Medical Cannabis Rule Shuffle

Next public hearing planned for Dec. 29 for proposal to allow patients to keep more marijuana, other changes

State officials in charge of the Medical Cannabis Program still want to update its rules, yet a proposal made public this week gets rid of some ideas that caused a stir among patients and producers this summer.


The New Mexico Department of Health plans to hold a public hearing on the new proposed rule changes at 9 am, Dec. 29 in the Harold Runnels Building in Santa Fe.


Andrea Sundberg, program coordinator, sent a message Friday announcing the plan to interested parties, including those who made comments on the earlier proposal. She noted that the working document represents the department's response to public feedback.


Among the high points of Monday's proposal are that officials want to allow patients to keep up to one-third more cannabis as an "adequate supply" than under the current rules, upping the amount from six ounces to eight ounces. It also allows couriers who deliver the medicine to possess it for up to seven days, a major increase from the 24-hour limit proposed this summer.


Nearly a dozen proposals that had been on the table earlier this year are withdrawn from the current list, including that the state no longer wants to decrease the numbers of plants patients can grow and doesn't plan to add an "annual patient fee."


Expensive testing requirements for producers seeking lab reports on heavy metals are also gone from the new proposal, a noteworthy change for Santa Fe nonprofit New Mexico Top Organics. A spokesman for the producer tells SFR it appears the state is acting in good faith.


"I think they've done actually a good job of listening to everybody," he says. "They are trying to improve the program for everybody to make it more valid."


Read a summary of the proposal below. More information is available on the health department's website.


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