Ruling opens New Mexico medical pot program to outsiders

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A judge has ruled that New Mexico’s medical marijuana program is open to people from outside the state who qualify based on a medical condition.

The final ruling Thursday by Judge Bryan Biedscheid responds to a petition by two Texas residents and the Arizona-based CEO of the largest chain of medical cannabis dispensaries in New Mexico in his capacity as a patient with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Reforms this year to the state’s medical cannabis statutes deleted the in-state residency requirement for prospective marijuana patients. The office of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham says that change was unintended and plans to appeal.

The ruling puts New Mexico’s medical pot program within close reach of visiting Texans and citizens of neighboring Mexico. Texas limits the psychoactive element THC in its medical marijuana.