New Mexico: Hearing on Medical Marijuana Program

By KVIA Staff

The New Mexico Department of Health's Medical Advisory Board will have a meeting in Santa Fe Friday to discuss adding conditions to the medical cannabis program.

The public hearing will be from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the Harold Runnels Building auditorium, 1190 St. Francis Dr. in Santa Fe.

The Board will review five petitions that have been previously submitted to the Department of Health. The petitions include the following conditions: Hepatitis C undergoing non-antiviral treatment, cluster headaches, Ankylosing Spondylitis, Bipolar Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (in a single petition), and Blepharospasm, a neurological movement disorder that causes an abnormal contraction or twitch of the eyelid.

The Board will make recommendations to the Department's Health Secretary, who will make the final decision on all petitions. If a condition is approved, anyone with that medical condition can apply to the Medical Cannabis Program.

Current qualifying conditions are: cancer, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord with intractable spasticity, epilepsy, HIV/AIDS, painful peripheral neuropathy, intractable nausea/vomiting, severe anorexia/cachexia, hepatitis C infection currently receiving antiviral treatment, Crohn's disease, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, chronic pain and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease). Hospice patients may also be eligible. Patients with chronic pain must have two doctor referrals and proof of their pain such as, X-rays or MRIs.

To qualify for medical marijuana, a patient's medical provider must certify that the patient has one of the eligible medical conditions, the condition is debilitating and that the benefit of medical marijuana would outweigh the potential risks.

There are 889 active patients in the Medical Cannabis program. The Department has also approved five nonprofits to produce medical marijuana for patients and 243 patients to produce for themselves.

To apply for the Medical Cannabis program, look up http://www.nmhealth.org/marijuana.html.


Source: http://www.kvia.com/Global/story.asp?S=11649141