SANTA FE, N.M., June 29 New Mexico officials say patients will be allowed to grow their own cannabis plants when the state's medical marijuana laws goes into effect Sunday.
Lobbyists had originally said patients would not be allowed to grow the plans but the Health Department Thursday unveiled a provision that allows patients to grow a limited number of marijuana plants, the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper said.
Jim Burleson, director of the state sheriffs' and police association, said he is opposed to allowing individual growers.
"If a person is growing their own (marijuana), there is no quality control and no quantity control -- and it's absolutely contrary to what was discussed at the (legislative) session," he told the newspaper.
The law is limited to people with conditions such as cancer, HIV-AIDS, glaucoma and multiple sclerosis.
The Health Department said qualified patients and caregivers may cultivate as many as four mature marijuana plants and three immature marijuana seedlings, the newspaper said.
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