfill to restore
the program but added that funding for it was not a priority.

"I have to think about how to proceed with this," he said.

Bryan Krumm, a potential plaintiff in the lawsuit, said he delayed legal
action when Valdez told him he would try to restore the program. Krumm said
he has a referral from his doctor to the program to help ease knee pain
from an accident, as well as depression.

"We still may file," said Krumm, a nurse who works for the University of
New Mexico.

Marijuana for medical use is legal in New Mexico under the dormant 1978
Controlled Substances Therapeutic Research Act. The law, inspired by Lynn
Pierson, a 26-year-old University of New Mexico student who suffered from
lung cancer, provided subsidized marijuana to cancer patients to relieve
the nausea of chemotherapy.

The program ended in 1986 after the Legislature refused to renew its
$50,000 annual budget.

Krumm said Valdez sent him a letter this summer stating that the program
would be reinstated. But he added that Valdez wanted to see interest from
more than one person before he proceeded.

About 30 people were to be named as plaintiffs in the potential lawsuit,
and many of them will be contacting Valdez, Krumm said. During the
program's operation, more than 250 people participated, he said.

Valdez said he wanted to make it clear that his attention to the program is
completely unrelated to Gov. Gary Johnson's call for the legalization of
drugs, such as marijuana and heroin.

"I know others would say this is the first step toward legalization,"
Valdez said. "I don't want this to get clouded with other discussions
taking place. It (marijuana) already is legal in New Mexico for medical
research purposes."

Ed McWilliams, another potential plaintiff, said he wasn't able to get a
physician's referral to the program, but he wants to use marijuana to treat
migraine headaches.

"Medical research from a lot of sources has stated it unquestionably helps
in that area, with not a lot of the dire side effects other medications
have," McWilliams said.