New Mexico

The Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act passed the New Mexico legislature in March 2007. The law permits qualifying patients to possess up to 6 ounces of useable marijuana. Cultivation is permitted, with a limit of 16 plants (4 mature).

The New Mexico Department of Health administers the program, which permits medical marijuana for the treatment of 15 specific qualifying conditions: severe chronic pain, painful peripheral neuropathy, intractable nausea/vomiting, severe anorexia/cachexia, hepatitis C infection, Crohn's disease, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), cancer, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord with intractable spasticity, epilepsy, HIV/AIDS, and hospice patients.

Caregivers are permitted to provide services to a maximum of four qualified patients. Patients can apply for a license with the state to produce their own cannabis. Approved patients can obtain a list of approved producers from the state.

Heavy reliance upon self-cultivation is particularly problematic in New Mexico because of the stiff penalties for cultivation, which by state law is punishable by 9 years in prison for a first offense – regardless of the amount grown. Penalties double for a second or subsequent cultivation violation.

Patients are required to maintain a valid registry identification card through the Medical Cannabis Program.

New Mexico’s system in a bit unique in that the state also issues Personal Production Licenses, putting it in a position to oversee production of medical cannabis. It’s possible such a system will draw increasing scrutiny from the federal government, which has focused increased attention on raiding production facilities. Marijuana remains a Schedule I narcotic under the Controlled Substances Act.

Meanwhile, lawmakers moved to reduce the penalties for possessing less than 8 ounces of marijuana under state law – eliminating jail time in favor of a civil penalty.

House passes bill that makes marijuana penalties in New Mexico less harsh, Santa Fe New Mexican, March 12, 2013.