Your immediate help needed to protect New Mexico's medical marijuana patients
Published: March 12, 2007
Desite the impassioned pleas of seriously ill patients, and multiple requests from Gov. Richardson to pass SB 238, the New Mexico House of Representatives voted down the medical marijuana bill, 36-33, on Thursday, March 8. For a brief moment, supporters of medical marijuana thought they had lost the battle this year. All is not lost, however!
On Saturday, the state Senate resurrected the issue by passing SB 523, a bill that until recently only pertained to topical use of medical marijuana. SB 523's sponsor, Sen. Shannon Robinson (D-Albuquerque), submitted a revised bill that incorporated the original bill's provisions. The Senate passed SB 523 by a 32-3 vote.
The state legislature adjourns this Saturday, March 17. Medical marijuana has one last chance this year, in the form of SB 523 and the House must pass it by Saturday. Now is the time for patients and advocates to convince New Mexico's representatives to vote YES for medical marijuana.
Please take a moment to call your state representative, and strongly urge him or her to vote YES on SB 523, the medical marijuana bill. Visit this page and enter your zip code to find out who your state representative is. You might be prompted to enter the "plus 4" digits of your zip code; you can find out what that number is by entering your street address on this page.
There is only one week left in the session, so acting to support medical marijuana is now an urgent and immediate matter. Please take just a few moments today to call your representative and voice your support. Legislators truly do listen to their constituents, and a phone call can make a world of difference.
Additionally, if you are interested in submitting a letter-to-the-editor to your local papers, especially if you are a patient or doctor who supports medical marijuana, please contact Anthony@mpp.org as soon as you can. Letters will need to be submitted very soon if they are to make an impact before the legislature adjourns on Saturday.
New Mexico is very close to becoming the 12th state to protect seriously ill medical marijuana patients. Please call your representative today!
Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project. Forward this alert to your friends and family in New Mexico, so that they, too, may become involved in this historic reform.
|
