FIRST COUNTY MEDICAL MARIJUANA PRODUCER APPROVED

FARMINGTON - The New Mexico Department of Health approved the first
San Juan County medical marijuana producer and distributor last week,
despite federal regulations still prohibiting the practice.

The producer will be able to start selling marijuana in three to six
months. The producer's name and location will only be released to the
active, local members of the state's medical cannabis program, said
Chris Minnick, the health department's spokesman.

The San Juan County producer was approved along with five other
marijuana producers, bringing the total number of state-sanctioned
marijuana dispensaries to 17, Minnick said.

Marijuana became legal in New Mexico for people with certain medical
conditions in 2007. Medical marijuana is legal in 15 states and the
District of Columbia.

A nonprofit medical marijuana producer is allowed to grow and sell up
to 95 plants of marijuana. The producers determine the price of the
marijuana and are not allowed to offer discounts, according to state
policy.

Unlike some states, New Mexico medical marijuana producers cannot sell
their crop from a public store.

"These aren't designed to be storefronts where people can just walk in
and shop," Minnick said. "That's why we don't release the names and
locations of the facilities, this is for a very specialized set of
patients that we have within the state."

There are 2,807 active patients in the New Mexico medical cannabis
program, and 104 patients in San Juan County, according to the
Department of Health's website.

County government officials have not received information about the
medical marijuana producer approved to grow and sell marijuana in San
Juan County, County Executive Officer Keith Johns said.

"We've inquired about it but we do not have any information about how
it will impact us and what involvement we may or may not have," he
said.

The New Mexico medical cannabis program is continuing to evolve,
Minnick said. There are some ambiguities in the law that are yet to be
clarified, he said.

For example, approved marijuana producers are not legally allowed to
buy or sell marijuana seeds, which makes it impossible to start
growing marijuana legally even if approved by the state. A Dec. 2
medical cannabis hearing in Santa Fe will address some of those
issues, he said.

According the health department, a doctor can recommend medical
marijuana for people suffering from any of the following conditions:

- - HIV/AIDS

- - Cancer

- - Epilepsy

- - Glaucoma

- - Multiple sclerosis

- - Spinal cord injury with intractable spasticity

- - Admittance into hospice care

- - Painful peripheral neuropathy

- - Intractable nausea

- - Severe anorexia

- - Hepatitis C

- - Crohn's disease

- - Post-traumatic stress disorder

- - Lou Gehrig's Disease

- - Chronic pain accompanied with two medical referrals