New Mexico became the latest state to legalize recreational cannabis for adults 21 years and older after Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed two bills into law on Monday.
“This legislation is a major, major step forward for our state. Legalized adult-use cannabis is going to change the way we think about New Mexico for the better – our workforce, our economy, our future,” Governor Lujan Grisham said in a statement. “We’re going to start righting past wrongs of this country’s failed war on drugs. And we’re going to break new ground in an industry that may well transform New Mexico’s economic future for the better.”
The two bills were approved by lawmakers on March 31 after the Governor, a Democrat and vocal supporter of cannabis reform, called a special session. House Bill 2 legalizes and regulates marijuana production, sales, and possession while Senate Bill 2 enacts the automatic review and expungement of records for people convicted of low-level marijuana crimes.
Commercial cannabis sales will launch no later than April 1, 2022. Taxes, which will first be set at 12% and eventually go up to 18%, are poised to raise tens of millions of dollars for the state.
New Mexico is now the 17th state to legalize recreational cannabis. The Land of Enchantment’s new law came right after New York passed its progressive adult-use law and Virginia lawmakers voted to allow possession and home cultivation starting July 1. (Virginia originally passed recreational cannabis sales in February, but the commercial program won’t launch until 2024.)
“New Mexico joins an ever-growing list of states that have realized the failures of marijuana prohibition and the harms it brings to their communities and citizens,” NORML executive director Erik Altieri said in a statement. “The American people are demanding an end to prohibitionist policies that have wreaked havoc on communities of color, squandered countless millions in taxpayer dollars, and wasted limited judicial and law enforcement resources on criminalizing otherwise law-abiding individuals for possession of a product that is objectively less harmful than alcohol or tobacco.”
Hours after New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo signed adult-use cannabis into law, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said that he will introduce a bill to end the federal prohibition of marijuana to the Senate soon.
“I support decriminalization at the federal level and will be introducing legislation with a few of my colleagues shortly,” Schumer told reporters.
The bill is being drafted by Schumer, Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden of Oregon, and Senator Cory Booker from New Jersey. No language has been released yet; however, they have said the bill will remove marijuana from the list of federally controlled substances, expunge criminal records related to marijuana offenses, and tax and regulate the drug.
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April 13, 2021 at 07:11AM
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New Mexico Legalizes Adult-Use Cannabis - Forbes
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