HOUSE REJECTS MEDICAL-POT BILL

Although the state House of Representatives passed a medical-marijuana bill
two years ago, the House overwhelmingly rejected a similar bill Thursday.

A majority of Democrats and a huge majority of Republicans defeated House
Bill 242 with a 46-20 vote Thursday.

The House vote effectively killed the bill, since no similar measure is
before the Senate.

The mother of a 26-year-old cancer patient who died last year was angered by
the vote.

"These people who voted against it, I just pray that they never find out
what they've done," said Vicki Plevin of Albuquerque, who is working as an
unpaid lobbyist on an unrelated issue.

She said marijuana was the only thing that eased her son's nausea from
chemotherapy and stimulated his appetite. Her son, Max Gardner, suffered
from the disease for two years, Plevin said.

It was easy and legal to get morphine and other narcotics, she said. "But
what he couldn't get - legally - was the one thing that helped him."

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Ken Martinez, D-Grants, would have made
possession and use of marijuana legal for seriously ill patients with
cancer, glaucoma, epilepsy, HIV or AIDS, multiple sclerosis and certain
spinal injuries.

Under the bill, a doctor would have had to certify the patient was suffering
from one of those conditions, and the Department of Health would have issued
such patients identification cards.

Unlike some medical-marijuana bills in the recent past, HB242 would not have
established a state marijuana-distribution program. Patients would have to
grow their own or obtain it from illegal sources.

Each approved patient would be allowed to keep a three-month supply of
marijuana.

The reasons for the lopsided defeat were not clear.

"I was surprised by the strong vote against this," former Gov. Toney Anaya,
who lobbied for the bill, said immediately following the vote. "We felt good
about it going in."

A medical-marijuana bill in 2001 - which was part of then-Gov. Gary
Johnson's drug-reform package - passed the House 35-32. Although the Senate
passed a similar bill that year, neither bill made it through both houses,
so it did not become law.

Rep. Diane Hamilton, R-Silver City, voted for the medical-marijuana measure
in 2001 but voted against Martinez's bill. The main reason for her change
was that the 2001 bill would have had the state Health Department
distributing marijuana to patients.

Rep. Joe Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, also changed his vote from 2001 because,
he said, Martinez's bill did not give doctors as much of an oversight role
as the 2001 bill did.

Support for medical marijuana has dwindled on both sides of the aisle since
2001.

Two years ago, House Republicans voted 18-10 against the bill, while
Democrats voted 25-14 in favor. On Thursday, Republicans voted 24-3 against
it, while Democrats voted 22-17 against it.

During the floor debate, Martinez stressed repeatedly that the purpose of
the bill was to help people suffering from serious medical conditions, not
to legalize marijuana.

However, opponents claimed the end result would open the door to more drug
abuse.

"We are legalizing marijuana by passing this bill," said Rep. Debbie
Rodella, D-San Juan Pueblo. "The door is being opened to full-blown
legalization."

Rodella said her husband, a former state police officer, once arrested a
woman with 250 pounds of marijuana - "strictly buds" - who claimed she used
it to treat cancer.

Rep. Larry Larranaga, R-Albuquerque, said as a Vietnam veteran, he saw
marijuana use in a negative light. "It's an addiction that starts you into
harder drugs," he charged.

Rep. Earlene Roberts, R-Lovington, said the bill's purpose was to show
compassion to people suffering from serious medical problems. "Another group
we need to show compassion to are those kids coming up who we're trying to
tell, 'Just say no to drugs.' "

However, Rep. Dan Foley, R-Roswell, who supported the bill, scoffed at some
of the more emotional arguments against it.

"I've heard about this leading to kids selling drugs on street corners.
That's absolutely ludicrous," Foley said. "If people aren't smart enough to
keep the level of debate to where it ought to be, they shouldn't be here."

According to a statewide poll in September paid for by The New Mexican and
KOB-TV, 72 percent said they would favor "legalizing marijuana use by those
who have serious medical conditions, to alleviate pain and other symptoms."

Only 20 percent opposed the idea, while 8 percent were undecided.