New Mexico Medical Marijuana Vote Critical - Your Help Needed

[BluntKilla]

It's with a heavy heart that I must tell you that on Thursday night, our medical marijuana bill, SB 238, failed to pass the New Mexico House of Representatives. During a three hour debate, unfriendly amendments were voted down with excellent margins. The first vote on the bill, however, failed by a vote of 33 to 33. Incredibly, one of our biggest supporters rushed into the House chamber and missed this vote by only one or two seconds. The House members then voted to reconsider the vote because that member was missing.

That's when things went terribly wrong. In the second vote, two House Democrats switched their votes from yes to no. Two Republicans, who were out of the room during the first vote, returned for the second and voted no. Despite the addition of two other yes votes, the final vote was 33-36.

I am disappointed by the House floor vote, but I am not giving up! Why? We still have eight days left in the session, and there is incredible political will to pass this bill. The Senate and Governor Richardson have pledged their support for seriously ill patients. And we will be pursuing several options in the next few days. This issue won't die with this unfortunate vote.

Now, more than ever, we need to mobilize every person that wants to make New Mexico a compassionate state. The other side has been calling those who voted "no" and thanking them. We need to counter those calls and let each member of the House of Representatives know how important this issue is to New Mexicans.

Now is the time to act. Please make this your priority this weekend. We could have the issue reconsidered as soon as Sunday.

Please send an email to as many members as possible and either let them know how disappointed you are that they did not stand up for patients' rights in New Mexico, or thank them for their support of SB 238 on the House floor. Let's start with those who voted "no" and turn them into "yes"!

Democrats Voting No:

Andrew Barreras (Tome)
(505) 986-4243

Ernesto Chavez (Albuquerque)
ernestc1531@aol.com

Mary Helen Garcia (Las Cruces)
maryhelen.garcia@nmlegis.gov

Thomas Garcia (Ocate)
ocate@hotmail.com

John Heaton (Carlsbad)
jheaton@caverns.com

Manuel Herrera (Bayard)
(505) 986-4233

Dona Irwin (Deming)
donagale@zianet.com

Rhonda King (Stanley)
(505) 986-4438

Ben Lujan (Santa Fe)
ben.lujan@nmlegis.gov

Patricia Lundstrom (Gallup)
plundstrom@nwnmcog.com

James Roger Madalena (Jemez Pueblo)
jr_madalena@yahoo.com

Rick Miera (Albuquerque)
rbmiera@comcast.net

Andy Nunez (Hatch)
annunez@zianet.com

Debbie Rodella (Ohkay Owingeh)
debbie.rodella@nmlegis.gov

Nick Salazar (Ohkay Owingeh)
nlsalazar@lanl.gov

Richard Vigil (Ribera)
rrrvigil@plateautel.net

Republicans Voting No:

Thomas Anderson (Albuquerque)
kb5ysg@arrl.net

Janice Arnold-Jones (Albuquerque)
jearnoldjones@aol.com

Paul Bandy (Aztec)
paul@paulbandy.org

Richard Berry
richard.berry@nmlegis.gov

Richard Bratton (Hobbs)
donbratton@valornet.com

Anna Crook (Clovis)
anna.crook@nmlegis.gov

Nora Espinoza (Roswell)
noralee@cableone.net

Candy Spence Ezzell (Roswell)
csecows@aol.com

William Gray (Artesia)
wjgray@pvtnetworks.net

Jimmie Hall (Albuquerque)
jimmie.hall@nmlegis.gov

Dianne Miller Hamilton (Silver City)
dianne38john4132@zianet.com

Larry Larranaga (Albuquerque)
larry@larranaga.com

Jane Powdrell-Culbert (Corrales)
jpandp@comcast.net

Bill Rehm (Albuquerque)
Billrehm@comcast.net

James Strickler (Farmington)
jamesstrickler@msn.com

Thomas Taylor (Farmington)
tom@tomtaylor.net

Don Tripp (Socorro)
trippsdon@netscape.net

Shirley Tyler (Lovington)
sntyler@valornet.com

Gloria Vaughn (Alamogordo)
(505) 986-4453

Jeannette Wallace (Los Alamos)
wallace@losalamos.com

Teresa Zanetti (Albuquerque)
electzanetti@comcast.net

Democrats Voting Yes:

