Pubdate: Mon, 19 May 2014
Source: Albuquerque Journal (NM)
Copyright: 2014 Albuquerque Journal
Contact:  http://www.abqjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/10
Author: Olivier Uyttebrouck

HIGHER FEES WORRY MARIJUANA PRODUCERS

Growers: Increases Will Force Medical Pot Users to Buy on Streets

About 11,000 New Mexicans licensed to buy medical marijuana would pay 
a first-ever fee of $50 a year to renew their registry ID cards under 
regulations prop o s ed by the state Department of Health.

Nonprofit producers that grow medical pot say the proposed rules 
would also triple the cost of their annual licensing fees to $90,000 
for those that grow the proposed maximum of 150 mature plants and 300 
seedlings.

Producers say the proposed regulations would force growers to raise 
prices, encouraging medical marijuana buyers to seek out illegal sources.

"These proposals are just going to push patients to the street," said 
Erik Briones, owner of Minerva Canna Group, one of the state's 23 
licensed nonprofit medical cannabis producers.

"By having all these rules and regulations, it is forcing patients to 
commit illegal acts by going to the streets to buy their medicine," 
he said. "If you have a program that no one wants to participate in, 
the program will die."

A Health Department official said the proposed regulations are 
intended to expand the supply of medical marijuana and that the 
higher fee will apply only to producers who choose to grow more plants.

"The department does not anticipate the proposed rule change will 
result in greater medication costs for qualified patients," 
department spokesman Kenny Vigil said in a written response.

The $50 fee for a registry ID card is intended to help pay the 
agency's operational costs, which totalled $414,400 in 2013, Vigil said.

The agency does not receive an appropriation to pay for the medical 
cannabis program, he said. The $50 registry fee would generate about 
$550,000 a year, given the current number of patients.

The agency last year collected about $500,000 from licensing fees 
paid by 23 nonprofit producers, Vigil said. The proposal would also 
allow the department to license up to 12 additional producers.

Program costs are expected to rise as the number of patients and 
growers increase, Vigil said. The program recently hired two 
part-time physicians at a cost of about $138,000 a year, increasing 
the staff size to seven, and the agency may hire additional staff, he said.

Health department officials said in February they want to increase 
the number of licensed producers and relax restrictions on how many 
pot plants can be grown. The change was in response to a survey that 
found the program was struggling to supply a growing number of 
registered patients.

Nonprofit producers can now grow a maximum 150 marijuana plants. The 
proposed regulations would increase the maximum to 150 mature plants 
and 300 seedlings.

The agency also plans to change the licensing fee structure for 
producers, who now pay a license fee based on how long they have been 
in business. Producers licensed for more than three years now pay the 
maximum $30,000 a year.

Under the proposed rules, producers would pay based on the number of 
plants they grow. Producers would pay $20,000 for 50 adult female 
plants and $10,000 for 100 seedlings, or a maximum $90,000 a year.

Vigil said a producer that has 50 adult female plants and 100 
seedlings would continue to pay $30,000 a year, he said.

"The department can't speculate what changes the (producers) will 
make to their business plans at this point," he said.

For patients licensed to grow their own medical pot, the proposal 
would also trim the number of mature plants they can grow from four to two.

Vigil said the Health Department anticipates that the proposed plant 
increase for nonprofit producers will be sufficient to meet patients' needs.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom