cannabisnews.com: NM Not Alone in Lacking Marijuana Dispensaries NM Not Alone in Lacking Marijuana Dispensaries Posted by CN Staff on November 13, 2008 at 05:50:14 PT By Hunter Riley Source: Daily Lobo New Mexico -- Since medicinal marijuana was legalized in New Mexico in 2007, there are about 200 medical cannabis users in the state, according to Reena Szczepanski, director of Drug Policy Alliance New Mexico. However, patients have no place to legally purchase the drug, except in California, Szczepanski said."We're in the situation that 12 other states are in," she said. "California has these medical marijuana dispensaries, but they are the only state that is addressing the supply issue. Every other state is basically, 'You are kind of on your own.' So patients either have to grow their own or get it from some type of black-market source."Student William Bowes uses medical marijuana to help relieve painful pressure in his eyes caused by glaucoma. He said he has found a way to deal with the lack of dispensaries in New Mexico but that it has been difficult."There is no legal way to get it. I'm lucky, and I have found a method to obtain exactly what I need and to get the proper strains and the various types of medication that I need," he said.Garrison Courtney, spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration, said the federal government doesn't focus on people with prescriptions for medical marijuana so much as those who provide it to them."When you look at the amount that the states are legalizing, the DEA doesn't necessarily go out and arrest the individual pot smoker - that is a huge waste of our resources. We go after drug traffickers and drug organizations," he said.Szczepanski said it has been difficult to make medical marijuana legal and accessible and that there have been problems with government policing."It's been implemented in a very controlled way so far," she said. "There was one incident with law enforcement seizing someone's marijuana, but the ACLU sued successfully on behalf of that person."Courtney said there is no such thing as medical marijuana and that dispensaries are therefore unnecessary."There aren't any legitimate medical studies that are currently in existence that show there is a medical benefit to marijuana," he said.Bowes is prescribed medical marijuana for glaucoma - one of six conditions for which a doctor can prescribe the drug in New Mexico. The others are cancer, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS and spinal cord damage with intractable spasticity, according to the state Department of Health's Medical Marijuana Web site.Bowes said the marijuana treats more than just his symptoms."I went to the eye doctor yesterday and got tested - my pressure in my left eye was 24 prior to using cannabis. Yesterday it was 17. The pressure in my right eye was 21; now it's 12," Bowes said. "And it's slowing nerve atrophy and other things wrong with my eyes."Bowes said the medical marijuana has also provided relief from severe pain, which no other medication could do."I went from having a constant, severe migraine headache to having no headache at all," he said. "So there has been an absolute benefit."Courtney said there is a prescription drug called Marinol, which contains synthetic THC that could be used instead of marijuana. Marinol has been found to reduce nausea and vomiting in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, and it has shown to increase appetite in AIDS patients."This drug has been on the market for at least 10 years," Courtney said. "If this drug is out there, then why do people need to smoke marijuana? You don't."Sixty 10 mg capsules of Marinol cost more than $1,400 on most online drugstores.Szczepanski said the Department of Health is discussing a proposal that would license patients and nonprofit organizations to produce and distribute medical marijuana.She said the DPA is in support of the regulation but wants to add a third circumstance to the law."If a patient lives in an apartment building that does not permit medical marijuana to be grown, and there is no nonprofit in their town to serve them, they should be allowed to have their care-giver grow the medical marijuana for them," Szczepanski said.Source: Daily Lobo (U of NM, Edu, NM)Author: Hunter RileyPublished: November 13, 2008Copyright: 2008 Daily LoboWebsite: http://www.dailylobo.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/BlpTLkZhRelated Articles & Web Site:Drug Policy Alliancehttp://www.drugpolicy.org/New Mexico's Medical Marijuana Law Is Workinghttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23955.shtmlNew Mexico Won't Supply MMJ To Patientshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23255.shtmlLaw Requires N.M. To Grow Its Own Pothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23140.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #21 posted by museman on November 13, 2008 at 16:43:28 PT Hope #18 Oh, I actually agree. The better the description, the better the understanding.Just playing with an obscure point I guess.I did find the etymological root to be interesting.Wrong behavior, destructive behavior, unethical behavior -these also describe the situation as well, but you know the reference to 'swine' as in 'don't cast your pearls before them...' is kind of deliberately connoting unpleasant negativity- which in my observation is more than coincidentally, or loosely related to the profiles of prohibitionists, the masters and servants that I/we have been speaking of.Somebody recently said something about 'putting lipstick on a pig' (I know)- and somehow that seems to be related as well.Ethics are agreed upon boundaries of behavior, and behavior standards, and when some of those boundaries are flagrantly and knowingly violated, the words than one uses to aknowlege and describe such an event are often 'unpleasant' and negative in implication and connotation. Bad behavior isn't associated with only one class of people-with perhaps one exception; 'law enforcement' people behave badly all the time, although mostly not in public, so 'singling' them out isn't only fair, but under the circumstances just scratching the surface of justice. Calling them names is relatively benign compared to the actual damage they have caused and continue to cause for all the wrong reasons -and in particular relating to cannabis prohibition.FREE JAH'S HERB! [ Post Comment ] Comment #20 posted by gloovins on November 13, 2008 at 15:49:59 PT I spelled his name backwards, cause HE is...Garrison CourtneyCourtney GarrisonJust don't say,that it ain't medicine. [ Post Comment ] Comment #19 posted by gloovins on November 13, 2008 at 15:43:56 PT this comment... "There aren't any legitimate medical studies that are currently in existence that show there is a medical benefit to marijuana," he said.This ignorance & false propaganda causes mass destruction, I gotta say. Thanks for making it real easy for sick people &/or those who want to help them get their meds -- thanks for all the great service you're doing for your fellow man and country Courtney Garrison, you are a real hero! You are a true role model. I bet alot of people look up to you. Pft... [ Post Comment ] Comment #18 posted by Hope on November 13, 2008 at 14:20:38 PT Darkness and lies and souls and all. I thought that seemed a pretty decent observation of their spiritual situation as it appears to me... without actually calling them something, if indeed, they know exactly what they are doing... and they deceive and persecute others in the name of the lie they are serving. [ Post Comment ] Comment #17 posted by Hope on November 13, 2008 at 14:17:25 PT The insult... or observation..."Cretin"... for me comes from either Peter or Paul telling someone not to believe a Cretin ... as in from Crete....about something, I forget what, because "All Cretins are liars". Yea. Sorry to any honest Cretins out there. That wasn't very PC of the original speaker... or me.When I lose it to the point of accusing, "Cretin"... I'm not as concerned as I might be about manners or being PC or even, being very nice. That's usually regrettable, for me.It's not like it's not natural to lash out, especially verbally. Look how kids get into it and how we have to try to encourage them away from it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #16 posted by museman on November 13, 2008 at 10:56:57 PT Hope "..they've sold their very souls to the dark side...a spiritual and intellectual place of shadows and deception... the lying side. Their "Lord" is darkness"and "It could, apparently, or perhaps I should say, obviously, diminish their souls to the point of being as some of them actually appear to be... soulless."So does that mean you are more amenable to the nomenclature of 'cretin?' as a descriptive noun?interesting to note that the etymology of that word is derived from 'christian.'http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cretinI stopped looking for redeeming qualities in these prohibs a long time ago.As I have often said; Continuing compromise with error only compounds the error.How can reasonable, intelligent people continue to give credibility and belief to the cretinous actions, and words of these modern monsters?A waste of valuable time; crediting cretins. Might as well put a monkey in the white house -and we all know how well that went.FREE MATANUSKA THUNDERF--K FOR EVERYONE [ Post Comment ] Comment #15 posted by Hope on November 