The New Mexico Senate has voted 34-7 to approve a medical-marijuana bill, sending it to the state House for consideration, the Carlsbad Current-Argus reported Feb. 8.

This is the third straight year the Senate has approved the measure; it was defeated in the House the past two legislative sessions. The bill allows residents to use marijuana for medical purposes if they have certain illnesses and the approval of their own physician and a physicians advisory board.

Some opponents raised concerns about the message that the bill would send to New Mexico youth, or that a medical-marijuana law could cause problems like those in California, which has struggled to police grow operations and marijuana dispensaries. "We think we have provisions in the measure that would make it impossible for the abuses, or perceived abuses, that have taken place in California to happen here," said Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino, the bill sponsor.

Gov. Bill Richardson said he continues to "support a medical-marijuana bill that includes proper safeguards to prevent abuse."