LEGISLATORS RETHINK SUPPORTING DRUG BILLS

Some legislators are getting squeamish again about easing drug laws.
Proponents of Gov. Gary Johnson's package of drug reform bills came into
the legislative session with a head of steam.

They appeared to have made headway in convincing skeptical legislators that
Johnson is not trying to legalize drugs. He said he just wants to shift the
attention from punishing people for using drugs to treating their problems
instead.

But judging from Tuesday's debate over this year's version of a medical
marijuana bill, some senators are still suspicious about the end-result of
the governor's package.

The Senate Public Affairs Committee put the medical marijuana bill on hold
Tuesday after several legislators said they had problems with the idea of
allowing patients to grow pot plants on their own.

"I don't know what to do," Senate Majority Leader Mary Jane Garcia, a Las
Cruces Democrat, said after Tuesday's two-hour debate. "I'm torn."

Garcia was one of a handful of senators from both parties who started to
have doubts about the medical marijuana bill they once supported.

Garcia said she promised the governor she would support the bill. But after
listening to Tuesday's debate, she left with more questions than answers.

"Before you know it, there's going to be a plant growing in everybody's
back yard," Garcia said.

Sen. Rod Adair, a Roswell Republican, convinced the committee to remove
language in the bill that would have allowed patients to grow up to one
ounce of marijuana.

The bill spells out a process for patients suffering from certain
debilitating illnesses to use marijuana to ease their pain. The patients
would qualify for exemption from the drug possession laws under rules to be
developed by the state Department of Health.

But without the ability to grow marijuana plants on their own, patients
would be left without a legal way to get the drug.

Sen. Roman Maes, the sponsor of the measure - Senate Bill 8 - said he would
work with members of the committee to figure out a way to give the
Department of Health the ability to produce and distribute the drug to
patients.

Sen. Dede Feldman, the chairwoman of the committee, said she would schedule
the issue for another hearing as soon as Thursday.

Legislators are in the second week of a 30-day session that runs through
Feb. 14.

Johnson is backing a total of six drug reform bills, including a measure to
give judges more flexibility to sentence non-violent drug offenders to
treatment programs rather than prison cells.