SouthEast New Mexico Medical Cannabis Alliance

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SENMAlliance

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Hello NM Forums!

We are the SouthEast New Mexico Medical Cannabis Alliance.

We formed in January of 2011 in Carlsbad, NM. SENMMCA has members in Carlsbad, Artesia, Hobbs, Lovington, Eunice, Roswell, Ruidoso, Cloudcroft, Dexter, Hagerman, Ruidoso Downs and Mayhill. We are an "ad hoc" group that meets on the third Wednesday of the month at the Carlsbad iHop. Meeting time is 6:30 PM.

SENMMCA is dedicated first, last and always to NM Patients. Our goal is to help new patients and caregivers with the application process, assist renewing patients with their renewals, advocate tirelessly on behalf of NM patients and to actively work to educate our communities regarding medical cannabis in NM. We have been involved with the campaign to re-schedule cannabis out of schedule 1 status. We were invited to participate in the first Shannon Shaw Cancer Awareness Seminar in Carlsbad and have helped to provide safe access to high quality medication in the South Eastern part of NM for over a year.

Our meetings are primarily for patients, caregivers and families, but are open and welcome everyone. We do not not sell, supply, provide or use medication at our meetings or public events. We do not charge fees, admission nor do we accept donations.

SENMMCA is a patient driven Alliance. We invite you to attend our next meeting!

For info: medicansenm@yahoo.com
 
I don't think New Mexico is unique in the lack of political involvement by its citizens, especially considering the economic condition of the state. This small amount of political involvement is also found within the state's 10,000 medical cannabis patients. One of the reasons is the inability of patients to openly share not only their identities, but information about the program, including quality of medicine and where to find it.

There are only a few patient groups that I have been able to locate within the state, and one of them is the Southeast New Mexico Medical Cannabis Alliance (SENMMCA), based in Carlsbad, New Mexico. This group appears to also include the areas of Ruidoso, Las Cruces, and Roswell.

I did some research on SENMMCA, and did not find much -- and most of it was dated years ago. They do not have any presence on the internet that I can find, like on Facebook or Twitter, which is not surprising considering their stance on privacy.

Robert L. Pack

SENMMCA is a "medical cannabis alliance" group in Carlsbad, New Mexico, formed around January, 2011 (according to a Carlsbad Current-Argas article in July of that same year). The founder of this group, Robert L. Pack, "helped establish policies and procedures at the Santa Fe Institute for Natural Medicine that ensured the medication would follow state law," according to the same news outlet (7/13/11). Mr. Pack can be reached at: medicansenm@yahoo.com.

In a later internet post from the group, it was described as a "meeting of patients, caregivers, producers, educators, medical professionals, family and friends..." The issues identified in the group's first meeting included "the availability of state-approved medication in the area, the delivery of medication to the area, and the need to identify and register those New Mexicans who are legally eligible to be in the program and to help in the registration process."

Mr. Pack runs this organization, but I don't know his exact title. It looks like SENMMCA has done some advocacy work for veterans (with the Drug Policy Alliance), and Mr. Pack gives his group credit for stopping the move to tax medical cannabis (at 25%) some years ago. I communicated briefly with him via email, but did not receive an answer to my question on how active the group currently was. But, Mr. Pack did say that he was busy working in the most recent legislative session in Santa Fe. He also mentioned that SENMMCA had some difficulty in keeping a group together, as the southeast is a very rural area.

Carlsbad, New Mexico

If you are a patient who lives in Southeast New Mexico, then you are aware that it is a conservative area of the state, with a heavy military presence. Through my brief communications with Mr. Pack, my perception is that his organization is also conservative, partly because it has adopted strict rules regarding the sharing of information (especially when it comes to dispensaries).

