One of the most vocal advocates for the legalization of marijuana, whether for medical, recreational or industrial use is Bryan Krumm.
Krumm, a licensed psychiatric nurse practitioner, said he recognized the benefits of marijuana and decided to become active in pushing for legalization when he got out of the Army in 1986.
“I’d like to see the full legalization of marijuana and hemp nationwide. For food, for medicine, for fuel, for fiber uses,” Krumm said. “It has industrial and medical uses.”
Krumm said hemp, a relative of marijuana that contains little to no THC — the psychoactive element of marijuana — has massive potential as a source of food oil, fuel oil and cellulose for industrial and commercial use.
“Anything you can make from petrochemicals, you can make from hemp,” he said. “Well, except for some of the fertilizers, but we shouldn’t be using petro fertilizers.”
As far as the progress of New Mexico legalization, Krumm is not optimistic in the short run.
“I think it’ll take a while,” he said. “We need some reasonable Democrats to get this to work.”
One Democrat ally is Jerry Ortiz y Pino, a state senator from Albuquerque. Ortiz y Pino said he became a strong advocate for legalization after seeing a documentary on the War on Drugs and realizing that the enforcement of drug laws was disproportionately targeting young people of color.
“I retired after nearly 40 years as a social worker and I saw young lives ruined by arrests for simple possession,” he said. “I worked with troubled kids who never had a chance. While a white teen may just get a slap on the wrist; Hispanic or black or native kids got long sentences, which often ruined their lives.”
In 2014, Ortiz y Pino launched a campaign with the goal of a constitutional amendment to decriminalize the possession and use of small amounts of marijuana for adults, leading to its taxation and control just like tobacco or alcohol. The legislation did not reach the voters, and Ortiz y Pino sponsored a similar measure again this year, which also failed in the Legislature.
Ortiz y Pino said his goal is not to just let anyone smoke marijuana. While he agrees that weed is less dangerous — and if legal, leads to less problems — than alcohol or hard drugs, he wants to keep pot out of kids’ hands and make it available to responsible users. He said allies in the push for legal pot include many in law enforcement and the judiciary.
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“The police would rather spend their time on catching real criminals,” he said. “Polls show more support than not for legalization.”
While there recreational marijuana usage has gained little ground in New Mexico, medical marijuana has been legal since former Gov. Bill Richardson signed it into law in 2007.
Benjamin Clements, an Army veteran who said he has been diagnosed with PTSD and anxiety, said he has been reluctant to get his medical marijuana card because he had heard the VA would not help veterans who use marijuana. While there is a directive ensuring that vets with medical marijuana licenses in their home states can get full benefits and care, some VA doctors are reluctant to accept pot’s therapeutic value.
“The hardest part is going and getting that card,” Clements said. “I’ve tried other psych meds, but weed is the one thing that helps. I just don’t want to have to deal with other people and places that will hold that against me.”
Steve “Mo” Fye is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @UncaMo.
