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A JOINT MEMORIAL
URGING THE STATE TO SUPPORT RESEARCH ON ADVANCED PARTICLE BEAM
CANCER THERAPY, A PROMISING CLINICAL APPLICATION THAT SHOULD
BE AVAILABLE TO ALL CANCER PATIENTS.
WHEREAS, cancer is a devastating disease that has
enormous consequences for those affected and their families;
and
WHEREAS, in the last six decades, proton beam therapy
has been perfected for clinical use and used with high success
to treat many types of tumors; and
WHEREAS, continuing research has shown that heavier
particles, such as carbon ions, when used in cancer therapy,
can have a higher biological effectiveness than proton beam
therapy; and
WHEREAS, antiproton particle beams are anticipated to
have an even better efficiency in destroying tumors without
harming surrounding tissue; and
WHEREAS, research using antiproton particle beams has
just begun in Europe with promising results; and
WHEREAS, New Mexico is an ideal location for advanced
particle beam cancer therapy research because it is the home
of Los Alamos national laboratory, Sandia national
laboratories and the university of New Mexico medical school;
and
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SJM 60
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WHEREAS, Michael Holzscheiter, a renowned physicist and
one of the world's foremost experts on advanced particle beam
cancer therapy, is now living in New Mexico while conducting
his ongoing research locally and at CERN, a large particle
physics laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE
STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the interim legislative health and
human services committee and the legislative finance
committee be requested to schedule a presentation and report
by physicist Michael Holzscheiter by September 2007 to learn
more about the medical application of advanced particle beam
cancer therapy and to identify new sources of funding to
support ongoing research in New Mexico; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
transmitted to the department of health, the human services
department, the legislative finance committee, the New Mexico
legislative council and the board of regents of the
university of New Mexico.