Medical Marijuana Bill Clears Senate Panel
SANTA FE (AP) - A Senate committee has endorsed a measure to allow the medical use of marijuana under a program run by the Department of Health.
The Public Affairs Committee heeded the pleas of people with cancer, AIDS and other illnesses to approve the legislation Friday.
The Health Department would license producers to provide the marijuana, which would be grown in secure facilities.
Patients whose doctors recommended it would apply to the department and, if approved by a review board, be registered to possess the drug.
It would be restricted to patients with cancer, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, certain spinal cord damage, epilepsy and HIV-AIDS.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Cisco McSorley, an Albuquerque Democrat, says marijuana can help some seriously ill patients keep food down and therefore gain strength.
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