Nm: Suit Seeks Info On Medical Pot Growers‏

[+Malamute]

Newshawk: http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm
Pubdate: Fri, 10 Jul 2015
Source: Albuquerque Journal (NM)
Copyright: 2015 Albuquerque Journal
Contact: opinion@abqjournal.com
Website: http://www.abqjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/10
Author: Dan McKay

SUIT SEEKS INFO ON MEDICAL POT GROWERS

A lawsuit filed Thursday accuses the New Mexico Health Department of
violating state law by refusing to release the names of people with a
license to produce medical marijuana.

Freelance journalist Peter St. Cyr and the New Mexico Foundation for
Open Government filed a complaint Thursday asking a judge to strike
down a state regulation that aims to keep secret the names of people
or groups who have applied for or received licenses to produce
medical marijuana.

The secrecy "distorts the market for medicine, deprives New Mexicans
of important information about their neighborhoods, and has the
potential to promote cronyism and corruption in the awarding of
valuable state licenses," the lawsuit says.

St. Cyr and the Foundation for Open Government also argue that the
regulation isn't permitted under the state's open-records law.

"Executive agencies cannot exempt their records from the Inspection
of Public Records Act by administrative fiat," they said in the lawsuit.

The suit names the state Department of Health and its records
custodian, Daniel M. Jacobs, as defendants. It was filed in state
District Court in Albuquerque.

The department said it couldn't comment on pending litigation.

St. Cyr is an independent journalist who's been investigating and
reporting on New Mexico's medical marijuana program since 2007,
according to the suit. The Foundation for Open Government is a
nonpartisan group dedicated to transparency in government.

They say the state medical marijuana law allows the names of patients
to be kept confidential, not the identities of licensed producers.

Charles "Kip" Purcell filed the suit on behalf of St. Cyr and the foundation.

[t-pain]

this case is specifically talking about the licensed producers not patients. interesting, thought that was all public...

[+Malamute]

Well, yes and no. 

 

 In New Mexico, you must apply for a license to grow at home.

  There could be some crossover issues with this lawsuit.

 

 

FAQ NM

 

Can I produce my own supply of medical cannabis?

Yes, patients may apply for a Personal Production License. If you are approved, you can have four mature plants and 12 seedlings. The definitions of seedlings and mature plants can be found in New Mexico Administrative Code 7.34.4. Copies of these regulations are sent out with each patient production license Patients can only produce for themselves, it is illegal to distribute to anyone else. Patient production must conform to the plan described by the patient in their application for a personal production license. Caregivers cannot produce medical cannabis for patients. Caregivers can only help patients produce medical cannabis at the patient’s residence or on the patient’s property.