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NM Governor unveils recreational marijuana legalization proposal

aridbud

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Gov. Lujan Grisham unveils recreational marijuana legalization proposal
Jan 17, 2020

SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) – On Friday, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced her support for a proposal to legalize recreational marijuana in New Mexico for adults 21 and older, citing the move as a major economy drive that would create thousands of jobs.

According to a news release, the proposed House Bill 160 is based on a report by the Cannabis Legalization Working Group that was appointed by the governor to study the issue last year. The group had public meetings and is said to have received over 200 pages of public comment from residents across the state prior to issuing a framework for public health, public safety, testing, and regulation.
“The Legislature has the opportunity to pass the largest job-creation program in New Mexico in a decade,” said Gov. Lujan Grisham in the news release. “Skeptics have been right to preach study and patience. I agree with their caution- and that’s why we haven’t’ been rushed into this issue. But if we are clear-eyed about the risks, we have to be clear-eyed about the opportunity.”

The governor’s office reports that the legislation would generate around 11,000 new jobs in agriculture, manufacturing, regulation, and retail in addition to an estimated $620 million in sales by the fifth year according to an independent analyst.

The proposal would require all cannabis products sold in New Mexico to be tested, are free from contaminants, and are clearly labeled with the THC dosage. The bill also includes restrictions on advertisements that are targeted on youth.

In addition, the bill requires investments in training that would assist law enforcement officers in identifying impaired driving, not only cannabis-induced.

“It’s critical that people know legalizing recreations use does not mean legalizing impaired driving,” said New Mexico State Police Chief Tim Johnson in a statement.

Two recent polls showed very different stances on the legalization of recreational marijuana in New Mexico. An Emerson College poll shows that 63% of New Mexico voters are opposed to full legalization while Change Research found 75% of New Mexicans favored legalization.

The governor’s office reports that while the state has been regulating legal medical cannabis for over a decade, last year producers sold almost three times more medical cannabis than chile.
“It’s time to stop pretending cannabis is not already a part of our economy and culture,” said Gov. Lujan Grisham.”The thousands of New Mexicans who work in, supply and serve our medical cannabis program are employers; they are doctors; they are entrepreneurs; they are neighbors.”

The proposal also includes an initiative that provides for the possible dismissal of cases involving individuals who were incarcerated for cannabis-related crimes. The legislation also calls for a 20% tax rate unlike higher rates in other states, which is expected to prevent buyers from turning to the black market.

The bill will exempt residents in the medical cannabis program from the tax and would require cannabis growers to serve the medical market before the recreational market.

Nine other states have already legalized recreational cannabis.
 
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Any info if the bill will require employers to stop testing for cannabis ??
 

aridbud

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ICMag Donor
Veteran
Any info if the bill will require employers to stop testing for cannabis ??

Nope, that's not part of it. Instead, ALL legislators Federally and state level need to DE SCHEDULE cannabis being a Schedule 1 drug!
If that happened, no need to test unless people are at risk...pretty much how Nevada's statute is currently.

Exceptions to the prohibition as follows:Firefighters & Emergency Medical Technicians will still be tested. Motor Vehicle Operation being a carrier, Employees who Affect the Safety of Others: If an employee, by the “determination of his or her employer,” could “adversely affect the safety of others,” Medical personnel, and Positions Funded by a Federal Grant.

It wouldn't surprise me seeing other states following Nevada’s lead, as they try to balance employers’ efforts to maintain safe and health work environments with a growing cannabis industry and increasing numbers of employees who lawfully use marijuana.

Hopefully next leader will have a better understanding of the impact of cannabis use and the work force.
 

aridbud

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Legislative Committee To Discuss Major Marijuana Reform Bill in New Mexico
Will the state become the 12th in the country to legalize adult use cannabis?

Published 4 days ago on January 28, 2020By Caitlin Donohue
https://hightimes.com/news/legislative-committee-discuss-major-marijuana-reform-bill-new-mexico/

After New Mexico’s governor predicted that legalization of cannabis is a priority for some lawmakers this year, a Democratic state senator has proposed a bill that would regulate adult use. SB 115 will be reviewed for the first time by a legislative committee on Tuesday.

The initiative would make it mandatory for recreational dispensaries to supply state-subsidized medical marijuana to patients. The plan looks to learn from the experiences of cannabis legislation in other states like Oregon, where medical marijuana has become scarce when recreational becomes legal.

This is far from the first indication that New Mexican lawmakers are looking to push a legalization agenda this year. Earlier this month, the state’s Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham commented at a Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce luncheon that regulation of adult use cannabis could prove to be “an economic game-changer.”

“If we are clear-eyed about the risks, we have to be clear-eyed about the opportunity,” said Grisham — a nod to the bipartisan policy makers in the state’s legislature that are unconvinced that access to marijuana is without its health risks. Last June, Grisham established a group to explore the feasibility of cannabis regulation.


Albuquerque Senator Gerald Ortiz y Pino introduced the legislation, which would establish an automatic expungement process for individuals with past cannabis-related criminal convictions.

It would require local governments to allow for recreational industry activity — a measure that is presented as a way of fighting against illegal market cannabis sales. That language was taken from recommendations published by the governor’s task force earlier this month.

Marijuana in New Mexico
Last year, New Mexican lawmakers were also presented with a draft of legalization legislation. Though it passed the House, it was unable to clear the Senate. Both chambers are controlled by Democrats in New Mexico, but cannabis legalization is not an issue that cleaves cleanly to party lines in the state. Some prominent Democrat elected officials have expressed their doubts regarding cannabis legalization, while some Republicans have thrown their support behind plans to regulate the drug.


The state’s medical marijuana program saw a considerable expansion last year of the number of qualifying conditions. Health Secretary Kathyleen Kunkel signed off on the addition of opioid dependency as a new entry to medical cannabis treatment. New Mexico has consistently seen higher than average rates of opioid abuse among its population.

Last July, a New Mexico decriminalization law took effect that reduced the maximum sentence for possession of less than a half ounce of cannabis from 15 days in jail to a $50 fee, for an individual’s first such offence. Subsequent offenses can still garner incarceration, however.

It seems as though lawmakers efforts to widen access to cannabis have the support of the New Mexican population. A December poll of slightly over 1000 voters suggests that support for recreational cannabis legalization in the state may be hovering at around 75 percent. New Mexico was the 12th state to legalize medicinal cannabis — could it hold the same honor when it comes to regulating adult use weed?
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They don't mention probable axing of personal (decriminalized) grow of 6 plants that study members suggested. Is declining small grows a way to tamp down on 'black market'? I'd think it'd be beneficial to those with medical issues that don't want to go through the process/expense of obtaining MMJ Personal Production License.

Side note: Yesterday I was at a strip mall perusing a thrift shop. Next door was a dispensary. Watched a lady who came out with 3 ft. tall nice bushy plant. Asked her what type? (All the med marijuana plants I've seen are 8"-12" clone seedlings)...."Purple Haze", she replied. Told her- 'Oh! You are going to have fun with that one!' 'o)
 
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