13, 2008 at 10:23:36 PT If they know ... and they continue with the lies and supporting the lies, they've sold their very souls to the dark side...a spiritual and intellectual place of shadows and deception... the lying side. Their "Lord" is darkness. Sounds like a pretty dang diminishing thing to do to yourself, to me. It could, apparently, or perhaps I should say, obviously, diminish their souls to the point of being as some of them actually appear to be... soulless. [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by The GCW on November 13, 2008 at 10:07:09 PT NA! I've thought about it; I couldn't No, as I think about it, I couldn't tell people that cannabis has no medical value, for any amount of money.Wait.I guess I'm a little uncomfortable saying that though because I think I could be bought for a very large sum of cash.I'd sell You guys out but it would have to be for a lot.I don't want anyone to think I'm cheap or anything...-0-There's a difference though. I know better.In Courtney's case, He may know better, but in reality, He's probably just plain ignorant and willing to flap His jaw for the loot.Either way Courtney is wrong.I hope I'm not tempted. But if I AM, will You respect Me in the morning? [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by The GCW on November 13, 2008 at 09:55:07 PT Courtney is limited. Courtney is limited.-0-And it's revealing when prohibitionists claim, "no such thing as medical marijuana" on the one hand and on the other acknowledge it does by pointing out the benifits of Marinol.?-?How does Marinol help but / if cannabis can not?-0-I can't help but feel like Courtney is an idiot whore, pimped by prohibitionist government. For $50,000 a year, I might even tell You cannabis has no medical value. [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by runruff on November 13, 2008 at 09:25:01 PT Hope Presence of mind is a real present indeed. [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by runruff on November 13, 2008 at 09:21:50 PT Hope I can't remember the doctor's name but he is retired DEA law judge. He spoke for the department years ago then dissapeared? Maybe someone here can help me?You know that in order to craft such effective lies one must understand the subject.-They Know!We know two of them very well Socially!I personally hosted a little gathering of about 40 DEA Agents here at my home. It was hard to be the perfect host while in handcuffs but I did my best.I've spent the last 5 years around and in the presents of DEA and other federal agents.Hope, They Know! [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by Hope on November 13, 2008 at 08:55:11 PT Storm Crow Comment 1 You said it very well... and, indeed, you didn't cuss.It's hard for me, too. [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by Hope on November 13, 2008 at 08:49:54 PT Runruff Do you think they can actually "Know" something and still refuse to "Accept" the reality of it?I guess they can. For money? To get to be "Soldiers of Fortune"? [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by runruff on November 13, 2008 at 08:27:23 PT Hope "They simply can't get it through their thick skulls that cannabis can be and is true natural medicine."-Oh, they know. [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by dongenero on November 13, 2008 at 08:21:53 PT DEA spokesman Courtney Garrison Courtney said there is no such thing as medical marijuana and that dispensaries are therefore unnecessary."There aren't any legitimate medical studies that are currently in existence that show there is a medical benefit to marijuana," he said.How ridiculous are these statements? I cannot belive that reporters will continue to just print these dumb DEA comments without calling them out. Laziness!I picture training for DEA spokesmen as standing in front of a bunch of reporters, with your fingers in your fingers in your ears, shouting La..la..la..la..I can't hear you!La.la.la.la.la."no studies!. la la la la. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by Hope on November 13, 2008 at 08:10:26 PT The DEA should be helping these dedicated "Providers" protect their work and see that it is delivered promptly and safely to the patients.There ya go. