SANTA FE — Bobbie Wooten, paralyzed from the waist down for 33 years, is one of 4,300 people in New Mexico certified by the state to use medical marijuana.
But Wooten, 51, says she has taken to buying marijuana illegally from street dealers in her hometown of Silver City because she cannot find a state-authorized producer nearby
"It's risky," she said. "I taught special education for seven years, and I might want to go back to that someday. I don't want to lose my license, but I need the marijuana."
Wooten says she is taking her chances on a criminal charge because marijuana is effective in alleviating chronic spasms in her legs a condition called intractable spasticity.
Marijuana also allows her to continue functioning normally, she says. Wooten dislikes Valium, another treatment option, because she says it makes her tired and causes her to lose focus.
For a time, Wooten grew her own marijuana, which is permitted under state law for patients who need the drug for medical reasons.
But that led to a confrontation with a landlord. Finding no licensed supplier to accommodate her, she said, she began breaking the law.
Wooten's case illustrates a larger fight that has been under way in New Mexico for a year.
The state Department of Health has authorized 25 nonprofit corporations to produce and supply marijuana to patients in the medicinal program. Six other companies that want to be marijuana producers sued the state last April, claiming they were being shut out of the marketplace by a ponderous and byzantine selection process.
These upstart companies with colorful names such a Veggies Inc. and New Mexico Sunshine Inc. have entered into mediation with the state.
But their attorney, Paul Livingston, said five of the six were notified last month that they did not qualify to be producers. He said the selection system was arbitrary, the reasoning unexplained.
In his lawsuit, Livingston said more than 100 entities had applied to be licensed marijuana producers, incurring "substantial expense" to prepare an application.
To even start the process, people trying to break into the marijuana business must form a nonprofit New Mexico corporation.
Dr. Catherine Torres, Secretary of 


Health, appeared before a state legislative committee in December to explain her ideas for administering the medical marijuana program. She said her agency's careful approach had prevented problems that California and other states were experiencing.
For instance, Torres told legislators that New Mexico would not allow storefront marijuana dispenseries. It also had limited the types of diseases for which marijuana could be prescribed.
Such safeguards had prevented abuses and unchecked growth in the program, she said.
The Department of Health promulgates rules on how the program works, and Torres as the executive in charge decides how many licenses are needed and who gets them.

The state increased the number of corporations licensed as producers to 25 when it had about 3,300 medical marijuana patients. Another thousand patients have since been cleared for medical marijuana use.
But those figures can be misleading. State records show that about 2,200 or more than half of the state's medical marijuana patients are licensed to grow their own.
All of the licensed corporate producers pay state fees of $10,000 to $30,000 a year, said state Sen. Cisco McSorley.
Under his bill approved this year and signed by Gov. Susana Martinez, that money will remain with the Department of Health. This regular flow of cash will provide the department with the resources necessary to administer the medical marijuana program, said McSorley, D-Albuquerque.
Charles "Blacke" Rountree is a Democratic candidate for the state Senate and president of GrassRoots Rx, one of the 25 licensed providers of marijuana in New Mexico.


  • Statewide smoking ban: On June 15, 2007, the Dee Johnson Clean Indoor Air Act went into effect, banning smoking statewide in all enclosed workplaces in New Mexico, including all bars and restaurants, as well as within fifty feet of the entrances to those places. 
  • The Act exempts (1) private residences except when being used to provide commercial childcare, adult care, and/or healthcare, 
  • (2) retail tobacco stores, (3) cigar bars, (4) tobacco manufacturing facilities, (5) casinos, (6) quit-smoking programs, (7) designated outdoor smoking areas, (8) private clubs, (9) limousines under private hire, (10) designated hotel/motel smoking 
  • rooms, (11) enclosed areas within restaurants, bars, and hotel/motel conference/meeting rooms that are being used for private functions, (12) cultural or ceremonial activities by Native Americans, (13) non-bar/restaurant businesses with fewer than two employees that is not usually accessible to the public and all employees agree to allow smoking, and (14) stage, motion picture, or television productions involving smoking as part of the production. 
  • Penalties are $100 for a first violation, $200 for a second violation within 12 months and $500 for the third and subsequent violations. 
  • The new form of CoQ10 - called Accel - is 8 x stronger and stays in your bloodstream almost 4 x longer than regular CoQ10.Local governments may regulate smoking more stringently than the Act. 
  • UNM campuses are tobacco-free as of August 2009. Wiki New Mexico
All restaurants, and bars in New Mexico are 100% smokefree. Bingo parlours and casinos are exempt. The Dee Johnson Clean Indoor Air Act has a strong anti-preemption clause, maintaining local communities' right to pass stronger smokefree ordinances at the local level.no smoke org
The state's victory came on the heels of many local success stories. Bayardand Santa Fe both went 100% smokefree in all workplaces, including restaurants and bars, in Summer of 2006. In late August, the Farmington City Council passed a smokefree ordinance, voting down a dangerous opposition poison-pill provision 

that would have kept secondhand smoke in public places and workplaces. Opposition groups argued that workplaces would be "smoke tolerant." In reality, this provision would have pigeon-holed employees, forcing them to either waive their right to breathe 100% smokefree air while on the job or to find another one all together. Click here to read about the legal liabilities and implications surrounding "smoke tolerant" provisions.Contact ANR if this tactic appears in your community.
ANR has additional information on New Mexico economic impact and public opinion data.
New Mexico's 2012 Legislative Session: January 17 - February 16