Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
A majority of the nonprofits licensed to grow medical marijuana for the state are suing the state Department of Health and Secretary Retta Ward over new rules adopted last month for the state's Medical Cannabis Program.
They claim the new rules are arbitrary and capricious, are not evidence-based and are unenforceable because they exceed the department's authority.
Organized under the name Cannabis Producers of New Mexico Inc., 19 producers say in documents filed in District Court late Monday that they want the court to declare the new administrative rules void, stop the department from enforcing them and require that patient forms published after the rule conform to state statute.
The state currently has 23 licensed nonprofit growers producing marijuana for patients in the program.
The new regulations were adopted Feb. 27 after a yearlong process that included two public hearings.
Jason Marks, the Albuquerque attorney representing the producers, filed two documents that are substantially the same: a petition for declaratory and injunctive relief and a petition for writ of certiorari and declaratory relief.
Among the rules that violate the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act, the filings say, are those that would require patients to provide a release of medical information, allow for cancellation of a patient's registration for reasons not contained in statute and limit the maximum quantity of marijuana a patient could possess in a 90-day period.
The documents also say testing protocols required by the new rules "are not supported by substantial evidence, and are arbitrary and capricious."
Health Department spokesman Kenny Vigil said Tuesday that the department has not yet reviewed the filings and does not comment on pending litigation.
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Medical pot growers sue state over new rules - The Santa Fe New Mexican: Health And Science
Author: Phaedra Haywood
Contact: phaywood@sfnewmexican.com
Photo Credit: Shari V. Hill
Website: The Santa Fe New Mexican: News and Information for Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico
They claim the new rules are arbitrary and capricious, are not evidence-based and are unenforceable because they exceed the department's authority.
Organized under the name Cannabis Producers of New Mexico Inc., 19 producers say in documents filed in District Court late Monday that they want the court to declare the new administrative rules void, stop the department from enforcing them and require that patient forms published after the rule conform to state statute.
The state currently has 23 licensed nonprofit growers producing marijuana for patients in the program.
The new regulations were adopted Feb. 27 after a yearlong process that included two public hearings.
Jason Marks, the Albuquerque attorney representing the producers, filed two documents that are substantially the same: a petition for declaratory and injunctive relief and a petition for writ of certiorari and declaratory relief.
Among the rules that violate the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act, the filings say, are those that would require patients to provide a release of medical information, allow for cancellation of a patient's registration for reasons not contained in statute and limit the maximum quantity of marijuana a patient could possess in a 90-day period.
The documents also say testing protocols required by the new rules "are not supported by substantial evidence, and are arbitrary and capricious."
Health Department spokesman Kenny Vigil said Tuesday that the department has not yet reviewed the filings and does not comment on pending litigation.
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Medical pot growers sue state over new rules - The Santa Fe New Mexican: Health And Science
Author: Phaedra Haywood
Contact: phaywood@sfnewmexican.com
Photo Credit: Shari V. Hill
Website: The Santa Fe New Mexican: News and Information for Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico