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by Hope on November 13, 2008 at 08:08:19 PT Considering, "...the federal government doesn't focus on people with prescriptions for medical marijuana so much as those who provide it to them."Hmm. They are actually "Focusing" on the people who "Provide" these people who are "Prescribed" this natural, herbal medicine, in as clean a form as possible, that helps them decrease the suffering that can destroy their lives and bedevil them to death from within.Why haven't they raided that university that grows it for the program that "Provides" to a limited few, legal access to this astounding herb?They simply can't get it through their thick skulls that cannabis can be and is true natural medicine. Quite literally and extraordinarily so. It has, apparently, all sorts of amazing protective, essential, and available nutrients of some sort in it, as well as amazing healing and soothing things in it's too oft reviled four hundred or seven hundred "chemicals", or whatever they were screeching when they were doing their screeching and lecturing about how many horrendous and unnatural chemicals dwelt within the seemingly natural looking plant. Those guys really like to stress, with contempt, those vile many, many nasty "Chemicals". What freaks! How cunning they are... or think themselves to be. Reefer Madness. It no doubt makes prohibitionists crazy as bed bugs. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by Hope on November 13, 2008 at 07:42:50 PT Key words, "So much". "Garrison Courtney, spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration, said the federal government doesn't focus on people with prescriptions for medical marijuana so much as those who provide it to them."Could that be bit of prevaricating on Mr. Courtney's part... as "Spokesman"? [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by afterburner on November 13, 2008 at 07:42:38 PT Oh, Yeah? "Courtney said there is no such thing as medical marijuana and that dispensaries are therefore unnecessary."Oh, Yeah? Then, why does the US federal government still send medical marijuana from the University of Mississippi to patients from the Investigational New Drug program run by the Food and Drug Administration? Also, how can the FDA claim that cannabis has no medical use when they are sending it regularly to the above patients? A Few People Get Uncle Sam's Weed [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Storm Crow on November 13, 2008 at 06:42:41 PT Just in case you are interested ... In seeing the studies I've collected, they are at-http://medicalmarijuanapatient.com/forum/showthread.php?t=65Take a peek! [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Storm Crow on November 13, 2008 at 06:38:03 PT The almighty Courtney says.............. "Courtney said there is no such thing as medical marijuana and that dispensaries are therefore unnecessary."There aren't any legitimate medical studies that are currently in existence that show there is a medical benefit to marijuana," he said."Let us say I politely beg to differ and offer in evidence about 70 pages of medical studies that I have found! Me, a little old lady with rather limited computer skills, found about 1,000 cannabis medical studies! I guess he isn't looking very hard! Someone ought to send Mr Courtney a full print out of Granny's list!Dispensaries eliminate the need for street dealers and replaces them with safe, clean and reliable places to obtain uncontaminated cannabis. There is no "quality control" with a street dealer. Dispensaries are a necessity! "the DEA doesn't necessarily go out and arrest the individual pot smoker - that is a huge waste of our resources." "Doesn't NECESSARILY go out and arrest individual pot smokers". Which says that they DO go after individual pot smokers- that they DO target individuals. "that is a huge waste of our resources." But what the hay- it's all funded by the unending tax dollars we keep getting and all those forfeitures! What do WE care! Marinol "has been on the market for at least 10 years," Courtney said. "If this drug is out there, then why do people need to smoke marijuana? You don't."Try swallowing a pill when you are vomiting uncontrollably. Marinol does little good if you can't keep it down. Also Marinol is just THC- which without CBD to balance it- can cause panic attack and other undesirable symptoms. And just how long do you wish us to wait in nausea or pain? Smoking (or vaping) has an almost immediate effect- Marinol takes an hour or so- like most oral medications. And then, sir, there is this item- "Sixty 10 mg capsules of Marinol cost more than $1,400 on most online drugstores." That's over $23 a pill! $1400 for a one month's supply! Even over-priced black market pot will keep you pain-free for less cash! $1400 will buy at least 3 ounces of high quality cannabis (especially with large quantity discounts that most dealers give!). If you grow your own, the idea of buying Marinol becomes absolutely ridiculous and financially ruinous!Mr. Courtney really needs a reality check! (There, I've said what I wanted and didn't use one single cuss word! Even though he deserves a few!) Granny [ Post Comment ] Post Comment