Robert Celt
New Member
What if the lawmakers who advocated for the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act back in 2007 had proposed providing medical marijuana for the vague diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder? And what if they had suggested allowing nonprofit producers to be fronts for for-profit growers? And what if they had contemplated partnerships that turn tribal lands into huge pot farms?
Well, somebody would probably have said they were high. But in the realm of unintended consequences, all of those money-driven expansions have happened or are in the works.
Back in 2007, there were seven qualifying conditions established by statute for a medical marijuana prescription — cancer, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, epilepsy, HIV/AIDS and admission to hospice care. Now there are more than 20, with the hardest-to-pinpoint diagnoses the most popular. Back in 2008, there were 182 patients; now there are around 19,000. Who would be surprised if that number quadruples in a few years, with efforts to force insurance companies and Medicaid to pay for medical marijuana? Like the street pot hawkers say in Venice Beach, "Get legal and fly like the eagle."
Back in 2007, a "licensed producer" meant "any person or association of persons within New Mexico that the department determines to be qualified to produce, possess, distribute and dispense cannabis pursuant to the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act and that is licensed by the department." Now at least one of those so-called licensed producers, New Mexico Top Organics, isn't producing anything except a contract with the for-profit, Arizona-based Ultra Health LLC and its 11-acre growing facility in Bernalillo.
Ultra Health is run by former New Mexico Human Services Department Secretary Duke Rodriguez, who says openly that the nonprofit model is "window dressing," and he hopes to replicate his $5 million pot farm partnership with Nevada's Paiute tribe with a pueblo here, as well as gear up production for legalized recreational marijuana in New Mexico.
In great part because of the state Health Department's long-time secrecy around this program — it finally released producers names last week — New Mexico has quite literally stumbled into an expanding multimillion-dollar industry focused on supplying a substance still considered illegal under federal law.
Perhaps an argument can be made that as a society we are better off stoned. But that wasn't really the goal of New Mexico's 2007 medical marijuana act. What has happened since may not violate the letter of the law, but you'd have to be high to argue it doesn't violate the intent.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: NY: Compassion Lost In Cloud Of Medical Pot's Big Profits
Author: Editorial
Photo Credit: None found
Website: Albuquerque Journal
Well, somebody would probably have said they were high. But in the realm of unintended consequences, all of those money-driven expansions have happened or are in the works.
Back in 2007, there were seven qualifying conditions established by statute for a medical marijuana prescription — cancer, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, epilepsy, HIV/AIDS and admission to hospice care. Now there are more than 20, with the hardest-to-pinpoint diagnoses the most popular. Back in 2008, there were 182 patients; now there are around 19,000. Who would be surprised if that number quadruples in a few years, with efforts to force insurance companies and Medicaid to pay for medical marijuana? Like the street pot hawkers say in Venice Beach, "Get legal and fly like the eagle."
Back in 2007, a "licensed producer" meant "any person or association of persons within New Mexico that the department determines to be qualified to produce, possess, distribute and dispense cannabis pursuant to the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act and that is licensed by the department." Now at least one of those so-called licensed producers, New Mexico Top Organics, isn't producing anything except a contract with the for-profit, Arizona-based Ultra Health LLC and its 11-acre growing facility in Bernalillo.
Ultra Health is run by former New Mexico Human Services Department Secretary Duke Rodriguez, who says openly that the nonprofit model is "window dressing," and he hopes to replicate his $5 million pot farm partnership with Nevada's Paiute tribe with a pueblo here, as well as gear up production for legalized recreational marijuana in New Mexico.
In great part because of the state Health Department's long-time secrecy around this program — it finally released producers names last week — New Mexico has quite literally stumbled into an expanding multimillion-dollar industry focused on supplying a substance still considered illegal under federal law.
Perhaps an argument can be made that as a society we are better off stoned. But that wasn't really the goal of New Mexico's 2007 medical marijuana act. What has happened since may not violate the letter of the law, but you'd have to be high to argue it doesn't violate the intent.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: NY: Compassion Lost In Cloud Of Medical Pot's Big Profits
Author: Editorial
Photo Credit: None found
Website: Albuquerque Journal
