Lit_Match

Medical-Marijuana Bill Not Dead Yet
03.10.07|Free New Mexican|Deborah Baker

Gov. Bill Richardson said Friday that he has begun meeting with lawmakers in an effort to resurrect a medical-marijuana bill, which the House narrowly defeated Thursday night.

"I think it's important that we pass it," Richardson said.

By midday Friday, he said he had talked "one-on-one with at least five House members" in an effort to get them to change their votes.

He said he also planned to talk to House Speaker Ben Luján, D-Nambé, an opponent of the bill. "I want it," said the governor, who is campaigning for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

The measure authorizing the use of marijuana by patients certified under a state Department of Health program was a step away from the governor's desk when the House derailed it.

In a dramatic sequence of events, the bill failed when the House vote tied at 33-33 -- over protests by Rep. Al Park, D-Albuquerque, who had rushed into the chamber during the voting, that he had pushed his "yes" button but it wasn't recorded.

The measure was reconsidered almost immediately, and lost again when 33 lawmakers voted for it and 36 against it.

The bill's supporters were devastated because they had enough commitments from lawmakers to feel confident the measure would pass, said Reena Szczepanski of Drug Policy Alliance New Mexico. "I still believe we can get it through. I don't think this is a long shot by any means," she said Friday.

The 60-day legislative session ends March 17.

Under House rules, the bill that was defeated can't be revived. But another bill could be introduced in the House, or supporters could take a related, more-restrictive bill pending in the state Senate and try to change it and move it to the House.

"We're not going to give up," said Erin Armstrong, a 25-year-old cancer patient who has been lobbying for the bill.

The Senate voted 34-7 for the measure earlier in the session. For the past two years, it has passed a similar bill that has died in the House.

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Donation links to NORML (The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) | MPP (Marijuana Policy Project)