Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 123, No. 80 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
April 2, 2014
www.rdrnews.com
WEDNESDAY
Perry looks to create city medical marijuana law JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
City Council will consider a new ordinance that would place heavy restrictions on the distribution of medical marijuana within city borders. The new law would essentially ban statelicensed medical marijuana distributors from locating in city limits and selling to patients. City Councilor Jason Perry proposed the set of rules Tuesday to the Plan-
Wing man
ning and Zoning Committee. The new ordinance would require medical marijuana to only be sold by a licensed pharmacist. And, each prescribed dose would need a state-issued controlled substance number and federally issued Drug Enforcement Administration number. These do not yet exist for the drug. “Until the DEA can find a way to safely administer medical cannabis, I don’t want to get into the gam-
bling game with the devil,” Perry said. “Right now, the DEA does not prescribe for Schedule 1 (controlled substances). The day will come,” he said. Cities cannot be less restrictive with state issues or state laws. “In this particular situation, we can’t be less restrictive, but we can be more restrictive,” Perry said. “We are going to be requiring it to be a licensed pharmacy. My reason for that … it is a prescription.” Perry’s main reason for
proposing the city law was the inconsistency of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient, levels in plants. The purpose of the ordinance would be “to ensure all legal prescription drugs in all forms, both state and federally, are dispensed in such a manner that is both safe and consistent.” Medical marijuana cannot currently be administered at consistent doses, according to information provided to him, Perry said. “Maybe I would feel bet-
Mark Wilson Photo
An employee for Birdman Air Enterprises works on the wing of an old jet parked at the Roswell International Air Center.
ter if this was the only option for people to get relief from pain or tremors. But I know there are options for all 19 conditions. This is not the saveall that some corners would want us to believe.”
Perry consulted with Chaves County Magistrate Judge K.C. Rogers. Rogers, a retired New Mexico State Police drug enforcement of ficer and authority on narcotics, advised Perry that every marijuana plant dif fers in its chemical make-up, Perry said.
“You may pull out one and test it and it may be perfectly safe. You take the next one and it may be way above,” Perry said. “There is not a way to regulate a safe form (of the drug).”
New Mexico was the first in the nation to have its health department license and regulate a nonprofit medical marijuana distribution system. People can be issued prescription cards if they qualify with any of the 19 approved
City asks residents to help with weeds City code enforcement is ask in g r esid en t s t o d o some yard work and cut down on weeds. Recent rains in Roswell have encouraged weeds to gr ow. T h e cit y’ s cod e enforcement department has received a high number of complaints about overgrown weeds throughout the city. “ If r esid en t s wou ld spend some extra time to take care of the weeds on their property, we could sp en d som e m or e t im e t r yin g t o en for ce ot h er issues in Roswell,” said M ik e M at h ews, S p ecial Services administrator. Code enforcement officers have spent a majority of their time addressing weeds. A number of properties are in violation of a cit y or d in an ce t h a t requires property owners to keep the growth under one foot in height, according to Mathews. Weeds are unattractive and have the potential of b ecom in g b r eed in g grounds for mosquitoes
See MARIJUANA, Page A3
and other insects. This cou ld eve nt u al ly cau s e h ealt h is su es, su ch a s upper respiratory infect ion s a nd aggr avat e d allerg ies, accor d in g t o Renee Roach, city spokeswoman.
P r op er t y own er s ar e urged to eliminate weeds as so on as p ossib le t o en ab le t h e mselves an d their neighbors a better quality of life and avoid involvement with city code enforcement, Roach said in a p r ess st at em en t . Those who can, are urged to try to help their neighbors, especially the elderly, in addressing the weed problem. For more infor mation, con t ac t R oach , K eep Roswell Beautiful coordin at or, at 6 3 7 - 6 2 2 4 , or Mathews, Code Enforcem en t ad m in ist r at or, at 637-6298.
DOE postpones plan to Students to help educate on distracted driving send crew into WIPP CARLSBAD (AP) — The U.S. Department of Energy has postponed plans to get a crew underground to begin investigating a radiation leak from the federal government’s nuclear waste dump in southeastern New Mexico.