Mr. Pack informed me that SENMMCA does not believe in posting dispensary reviews, and instead is more focused on patient (and dispensary) privacy. Mr. Pack (and, presumably, SENMMCA) is not a fan of my "lifestyle" reviews (on a different website), and professes no need for such information. (Everyone's a critic, right?) In other words, this group has no desire to share information, nor does it appear to advocate for transparency within the MMJ industry. So it's safe to say that Mr. Pack and I did not see eye-to-eye on too many issues.

You can go here for the most recent description of this group:
Log in or sign up to view ... 6396541264" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I also discovered that SENMMCA has ties to the producer in Ruidoso, Compassionate Distributors*, according to a March, 2013, post on the dispensary's Facebook page by the owner. She described SENMMCA as a "patient advocacy group" that was meeting in Roswell, and encouraged "everyone" to attend. She also mentioned that her husband would be attending said meeting.

Additionally, it should be noted that there is a post indicating that it is Compassionate Distributors that wants to raise the fee for a patient producer license from $30 to $100 (1/22/14, NMMCPA Facebook page).

Forces at Work in Carlsbad

Because I was unable to find much information on SENMMCA, I did a little research on Carlsbad, the city where it is headquartered. I found numerous mentions of a federally-funded group called "Carlsbad Community Anti-Drug/Gang Coalition." As just one example, at an August, 2012, posting on currentargus.com:

"The Carlsbad organization will receive $125,000 from the Office of National Drug Control Policy's Drug-Free Communities Support Program that helps support community coalitions such as Carlsbad's to facilitate resident participation in local drug prevention efforts, according to the release."

If you want to see a perfect example of the dysfunctional intersection of government and business in the anti-drug crusade, this group is the one you want to read about. I'll let everyone draw their own conclusions.

A Private Club

Because of all the problems I have faced within New Mexico's MMJ program, I reached out to SENMMCA in the hope of finding more information -- from the standpoint of a patient, but also about the current state of the program. Considering Mr. Pack's longevity in the program, and his position as a Board member at SFINM, I figured he was the guy who could answer a lot of my questions. Boy, was I wrong about that.

My perception is that this group is similar to a private, members-only club. That's not a bad thing, it's just a... thing.

I have tried my best to respect Mr. Pack's privacy, in that I haven't shared any information in this post that can't be found if one searches long enough. Since I don't have any idea how many patients are members of SENMMCA -- which means I don't know the number of patients in the southeast portion of the state who are not represented (or under-represented) by this group -- I hope this information finds its way to those who need it.

I also hope that the information I have included in this post does not deter any patient in Southeast New Mexico from checking out this group. You should just do so with your eyes open.

*Because of SENMMCA's ties to Compassionate Distributors, I think I should also note that there have been some rumors about the owners of this dispensary using their influence to rat out patients with grow licenses who may or may not have been growing more plants than the law allows.
 
SENMMCA is in no way connected to, affiliated with, funded by, influenced by nor a chapter of any lobbying group, Producer, Advocacy group, political party or any other entity. SENMMCA is not affiliated with Compassionate Distributors. We regret that painkills2 doesn't understand the meaning of Patient anonymity or HIPPA. It is unfortunate that you don't like what you have been told by many of us in the NM cannabis community. Simply put, you asked questions and then rejected the answers given to you. I told you in our very first communication that SENMMCA is essentially a rural advocacy group and our influence and effectiveness in urban NM is marginal at best. You pressed for info that I shared to the best of my ability. You then began to denigrate other Patient Groups, Producers, lobbying organizations and finally, SENMMCA's role in NM Patient Advocacy. You have jumped to conclusions (inaccurate ones) in this very post. SENMMCA sincerely hopes that you find the answers you're looking for. We also sincerely hope that you cease your campaign against Producers. Patient Advocates, Advocacy organizations and by extension NM Patients.
 
"We regret that painkills2 doesn't understand the meaning of Patient anonymity or HIPPA."

