New Mexico will not grow medical marijuana for seriously ill patients for fear that the federal government could prosecute state workers, but will continue to certify which patients are eligible to possess the drug.

The law, effective Sunday, not only protects medical marijuana users from prosecution - as 11 other states do - but requires New Mexico to oversee a production and distribution system for the drug.

A woman whose doctor says marijuana is the only medicine keeping her alive can face federal prosecution on drug charges, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.