Officials on Monday said a crew of eight would enter the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant on Tuesday. But spokesman Ben Williams said that has been postponed until later this week because the real-time radiation monitors they want the team to be wearing haven’t arrived.
No one has been underground at the half-mile deep repository since the Feb. 14 radiation release, which contaminated 21 workers and sent low-levels of radiation into the air around the plant.
It’s unknown what is leaking or how extensive the contamination might be below ground at the $2 billion plant, which is the nation’s only permanent underground repository for low-level radioactive waste from nuclear weapons facilities.
JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
Residents will get a chance beginning Friday to experience how talking and texting can affect driving. A simulation booth will be set up inside the AT&T store on North Main Street near the Roswell Mall. Beginning at 9:30 a.m., visitors can use their own phones or borrow one from the store to use during a “test drive” to check out how well they drive while distracted. Local student leaders Katy Gumford, student body president at Roswell High School, and Corey Stevens, of Goddard High School and the New Mexico Leadership Institute, are
helping educate the community about the issue. They will be at the booth Friday. “It’s a big issue, especially at our age,” Stevens said. Stevens has visited local leaders with Gumford recently to speak about National Distracted Driving Awareness Month. Stevens said he sees students every day driving and texting, talking on the phone or checking Facebook in the parking lot. “Nowadays, people have to document everything,” Stevens said. He said he has learned that driving and using the phone is not safe. “Multi-tasking isn’t possiSee DRIVING, Page A3
Jill McLaughlin Photo
Corey Stevens, left, of Goddard High School and the New Mexico Leadership Institute, and Katy Gumford, Roswell High School student body president, are helping educate the community during Distracted Driving Awareness Month in April.
Refuge offers domestic violence survivors sanctuary
RANDAL SEYLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Randal Seyler Photo
Cindy Wilson, executive director of the Roswell Refuge, a shelter for battered adults, speaks to the Kiwanis Club on Tuesday.
Domestic violence is much more common than you think, and it happens way too often — and chances are good you know a victim of domestic violence. “Domestic violence is generational,” said Cindy Wilson, executive director of the Roswell Refuge. “Many times, this is just the way it was for the grandmother, and the
HIGH 82 LOW 49
TODAY’S FORECAST
mother, and it just keeps getting passed along.” She said people tend to just think of domestic violence as being physical in nature. “It’s not just about beatings and bruises, but it is about emotional control,” Wilson said on Tuesday. “Emotional wounds can go much deeper than any bruise.” Wilson defined domestic violence as the emotional control of any person in an intimate relationship.
• ROBERT FRANK TELLEZ • PAUL D. MALES
“We’ve seen cases where the abuser will take away car keys, and give his spouse a cell phone and say ‘you will call every 10 minutes and you better not be late.” The Refuge provides a safe haven for women and children trying to escape abuse, but about half the time the women leave the shelter only to return to their abuser, Wilson said. In 2013, the shelter provided refuge to 215 women who had been abused by
TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE A6
their husbands, boyfriends or other family members. The Refuge also served 271 children who had also experienced or witnessed those acts of violence. Wilson said the shelter is looking to expand in the near future, and will be opening a thrift store to the public later this month. The Refuge began in 1981, and it is a United Way member agency. The shelter has 10 bedrooms with 25 beds, but
CLASSIFIEDS ..........B6 COMICS .................B4 ENTERTAINMENT .....A8 FINANCIAL ..............B3
can hold up to 29 in a pinch, Wilson said. “For some reason, we have been at capacity since January,” she said. “I have no idea why that is, but we have had a full house.” Speaking at the Roswell Kiwanis Club, Wilson said that protecting the confidentiality of residents is the top priority of employees at the Refuge. “If anyone violates the See REFUGE, Page A3
INDEX GENERAL ...............A2 HOROSCOPES .........A8 LOTTERIES .............A2 NATION ..................A6
OPINION .................A4 SPORTS .................B1
WEATHER ..............A8