Following the NM Senate’s passage of SB523 by 32-3, the New Mexico House of Representatives passed the SB 523 by a 36-31 margin during the 2007 legislative session.    “Governor Richardson’s action is the clearest sign yet that the politicians are finally catching up with the people on the issue of medical marijuana,” said Aaron Houston, director of government relations for MPP.

“Backing from the medical community is solidifying as new research continues to document marijuana’s benefits. Support in Congress keeps growing, and this could be the year the federal government finally ends its cruel attacks on the sick in states where medical marijuana is legal.”

Former Republican Congressman Bob Barr of Georgia recently joined MPP’s lobbying effort. MPP is working with DPA and other organizations and supportive members of Congress to pass an amendment to end federal medical marijuana raids in states where it is legalized.

A University of California study published in the Feb. 13 issue of the journal Neurology found that marijuana effectively relieved a type of severe nerve pain that afflicts hundreds of thousands with HIV/AIDS, and is similar to the type of pain experienced by many patients suffering from multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and other illnesses.

A wide variety of medical and health organizations support legal access to medical marijuana, including the American Public Health Assn, American Nurses Assn, American Academy of HIV Medicine, and Lymphoma Foundation of America.

With more than 21,000 members and 100,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the US and believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For online information, visit MarijuanaPolicy.org.