New Mexico won't grow medical marijuana after all

I guess this falls under the "it sounded too good to be true" department: you may recall that the New Mexico state legislature passed what seemed to be a ground-breaking medical marijuana law, one that required the state to grow its own supply of medical marijuana so that patients in the state could have reliable access to quality plants. No other state had gone so far with similar legislation. Well, after a review, the state agency that was in the line of fire to actually grow the stuff has declined to comply with the law:

The state health department said Wednesday it will not comply with a portion of the new medical marijuana law that requires it to oversee production and distribution of the drug. It will still certify patients as eligible to possess marijuana, protecting them from state prosecution.

"The Department of Health will not subject its employees to potential federal prosecution, and therefore will not distribute or produce medical marijuana," said Dr. Alfredo Vigil, who heads the agency.

The decision came after state Attorney General Gary King cautioned last week that the agency and its employees could face federal prosecution for implementing the new law, and that his office can't defend state workers in criminal cases. Marijuana is illegal under federal law.

Naturally this has irritated a few people, who believe these risks were well aired during the process of passing the law in the first place; the notion of a lawsuit is of course being bandied about. And some think Gov. Bill Richardson needs to step in, although he's gallivanting around the country running for president so that might be a little tricky.

Still, the fact that the law passed in its current form, and the fact that lawmakers do not intend to back down on making these rules permanent, is still an interesting, positive development, in terms of thinking through the entire medical marijuana situation and attempting to craft a fair and sane approach.