The secretary of health shall establish an advisory board consisting of nine practitioners knowledgeable about the medical use of cannabis. The members shall be chosen for appointment by the secretary from a list proposed by the New Mexico medical society, the New Mexico nurses association, the New Mexico academy of family physicians, the New Mexico academy of physician assistants, the New Mexico pharmacists association or the New Mexico Hispanic medical association. A quorum of the advisory board shall consist of five members. The advisory board shall:

A. review and recommend to the department for approval additional debilitating medical conditions that would benefit from the medical use of cannabis;

B. accept and review petitions to add medical conditions, medical treatments or diseases to the list of debilitating medical conditions that qualify for the medical use of cannabis;

C. convene at least twice per year to conduct public hearings and to evaluate petitions, which shall be maintained as confidential personal health information, to add medical conditions, medical treatments or diseases to the list of debilitating medical conditions that qualify for the medical use of cannabis;

D. issue recommendations concerning rules to be promulgated for the issuance of the registry identification cards;

E. recommend quantities of cannabis that are necessary to constitute an adequate supply for qualified patients and primary caregivers;

F. recommend formulation or preparations of cannabis or cannabis products; and

G. recommend quantities of cannabis that a reciprocal participant may obtain and possess.

History: Laws 2007, ch. 210, § 6; 2019, ch. 247, § 6.

The 2019 amendment, effective June 14, 2019, increased the number of members of the advisory board, provided that additional entities may propose members to be appointed to the advisory board, and required the advisory board to recommend formulation or preparations of cannabis and to recommend quantities of cannabis that a reciprocal participant may obtain and possess; in the introductory paragraph, after "consisting of", deleted "eight" and added "nine", after "practitioners", deleted "representing the fields of neurology, pain management, medical oncology, psychiatry, infectious disease, family medicine and gynecology. The practitioners shall be nationally board-certified in their area of specialty and", after "New Mexico medical society,", added "the New Mexico nurses association, the New Mexico academy of family physicians, the New Mexico academy of physician assistants, the New Mexico pharmacists association or the New Mexico Hispanic medical association", and after "shall consist of", deleted "three" and added "five"; and added new Subsections F and G.