Fee Increased Proposed for New Mexico Medical Marijuana

A proposed change to the current New Mexico Medical Marijuana law is set to be reviewed at the end of this month. If passed, it will expand on several provisions already included in the law.

First and foremost, the New Mexico Department of Health, which regulates and administers the Medical Marijuana program will look to increase the registration fee for new providers of the medication from $100 to $1000. In addition, the existing providers will be taxed an annual fee equal to roughly 7 percent of the nonprofit's annual income. These fees should allow the Medical Marijuana New Mexico registry program to no longer rely on funds from other Health Department programs.

An additional provision includes the role of the Department of Health in testing the cannabis issued by providers for bacteria/mold. Certifying physicians would also have greater protection by ensuring any physicians who recommend cannabis for their qualified patients will have the same confidentiality protection the patients have. Finally, clarification to the amount of seeds a patient could purchase during a time period would be provided--no more than 16 during a 3 month period.