Pubdate: Fri, 02 Jan 2015 Source: New Mexican, The (Santa Fe, NM) Copyright: 2015 The Santa Fe New Mexican Contact: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/SendLetter/ Website: http://www.santafenewmexican.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/695 ERR ON SIDE OF COMPASSION Too much energy is being spent rewriting rules for the distribution of medical marijuana in New Mexico. The state Department of Health, rather than devising cumbersome rules that make it harder for patients to get the medicine they need, should streamline the process. While the latest version of rules is an improvement (anything would be) on the original plan, more work is needed. Compassion needs to play a role. The Medical Cannabis Program is too important to sick patients to burden it with rules that are more political than practical. Testimony from patients whose quality of life has been improved because of marijuana prescriptions is too compelling to ignore. The hearing, which took place Monday, had 200-plus attendees, with 50 people speaking. That's a lower attendance than went to an earlier hearing - in that one, criticism was so loud. the Department of Health pulled back the rules for another round of rewriting. In setting rules, Department of Health officials would do well to remember that medical oath of "do no harm." The reality is this - medical marijuana is legal, and the state's emphasis should be on making sure there are enough producers to provide medicine and that pot isn't being diverted for illegal uses. Other than that, we trust doctors to write prescriptions and patients to know what they need to handle pain or other chronic conditions. As conservatives so often argue, we don't need over-regulation by government. Sen. Cisco McSorley, who attended the hearing, made a compelling case for less-cumbersome regulation. New Mexico's rules are so complex that patients who could benefit from marijuana are not using it. He believes that rather than the 13,000 patients enrolled now, some 60,000 would be able to participate if the state rules were less onerous. Of course, with Gov. Susana Martinez opposed to marijuana use, the state has an interest in making it more difficult to use. That's a bad use of bureaucracy, especially since the real drug problem in New Mexico is misuse of prescription pain medicine, not pot. Some 830 people have submitted written comments on the proposed rule changes - which can be found online at www.nmhealth.org - and written comments will be accepted through Jan. 5. Comments can be submitted by mail to Medical Cannabis Program, New Mexico Department of Health, 1190 St. Francis Drive, Santa Fe, NM 87502, or by email to medical. This program helps people who are suffering. It should be run by doctors, not government bureaucrats, with the emphasis on making marijuana accessible to sick people who need it. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom