Left Out

Western New Mexicans argue that state health officials left them dry by refusing medical cannabis producer permits

By Peter St. Cyr

A retired uranium miner and a medical activist are asking the New Mexico Supreme Court to order state Health Secretary Retta Ward to issue a medical cannabis license to at least one new nonprofit willing to operate in western New Mexico.


They’re upset that majority of the 12 new licenses issued earlier this month were awarded to producers in Santa Fe and Albuquerque.

Raymond Savedra, a registered patient who suffers from miner's lung disease, after being exposed to radioactive ore during his 12-year career at the Anaconda Mine in Grants, and post-traumatic stress disorder from combat missions in Vietnam, and Karen DeSoto, a medical activist whose own application to grow was rejected, contend Ward’s four-person evaluation team did a poor job evaluating applications and should have considered awarding licenses to areas of the state that have experienced prolonged shortages of pot.

“Shame on her,” DeSoto tells SFR. “Many homebound patients can’t drive to Gallup or Albuquerque to buy their medication. The health department should have broken this down and made rural areas a priority for new licenses.”

Jason Flores-Williams, who wrote the duo’s legal motion, says Ward is punishing poor patients by failing to consider geographic supply needs.

“Many of the workers of western New Mexico have given their lives to the uranium, coal and other extraction industries that have financially benefited the entire state,” writes Flores-Williams. “Many of these workers were left with debilitating respiratory illnesses, cancers and other painful conditions whose symptoms and treatment side effects significantly could be eased by access to medical cannabis. It is a disgrace that they have been forgotten by the New Mexico Department of Health, as this is a well-known, health-related issue affecting western New Mexico. They should have been the first to be considered, but once again have been the last.”

The health department has not responded to the legal motion as of Monday night.

Savedra and DeSoto want the high court to step into the process since, they claim, the health department has operated in secret and has not provided an appeal process to rejected nonprofit applicants.

Santa Fe Reporter

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