Rep. Bill McCamley, D-Las Cruces, said in a statement that he'll be introducing a memorial during the upcoming legislative session "requesting the rest of the House defend the right of New Mexicans to use medicinal cannabis legally without being put in to Federal Prison."
Nearly 50,000 New Mexico residents are registered participants in the state's growing Medical Cannabis Program, which has allowed legal use of marijuana and extracts for certain medical conditions since 2007.
In his statement, McCamley said, "During the last five years, I have talked with countless people who have better lives because of their use of cannabis, including many cancer patients and vets suffering from PTSD. For the past 10 years, tens of thousands of New Mexicans have used cannabis safely for their condition, and threatening them with jail time is sick and wrong."
Under the 2014 Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment -- language added to the past several federal budget bills that prohibits the Justice Department from spending funds to interfere with implementation of state cannabis laws -- the federal government has never prosecuted medical marijuana patients or providers in the state.
In the fall, the Trump administration extended the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer protections -- but only until December.
And on Thursday, Sessions rescinded what is known as the "Cole memo," a 2013 policy authored by then-Deputy Attorney General James Cole, recognizing that marijuana is still illegal under the federal Controlled Substances Act but giving federal prosecutors permission to focus their resources elsewhere in states that had legalized the drug.
In a phone interview Thursday, McCamley said one of his biggest concerns centers on U.S. Border Patrol checkpoints in Southern New Mexico. Even though the U.S. Attorney's Office has not prosecuted any marijuana possession cases involving medical cannabis patients, he said, there have been cases in recent years in which Border Patrol agents have confiscated marijuana from those enrolled in the state Health Department's cannabis program.
McCamley said he fears Sessions' actions will subject patients to more legal trouble.
Memorials passed by the Legislature have no force of law. In last year's session, several memorials and other pieces of legislation that were aimed at policies or statements by President Donald Trump went nowhere.
Whether he can muster the votes of fellow lawmakers, public opinion is on McCamley's side.
Polls of New Mexicans in recent years have shown that more than 60 percent support legalization of marijuana for adults 21 or older, while only 34 percent are opposed. Support for the state's medical marijuana program also is high -- 71 percent -- according to a 2017 poll by Brian Sanderoff of Albuquerque.
Those results are in line with national numbers. In a Gallup poll published Oct. 25, 64 percent of Americans surveyed said marijuana should be legalized. That poll found that for the first time, a majority of Republicans (51 percent) favored legalization.
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