New Mexico's medical marijuana program making changes to keep up with growth

SANTA FE - New Mexico's booming medical marijuana program is undergoing changes that are intended to help alleviate growing pains, a state Department of Health official told lawmakers this week.

The changes that are either being considered or are already in the works include allowing patients to submit online applications — they're currently required to be submitted by mail — and the hiring of seven new staffers, including an investigator and an environmental scientist.

The new hires would bolster the Medical Cannabis Program's authorized staff positions by 33 percent — from 21 to 28 positions — for the budget year that started in July.

New Mexico launched its medical marijuana program in 2007 — the law is officially called the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act — and the number of people enrolled in the program has skyrocketed in recent years. There were 48,861 active patients around the state as of last month, up from 9,950 in September 2013.

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While some legislators still harbor concern over qualifying conditions and whether the supply of medical cannabis is enough to meet demand, they also said the program appears to be taking important strides to keep up with the growth.

"They're making an effort to make this program what it has been described as all along — a medical program," Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque, said Wednesday.

Most of the state's 48,000-plus patients have been diagnosed with either post-traumatic stress disorder or severe chronic pain, which are among the nearly two dozen conditions under which patients are eligible for medical cannabis identification cards.

During a Tuesday hearing of the interim Legislative Health and Human Services Committee, several lawmakers took issue with Health Secretary Lynn Gallagher's decision this summer to reject an advisory board's recommendation that opiate addiction and Alzheimer's disease be added to the list of conditions that qualify someone to legally buy medical cannabis from a state-licensed producer. Gov. Susana Martinez also vetoed legislation in April that would have added opiate use disorder as a qualifying condition.

The committee voted Tuesday to send a letter to Gallagher to ask her to reconsider her decision, a stance supported by groups that have pushed for the change.

"We know that cannabis is a bridge to recovery and that it helps people who are in recovery stay in recovery," said Jessica Gelay with the Drug Policy Alliance in New Mexico.

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Meanwhile, the Health Department has also faced criticism in recent years for its handling of a backlog of applications for state-required medical marijuana cards, both from new patients and those seeking renewals.

Current state law requires the agency to approve or deny an application for ID cards within 30 days of receipt. The cards expire one year after being granted, so qualified patients must go through the renewal process annually.

Although Ortiz y Pino said he still thinks the Martinez administration is suspicious of the legitimacy of marijuana as a medical treatment, he said the backlog appears to have been largely fixed.

And Department of Health officials said Wednesday they're looking for other ways to improve the program's overall operation to ensure patients have safe access to medical marijuana.

One change being considered is allowing online applications.

However, applicants would still have to provide the same information as they do now, including a valid certification that the patient has been diagnosed with one of the qualifying conditions.

"As patient enrollment increases, we are looking at the feasibility of implementing an electronic patient application to improve this process," DOH spokesman Paul Rhien told the Albuquerque Journal.

It was unclear Wednesday when such a policy might be enacted.

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