Gov. Martinez OKs bill creating medical marijuana fund

Susana Martinez

Carlsbad Current-Argus - SANTA FE - Neither Ripley nor countless New Mexico residents would believe it, but Republican Gov. Susana Martinez signed a marijuana bill on Monday. Martinez, who was a prosecutor for 25 years, spent half her lifetime fighting the war on drugs. She took office as governor after the state already had a law permitting marijuana to be used for select medicinal purposes. Now Martinez has signed Senate Bill 240, creating a medical cannabis fund to cover the program's costs. Producers of marijuana for medical treatment pay the state fees of $10,000 to $30,000 a year, said Sen. Cisco McSorley, who sponsored the bill. Rather than the money going into the state's general spending account, it will be maintained by the Department of Health as a specific fund to pay for administration of the medical marijuana program. "It means the few New Mexico taxpayers who objected to their money going toward the medical marijuana program no longer have to worry," said McSorley, D-Albuquerque. He said he worked on the bill with Martinez's secretary of health, Dr. Catherine Torres, but had no contact with the governor regarding the bill. Read More News New Mexico

Gov. Martinez OKs bill creating medical marijuana fund