Medical Cannabis Research Fund leads cannabis studies at UNM

The team of researchers with the Medical Cannabis Research Fund (MCRF) at the University of New Mexico have continued their grassroots effort despite federal pushback, lack of funding and the coronavirus pandemic.

The team is made up of a variety of professors from different departments and backgrounds at UNM. Jacob Vigil, a professor of psychology, is the group’s director and started it alongside Sarah Stith, an assistant professor of economics and an investigator for the MCRF.

Research has proven difficult due to the federal restrictions, making it harder to publish findings, Vigil and Stith said. Additionally, physical research has currently been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the team is still doing online research and remote assessments.

Derek Chauvin convicted of murder, manslaughter

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who knelt on the neck of George Floyd during his fatal arrest last year, was convicted of all charges, including second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter on April 20 and faces up to 40 years in prison, according to the Star Tribune.

The trial, one of the highest profile in recent history and Minnesota's first televised criminal case, began in March and stretched weeks into April. Jurors debated for more than 10 hours over the span of two days before reaching a verdict. Following the verdict, Judge Peter A. Cahill said that sentencing would be announced in eight weeks.

The prosecution, made up of a rotating team of assistant attorneys general and outside lawyers, sought to emphasize the widely-seen bystander video of Floyd’s death in their case against Chauvin.

Vigil for Daunte Wright held at UNM

On Monday night, close to 80 individuals gathered near the UNM bookstore to honor the life of Daunte Wright, who was fatally shot by the Brooklyn Center Police Department (BCPD) in Minneapolis on April 11.

Daunte Wright was a 20-year-old Black man who was pulled over at a traffic stop and fatally shot by BCPD officer Kim Potter. Police say Wright was pulled over due to expired registration tags but Wrights’ mother said he told her on the phone it was due to an illegally hung air freshener. The department is now claiming it was accidental, and that Potter mistook her gun for her taser, according to Star Tribune. The officer and the police chief have now resigned.

Governor legalizes recreational marijuana statewide

On April 12, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed legislation legalizing adult recreational cannabis use and authorizing the expungement of some cannabis convictions.

“This legislation is a major, major step forward for our state. Legalized adult-use cannabis is going to change the way we think about New Mexico for the better — our workforce, our economy, our future,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement released on Monday.

NM Notify helps track COVID exposures

On March 23, the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) announced the launch of NM Notify, an exposure notification app that alerts individuals when they’ve been in close proximity to someone that’s tested positive for COVID-19.

Exposure notification apps are a form of technology-based contact tracing. Google and Apple worked together with public health departments across the country to create apps that will notify people who have been exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID, even if they don’t know them, according to a Google video on the topic.

When an individual walks by someone else using the app, both devices will exchange the users’ randomly generated personal identification numbers via Bluetooth. Then, if someone tests positive for COVID and reports it in the app, any device that exchanged numbers in the last two weeks will receive a notification about potential exposure.

ABQ 'White Lives Matter' rally flops, dominated by counter-protesters

On Sunday, hundreds gathered at Civic Plaza in Downtown Albuquerque with plans to counter a “White Lives Matter” protest scheduled to take place at the Albuquerque Convention Center directly across from Civic Plaza.

Fight For Our Lives (FFOL), a self described non-violent student activist organization, arranged the event, which lasted about two hours and was attended by close to 120 people. No one directly affiliated with the Proud Boys attended the protest, despite a Facebook messenger screenshot that said the organization would arrive at 11 a.m.

“It’s really great to see this show of unity,” Zoey Craft, FFOL cofounder, said. “It’s great to see everyone coming together against this planned action that we know is going to further embolden white supremacists in the future.”