Pubdate: Fri, 22 May 2015
Source: Albuquerque Journal (NM)
Copyright: 2015 Albuquerque Journal
Contact:  http://www.abqjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/10
Author: Nicole Maxwell, Mountain View Telegraph

PROPOSED MEDICAL POT GREENHOUSE CAUSES CONCERN

Neighbors Worried About Security

A proposed medical marijuana greenhouse is causing some worry among 
residents of the Loma Parda subdivision near Mountainair and Abo.

Property owners in the subdivision were notified about the plans by 
the operator, Trevor Reed.

"He offered to meet with (the neighbors) and was very forthcoming 
with information," Loma Parda Subdivision resident Susan Oviatt said.

Oviatt was at the Torrance County Commission on May 13 to express her 
concerns with the proposed operation.

"We have no moral issues with growing a controlled substance, but we 
are concerned that the development seems to be proceeding as if no 
neighbors exist and the local zoning rules are not important.

It seems to be an entirely commercial development, with extreme 
security requirements," Oviatt read from a letter that she and her 
husband Dr. Jack Oviatt sent to the New Mexico Department of Health 
and presented at the meeting.

According to state law, medical marijuana producers are required to 
notify local law enforcement before going into production.

Torrance County Sheriff Heath White said he has not received 
notification. The site is within Socorro County, which has been 
notified, Oviatt said.

White said the proximity to Torrance County should warrant notification.

The state Department of Health works to keep the locations of the 
medical cannabis growers and dispensaries secretive as a way to keep 
the criminal element away from the communities, White said.

"They are not adequately secured to keep out that element," White said.

The laws surrounding the legal production of marijuana are not very 
clear, and marijuana is still illegal at the federal level.

"There's a lot of room for interpretation," White said.

The New Mexico Administrative Code Title 7, Chapter 34 states that a 
qualified patient who holds a valid personal production license can 
have no more than four mature female cannabis plants and a grand 
total of 12 seedlings and male plants.

A greenhouse or other nonprofit medical cannabis producer is limited 
to a grand total of 450 female cannabis plants, seedlings and male 
plants combined and can only sell the product to those who are 
authorized to possess and receive it, the code states.

"Frequently, we have gone out to personal properties, and all of them 
have been over the limit. There is no regulatory commission to 
enforce (medical cannabis) laws right now," White said.

Medical marijuana is used to treat debilitating medical conditions 
such as cancer, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, HIV human 
immunodeficiency virus and other conditions as approved by the NMDOH.

There are a total of 20 qualifying conditions and 13,310 patients in 
the medical cannabis program in New Mexico, according to the NMDOH.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom