Revised Proposed Rules & Regulations for the NM Medical Cannabis Program:
As you may all know, the Dept. has put in hundreds of hours since the last Public Hearing revising the Proposed Rules. Since then, they have received additional input from a variety of stake holders and they are seriously considering several additional changes that would improve the MCP for both Patients and Producers. It appears that the we are developing a partnership, a working relationship between all – Patients, LNPPs, the Administration. Thanks to DPA, at least one critical change has already been announced by the Dept. – NO Medical Practitioner can over-ride the recommendation of certifying Practitioner and deny a Patient’s application. Actually, the Dept. did not intend for this over-ride to be in the Proposed Rules, but inadvertently, it was still there in one spot.
My hope is that the consideration and dialog will continue this week and early next. Since the Proposed Rules have already been published, the Dept. cannot make any changes to the text. BUT, they can agree to make changes and announce those revisions before or at the Public Hearing. I am optimistic that the final version of the Proposed Rules will be one that we can all live with – not perfect, but acceptable. If this turns out to be the case, I will urge an orderly and polite Public Hearing. One where our differences can be presented without contention by professionals in order to bring real these to light for the Hearing Officer’s consideration.
I believe that if we do that, without the large demonstrations and understandable venting of frustrations, we will accomplish a great deal more than with a circus. The circus serves a valuable purpose. It gets attention – and when successful it gets action. The last Public Hearing did just that. Activists spoke out loudly and in great numbers. It was not a pleasant experience for the Dept. but they listen and took the Hearing Officer’s report to heart. As a result, we have Proposed Regulations that are far better and we have a dialogue with the Dept. that I expect will be ongoing.
As we get more info on what additional positive revisions will be proposed by DoH, I will let you know. From my seat, we have a working partnership that should continue to develop if we function cooperatively and not as adversaries. Partners do not always agree – but good working partners listen to and respect each others opinions and try to compromise for the good of the partnership.
Len Goodman
Executive Director, New MexiCann Natural Medicine
As you can see, there’s no mention of shortages, as the producers and the DOH have decided that they’ve fixed that problem. And unlike all the attention for the last meeting, the producers — or, should I say, this producer — feels that we don’t need another “circus” at this meeting. Huh, interesting…
All Things Chronic 