New Mexico to become 11th State to Legalize Medical Marijuana

Although it is not something the Foundation has worked on, it has been interesting to watch the debate over medical marijuana from the sidelines. Having failed in the first effort to pass a bill through the House, Governor Richardson did some arm-twisting behind the scenes and urged legislators to pass a bill…thus New Mexico becomes the 11th state in the nation to allow sick people the use of marijuana with a doctors’ recommendation.
Although New Mexico is a poster child for ways in which the debate over drug policy can split otherwise amicable limited government types, it is hard to argue from a limited government perspective that allowing medical patients the freedom to use the treatments that work for them is a bad thing. Perhaps more importantly, as more and more states pass their own medical marijuana laws, pressure will increase on the federal government to give states more freedom to experiment with their own policies as opposed to running everything from Washington.