NEW MEXICO'S NOT A DEALER UNDER NEW POT LAW

Marijuana becomes legal for a handful of New Mexicans next week -
provided the proper paperwork has been filed.

Starting July 1, the New Mexico Health Department will accept
applications from patients who want to use marijuana to ease the pain
from debilitating diseases. Those approved will receive a sort of
get-out-of-jail-free card.

"We receive the application, along with certification from doctors,"
said department spokeswoman Debra Busmeyer, "then we verify the
information in up to 30 days. If the application is approved, then the
patient gets an ID card that will make him immune from prosecution of
state law for possessing marijuana."

Processing of applications will begin July 2.

Drug Policy Alliance New Mexico Director Reena Szczepanski worked for
three years on the bill, which passed the Legislature earlier this
year. She said she has seen patients die in that time who could have
been helped by the drug.

"It's really an incredible feeling to see the bill become a law," she
said.

The law is very specific about who can be approved for the card.
Patients with the following conditions are eligible: cancer, glaucoma,
multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, HIV or AIDS, and "damage to the nervous
tissue of the spinal cord with tractable spasticity."

"We don't want people applying because they have backaches," Busmeyer
said.

Additional ailments can be submitted for approval. Other states allow
marijuana to be prescribed for symptoms like chronic pain or nausea.

"The conditions we included have all been demonstrated by research to
be benefited by marijuana," Szczepanski said.

Based on how many patients received legalized marijuana when Colorado
began a similar program in November 2000, Szczepanski said between 50
and 250 people will be affected.

"That's really a small number," she said.

The card will also make it legal for a patient to grow the drug (up to
four mature plants and three immature seedlings) and possess, at most,
a three-month supply.

Applicants won't have to wait longer than a month to know whether they
can toke legally, but then the question might become: Where do we get
it?

"They'll still have to get it on their own," Busmeyer said. "We're not
distributing, just certifying that people are eligible to receive it."

For now. The law established an Oct. 1 deadline for New Mexico to form
a plan for distributing to patients.

"I think some patients will attempt to grow their own plants," said
Szczepanski. "Some will find a dealer or a friend. It's difficult. I
had a conversation with a patient wondering, 'Where am I supposed to
go?' "

New Mexico is the 12th state to legalize marijuana, but it will be the
first to establish a means of producing and distributing the drug,
Busmeyer said.

"There's no other department of health that has allowed distribution,"
Busmeyer said.

What that means isn't clear yet. Shops? Pharmacies?

The Health Department is consulting with the attorney general,
Busmeyer said, asking for an opinion on how to proceed.

Szczepanski said she hopes the state will opt for a phase-in
approach.

"We have to be cautious," she said.

The ideal might be if licensed growers sell out of their homes come
Oct. 1, rather than shops.

Putting marijuana in stores, Szczepanski said, "confuses the issue
because this is supposed to be just about helping patients."