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New Mexico approves recreational marijuana. What to know about the Cannabis Regulation Act Algernon D'Ammassa Las Cruces Sun-News Thursday 01 Apr 2021 Legalizing cannabis (commonly known as marijuana) for adult use has been a key legislative goal of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who has said she will sign the bill that emerged from this week's special session. When she does, New Mexico will become the 18th state to legalize cannabis for adults — depending on how you count. Similar measures have passed or are close to passing in 17 other states, most recently in New York. Virginia's governor wants its state legislature to amend an already-passed recreational cannabis bill, and a South Dakota constitutional amendment legalizing adult-use cannabis was approved by voters in November, but faces a court challenge. In a separate measure, New Mexico legislators also acted to undo historical criminalization of cannabis possession and use by expunging certain criminal records and calling for a review of cases involving people charged with cannabis-related offenses — possibly even dismissing eligible convictions. The Cannabis Regulation Act emerged after years of negotiation and debate; and state Rep. Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque, one of the bill's co-sponsors, has promised there will be adjustments to the law in store for future sessions. New Mexico cannabis bill years in the making "In public policy you sometimes beat your head against the wall, but every so often the wall breaks first," state Workforce Solutions Secretary Bill McCamley said Thursday. McCamley served in the state Legislature in 2014, when he introduced a memorial calling for a study of the effects of legalization in Colorado and Washington, the first states to take that step. In 2015, McCamley introduced a legalization bill in the state House which died in committee, along with other proposals by his Democratic colleagues to reduce criminal penalties for cannabis possession and amend the constitution to permit possession and use for residents aged 21 and older. It took six years of subsequent attempts and a two-day special session to move a bill to the governor. What changed? More states proceeded to tax and legalize cannabis, including the neighboring state of Arizona. As legalization became more familiar and produced revenue for other states, cannabis politics also changed: Some Republicans grew more willing to consider it while Democrats took majorities in both chambers of the Legislature. Gov. Susana Martinez, a two-term Republican who opposed legalization, was succeeded in 2019 by Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat committed to legalization. "It's about the long game, right? Sometimes in a democracy good public policy takes a little while," McCamley said. "It will bring tax dollars in that are needed. Regulating substances like these tends to be healthier for society than throwing people in jail for using them. And the money saved in terms of law enforcement can be used for much more needed priorities." Effective 90 days from the end of the session — the end of June — New Mexico will consider cannabis legal for adults aged 21 years or older to possess and use; but there are rules about where you can buy and consume it. Commercial sales of regulated products through licensed dealers are required to be up and running by April of next year. You will need to keep your supply at home or out of public view. In public, it remains unlawful to possess more than 2 ounces of cannabis, 16 grams of cannabis extract or 800 milligrams of edible cannabis. Violations, depending on the amount, constitute misdemeanors or felonies. Don't plan on smoking it in public outside of a licensed "cannabis consumption area" where it may be served and consumed. Otherwise you could get a $50 ticket. At home, you can grow your own: The law permits individuals up to six mature cannabis plants and six immature plants, or a maximum of 12 in a household. You can make edibles or extracts (with nonvolatile solvents, alcohol or carbon dioxide or no solvents) or roll yourself a joint; and you can share some with a friend as long as they are of legal age. To sell it, you need to be a licensed dealer — more on that below — and unlawful trafficking is a fourth-degree felony. The smell of cannabis or possession of lawful quantities of it would no longer constitute grounds for law enforcement to detain people for suspicion of a crime, a change that the state Department of Public Safety says will require the replacement of all the agency's drug-sniffing dogs, who are trained to alert for marijuana. However, cannabis remains illegal under federal law, which classifies "marijuana" alongside narcotics such as heroin and carries severe criminal penalties, including imprisonment. This can lead to conflicts between local and federal law, at work or simply moving about the state. Federal law, guns and your boss In New Mexico, where medical cannabis was legalized and regulated in 2007, registered cannabis patients have had their medicine confiscated at U.S. Border Patrol checkpoints near the southern border. In 2015, a Deming resident sought an injunction against the practice, but the lawsuit was tossed by a federal judge. Federal gun laws also prohibit the possession of guns and ammunition by users of narcotics, including cannabis — even legal medical cannabis. Federal law, guns and your boss In New Mexico, where medical cannabis was legalized and regulated in 2007, registered cannabis patients have had their medicine confiscated at U.S. Border Patrol checkpoints near the southern border. In 2015, a Deming resident sought an injunction against the practice, but the lawsuit was tossed by a federal judge. Federal gun laws also prohibit the possession of guns and ammunition by users of narcotics, including cannabis — even legal medical cannabis. When purchasing from a licensed dealer and filling out the required transaction form, buyers must answer "yes" or "no" to the question: "Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance?" Possessing a firearm and using cannabis is a felony; and so is lying on the form. A recent example is Ethan Kollie, an Ohio man sentenced in 2020 to 32 months in prison after pleading guilty to both offenses. Since cannabis is still federally prohibited, employers can prohibit workers from possessing and using it at work, implement "zero tolerance" and drug testing policies and discipline personnel or refuse to hire applicants accordingly. With 'green gold' comes red tape The law calls for commercial sales by licensed and regulated dealers to begin no later than April 1, 2022. In the meantime, it creates a brand new division under the state Regulation and Licensing Department which must, by next January, promulgate rules for the production, marketing and sale of cannabis, in consultation with several agencies and a new cannabis advisory committee. By September, the new Cannabis Control Division must begin processing license applications for producers, which means an entire architecture of standards and documentation procedures must be established in a few months' time for testing laboratories, product and marketplaces. For the first three years, there are limits on the number of plants producers may keep in stock. This provision was controversial among lawmakers, but the bill's sponsors said it would provide a window for smaller producers to enter a market that would otherwise be dominated from its inception by large corporations, including medical cannabis producers. The regulations aim at undercutting the unlawful market and ensuring a marketplace for safe, regulated cannabis products from dealers holding annually renewable licenses. According to the bill's fiscal impact report, the state Economic Development Department opined that 1,593 new jobs might be generated at commercial dispensaries alone, based on estimates of new consumers. The CRA also sets a 12 percent excise tax on adult-use cannabis sold by licensed retailers, of which 33 percent goes to local municipalities or counties. https://eu.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/new-mexico/legislature/2021/04/01/nm-marijuana-bill-2021-heres-what-to-know/4837674001/
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