Becoming a Medical Marijuana Patient in New Mexico

David Bowman

New Member
Summary
An approved New Mexico patient may legally possess marijuana for medicinal purposes. A patient can also apply for a production license, which would allow the patient to grow their own medicine. A patient may designate a caregiver for assistance. The state issues IDs for both patients and caregivers.

What's Legal
As a patient, you and your caregiver may collectively possess up to a three month "adequate supply." A three month adequate supply is presumed to be no more than six ounces of usable marijuana. If you need more than this amount, your doctor should include this in your recommendation.

Eligible Conditions
  • cancer
  • glaucoma
  • multiple sclerosis
  • epilepsy
  • HIV/AIDS
  • under hospice care
  • severe chronic pain
  • painful peripheral neuropathy
  • intractable nausea/vomiting
  • severe anorexia/cachexia
  • hepatitis C infection currently receiving antiviral treatment
  • Crohn's disease
  • Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
  • Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease)
  • damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord with intractable spasticity
  • inflammatory autoimmune-mediated arthritis
  • any other condition approved by the department of health
Application Process
Your doctor must certify that you have an eligible condition, that the condition is debilitating and cannot be helped by standard treatments, and that the benefits of medical cannabis usage outweigh the detriments. This recommendation may need to be accompanied by further proof of your debilitating medical condition depending on the condition. For example, for chronic pain you need objective proof of severe chronic pain such as X-rays, CT scans, and MRIs and you must receive two recommendations, one from your primary care physician and one from a specialist.

Recommendations must be submitted to the New Mexico department of health along with a completed application. Application forms are available at nmhealth.orgl or can be acquired by calling (505) 827-2321.

Doctor
Any medical doctor (MD), doctor of osteopathy (DO) or nurse practitioner who can prescribe medicine in New Mexico can write a referral for the Medical Cannabis Program.

Access/Caregivers/Producers
Caregivers are allowed to assist patients with growing their medicine as long as they follow the terms specified in the patient's application for a production license. Registered caregivers are issued cards that protect them from arrest and prosecution for the possession of medical cannabis under New Mexico law. All caregiver applicants are required to undergo background checks before they are approved.

There is also an application process for producers. Medical marijuana producers must operate on a strictly non-profit basis and follow state regulations.

Consumption
Do not use marijuana in public, on school grounds, or at work.

Confidentiality
Patient and primary caregiver information is confidential. The program will only share information with state or local law enforcement agencies to verify that a patient or primary caregiver can legally have and use medical cannabis.

Source: ASA: Becoming a Patient in New Mexico
 
You left out a few of the qualifying conditions. Here is an alphabetized list:

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease)
Cancer
Crohn’s disease
Damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord with intractable spasticity
Epilepsy
Glaucoma
Hepatitis C infection currently receiving antiviral treatment
HIV/AIDS
Hospice patients
Huntington's disease
Inflammatory autoimmune-mediated arthritis
Intractable nausea/vomiting
Multiple sclerosis
Painful peripheral neuropathy
Parkinson's disease
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
Severe chronic pain
Severe anorexia/cachexia
 
List correctly updated, with 20 qualifying conditions:

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease)
Cancer
Cervical Dystonia
Crohn’s disease
Damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord with intractable spasticity
Epilepsy
Glaucoma
Hepatitis C infection currently receiving antiviral treatment
HIV/AIDS
Hospice patients
Huntington’s Disease
Inflammatory autoimmune‐mediated arthritis
Intractable nausea/vomiting
Multiple sclerosis
Painful peripheral neuropathy
Parkinson’s Disease
Post‐traumatic Stress Disorder
Severe anorexia/cachexia
Severe chronic pain
Ulcerative Colitis
 
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