Elias Barela (Belen)
elias@barelalaw.com

Ray Begaye (Shiprock)
ray.begaye@nmlegis.gov

Jose Campos (Santa Rosa)
Josephs@plateautel.net

Joseph Cervantes (Las Cruces)
cervanteslaw@zianet.com

Gail Chasey (Albuquerque)
gailchasey@msn.com

Nathan Cote (Las Cruces)
ncote@zianet.com

Miguel Garcia (Albuquerque)
miguel.garcia@nmlegis.gov

Robert "Bobby" Gonzales (Taos)
rbjgonzales@kitcarson.net

Joni Marie Gutierrez (Las Cruces)
jonig@zianet.com

Irvin Harrison (Gallup)
irv4u@cnetco.com

Antonio Lujan (Las Cruces)
alujan@zianet.com

Antonio "Moe" Maestas (Albuquerque)
antonio@moejustice.com

Ken Martinez (Grants)
mlo1@7cities.net

Al Park (Albuquerque)
alpark.nm@gmail.com

Danice Picraux (Albuquerque)
danice.picraux@nmlegis.gov

Henry "Kiki" Saavedra (Albuquerque)
(505) 986-4316

Edward Sandoval (Albuquerque)
edward.sandoval@nmlegis.gov

Daniel Silva (Albuquerque)
(505) 986-4425

Sheryl Williams Stapleton (Albuquerque)
sheryl.stapleton@nmlegis.gov

Jeff Steinborn (Las Cruces)
jeff.steinborn@nmlegis.gov

Mimi Stewart (Albuquerque)
mstewart@osogrande.com

Thomas Swisstack (Rio Rancho)
tswiss1@msn.com

Jim Trujillo (Santa Fe)
jimtrujillo@msn.com

Luciano "Lucky" Varela (Santa Fe)
(505) 986-4318

Peter Wirth (Santa Fe)
peter.wirth@nmlegis.gov

Republicans voting yes:

Daniel Foley (Roswell)
daniel.foley@nmlegis.gov

Justine Fox Young (Albuquerque)
foxyoung@gmail.com

Keith Gardner (Roswell)
gardners@prodigy.net

Kathy McCoy (Cedar Crest)
katrina@swcp.com

Brian Moore (Clayton)
brian@ranchmkt.com

W.C. "Dub" Williams (Glencoe)
(505) 986-4454

Eric Youngberg (Corrales)
eric.youngberg@nmlegis.gov

Democrats Not Voting:

George Hanosh (Grants)
(505) 986-4243

Tips on writing an email

Legislators receive hundreds of emails a day, so you need to make yours stand out.

* Be courteous, positive, and brief.
* Put important information in the subject line. For example, "Thank you for supporting SB 238, medical marijuana legislation" or "I wish you would have supported SB238"
* Identify yourself and mention if you are a constituent.
* Ask your legislator to support SB 238, the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act, during the House floor vote.
* Feel free to briefly tell them why you personally support the bills.

In Brief

The Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act would allow qualified patients suffering from certain serious illnesses such as cancer, HIV/AIDS and epilepsy to use marijuana for relief from their symptoms. Feel free to refer to our fact sheet or talking points before you call or write the email.

Thanks so much for calling - and please feel free to forward this information to other individuals and email lists that might be interested. The more voices that speak up for the bill, the more likely it will become law. If you have any questions please call us at (505) 983-3277.

Thank you for your commitment to reform in New Mexico. Your dedication is truly amazing and greatly appreciated. We can't get discouraged now, without your involvement and support, success wouldn't be possible!

Reena Szczepanski
Drug Policy Alliance Network
Improve New Mexico

Learn More About the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act

The Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act would allow qualified patients suffering from certain serious illnesses - such as cancer, HIV/AIDS, and epilepsy - to use marijuana for relief of their symptoms. The law would require a patient to receive a recommendation for cannabis (i.e., medical marijuana) from his/her medical provider. The patient could then apply to participate in the program through the Department of Health, and an independent review board of doctors would consider each application.

Upon approval by the board, the patient would receive a registry identification card from the New Mexico Department of Health, certifying that he/she was a participant in the Lynn and Erin program. By registering in this way, the patient and the patient's primary caregiver would be allowed to possess only enough cannabis to treat the patient. Only providers who already can prescribe controlled substances could recommend patients for the program. The Department of Health will develop regulations for licensed producers within the state, identifying standards for safety, security, and distribution.

The new law would not allow medical marijuana use in public, and would penalize lying to a law enforcement officer regarding the medical use of marijuana. The Department of Health would keep a registry of participants so that law enforcement officers could confirm the validity of a patient's registration card. Patients under 18 years old could only participate with parental consent.

Source: Drug Policy Alliance
Copyright: 2007 Drug Policy Alliance
Contact: webmaster@drugpolicy.org
Website: Drug Policy Alliance