A group of local non-profit organizations is suing the governor and the New Mexico Department of Health, claiming the state is road-blocking their attempts to receive a medical marijuana production license.
The lawsuit alleges that more than 100 applicants have filed for a license with the Medical Cannabis Program, but the state has rejected almost all of them.
The suit states that since Governor Susana Martinez took office in 2011, not one single applicant has received a production license.
Paul Livingston, the attorney filing the lawsuit, said the health department does not have any standards or procedures for evaluating the applications.
“There is no control over anything,” Livingston said. “No one knows what the supply is, no one knows what the demand is. No one knows how many people are using marijuana from the dispensary and no one knows who’s buying it from their friends.”
A spokesman for Governor Martinez said she has staffed and funded the state’s cannabis program to help ease the backlog.
He also said the governor is committed to improving the program as far as the state law allows it.
By Danielle Flores
Source: kob.com