You appear to be believe that HIPPA offers protections for patients, while I agree with Wikipedia, on "information privacy laws":

"Data privacy is not highly legislated or regulated in the U.S.. In the United States, access to private data contained in for example third-party credit reports may be sought when seeking employment or medical care, or making automobile, housing, or other purchases on credit terms. Although partial regulations exist, there is no all-encompassing law regulating the acquisition, storage, or use of personal data in the U.S. In general terms, in the U.S., whoever can be troubled to key in the data, is deemed to own the right to store and use it, even if the data were collected without permission."

And I'm just sitting here wondering what the NSA would have to say about HIPPA -- if an agent were allowed to answer such a question, do you think he would be able to keep a straight face?

The defense that "We" keep offering for refusing to answer all of my questions is that I have "jumped to conclusions" or maybe that I'm just sadly misinformed. Trouble is, no one is willing to provide much more of a response than that. Which is why it is hard for me to believe you sincerely hope that I find the answers I'm looking for.

But all this is really beside the point, because I think I have all the answers I really need.

I have no trouble stating for the record that I have never in my life denigrated another human being. Ever. And I have to really wonder why you would choose such a description of any of my words. In fact, I would be more than happy to post ALL of our communications just to publically prove you wrong.

(At this point) It's your decision...
 
FYI - private groups mean they check IDs and verify members (did they smoke marijuana in front of you?)

I have seen both - wide open dispensaries open to anyone with an ID. Cops started getting medical marijuana ID cards. (yea I wonder how they lied to the doctor to get the recommendation)

The old rules still apply - know who you are with.

I am back with my club - we offer social events, bus tours, social sundays. The key element at these clubs - is you meet similar people - and meet else where later. Clubs should teach the law first - most of the people busted around here - claimed ignorance of the law. Not a defense.

We need MORE PUBLIC MEETINGS AT PUBLIC PLACES. City ordinances prohibit 'clubs or organizations where a person 'could' acquire marijuana. The recent supreme court ruling in our state just said - local laws cannot deny rights given by the state law. And does state law trump federal law? - It does when the state listens to its people.

That is how patients and caregivers find each other...

DN
 
"TG: What are the ramifications of having private companies collect this kind of data?

KC: It's really tricky because in a sense it allows law enforcement to obtain access to months or years or even decades of this information through a sort of back door. And that's why need to make sure there's a warrant protection in there. So Vigilant is obviously the leader in this field, it's the company we have to worry about right now (it also has a sister corporation called Digital Recognition Network that sells this information to insurance companies)."

Meet the Company That Can Track Everywhere You've Been and Tell Police About It | Alternet
 
DigitalNomad:

More public meetings at public places is a great idea, but isn't that kinda what we're doing here, at this website, already?

I expect all MMJ organizations to check ID and verify members, and I have no problem with that. My definition of a private club would be one that hordes information, both good and bad, that could benefit other patients.

While social activities are great for some patients, I would think that most are just trying to survive; therefore, social activities are probably not high on their list of important things to do (even if they are physically able and have the funds, transportation, etc). I just don't think it should be mandatory to be a member of a private club to get information, like where the strongest medicine is located (only through opinion and perception, of course, but it's better than nothing), or about grower's methods.

For MMJ patients, most of whom are disabled (some even bedridden), the internet is a perfect way to communicate -- but only if patients feel comfortable and secure in sharing that information, right? But, also, patients need a lot of options for this type of resource. Currently, that's not the case.

When a patient is running around in circles trying to figure out where to find the right medicine (especially in a restrictive market like New Mexico's), it's only luck that she would turn up here. At least, that's how I felt. Just like thousands of other MMJ patients, I have spent a heck of a lot of money in trying to figure these things out -- mostly, because of lack of information.

And even though I've found some websites like this, I'm still looking for information...

So, if one of the reasons I've depleted my savings is because of privacy issues -- then, in my opinion, that's not an adequate argument, here, in the digital age.

As to how patients and caregivers find each other, I believe that is a question that currently has no reliable or adequate answers.
 
I wanted to thank Mr. Pack for getting up to speak at the DOH's public hearing today in Santa Fe, and for representing the needs of patients in rural New Mexico.
 
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