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New Mexico\u2019s marijuana legalization law took effect<\/a> on Tuesday, with limited personal possession and cultivation officially becoming legal for adults 21 and older.<\/p>\n People can now lawfully possess up to two ounces of cannabis, 16 grams of concentrates and grow as many as six mature plants for personal use. But it will still take some time before retail sales launch.<\/p>\n New Mexico is the first of three states where adult-use legalization laws are set to take effect this week. Next up are Virginia<\/a> and Connecticut<\/a>, which both have new policies ending cannabis prohibition coming into force on Thursday.<\/p>\n In New Mexico, under a timeline published by the Cannabis Control Division, which falls under the state Department of Regulation and Licensing, regulators must establish an advisory committee and begin accepting certain marijuana business licenses no later than September 1.<\/p>\n By January 1, 2022, the division must issue licenses to qualified commercial cannabis companies and begin to license marijuana training and education programs. Retail marijuana sales must begin<\/a> by April 1, 2022.<\/p>\n New Mexico! Cannabis legalization is here. We’re transforming New Mexico’s economic future for the better. #nmpol<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/nH3YkwDjHb<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 MichelleLujanGrisham (@Michelle4NM) June 29, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Regulators will hold the first public hearing<\/a> on cannabis production rules on Tuesday.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter decades of people being arrested for simply possessing cannabis or growing a few plants, New Mexicans are finally able to exhale,\u201d Emily Kaltenbach, senior director for resident states and New Mexico for the Drug Policy Alliance, said in a press release. \u201cBut make no mistake, this fight isn\u2019t over. We still have our work cut out for us to fully repair the damage that has been done as a result of prohibition, and that means advocating for equity and diversity in the new industry and coming back during the 2022 budget session to ensure funds are made available for critical reinvestment in the communities that have been most harmed.\u201d<\/p>\n There is no set limit on the number of business licensees that could be granted under the program, or the number of facilities a licensee could open, although regulators could stop issuing new licenses if an advisory committee determines that \u201cmarket equilibrium is deficient.\u201d<\/p>\n Cannabis purchases will include a 12 percent excise tax on top of the state\u2019s regular eight percent sales tax. Beginning in 2025, the excise rate would climb by one percent each year until it reached 18 percent in 2030. Medical marijuana products, available only to patients and caretakers, would be exempt from the tax.<\/p>\n In an effort to ensure medical patients can still access medicine after the adult-use market opens, the bill allows the state to force licensed cannabis producers to reserve up to 10 percent of their products for patients in the event of a shortage or grow more plants to be used in medical products.<\/p>\n This is the end of the disproportionate criminalization of people of color for cannabis possession. And it’s the beginning of building a new industry for New Mexicans.<\/p>\n Licenses and adult-use sales are coming soon! Who’s going to make the first cannabis-infused green chile?<\/p>\n \u2014 Michelle Lujan Grisham (@GovMLG) June 29, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Local governments cannot ban cannabis businesses entirely, as some other states have allowed. Municipalities can, however, use their local zoning authority to limit the number of retailers or their distance from schools, daycares or other cannabis businesses.<\/p>\n Polling indicates New Mexico\u00a0voters are ready for the policy change<\/a>. A survey released in October found a strong majority of residents are in favor of legalization with social equity provisions in place, and about half support the decriminalization of drug possession more broadly.<\/p>\n Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) gave final approval<\/a> to the cannabis legalization legislation<\/a> in April, fulfilling a key goal for her administration. She had to\u00a0convene a special session to ensure that lawmakers got the job done<\/a> after they failed to pass legalization during the regular session.<\/p>\n A separate, complementary bill<\/a> providing for expungements for convictions made legal under the marijuana legalization law was also passed during the special session and signed by the governor. Under it, courts must begin reopening qualifying cases within 30 days after the legislation goes into effect on January 1, 2022.<\/p>\n Regulators launched a website to provide information about legalization<\/a> before the governor even signed the bill into law.<\/p>\n Lujan Grisham included\u00a0cannabis legalization as part of her 2021 legislative agenda<\/a>\u00a0and has repeatedly talked about\u00a0the need to legalize as a means to boost the economy<\/a>, especially amid the coronavirus pandemic. She said during a State of the State address in January that \u201ca crisis like the one we\u2019ve experienced last year can be viewed as a loss or as an invitation to rethink the status quo\u2014to be ambitious and creative and bold.\u201d<\/p>\n Additional pressure to end cannabis prohibition this year came from neighboring Arizona, where\u00a0sales officially launched<\/a>\u00a0in January after voters approved a legalization ballot initiative last year. To New Mexico\u2019s north is Colorado, one of the first states to legalize for adult use.<\/p>\n New Mexico\u2019s House in 2019\u00a0approved a legalization bill that included provisions to\u00a0put marijuana sales mostly in state-run stores<\/a>, but that measure died in the Senate. Later that year, Lujan Grisham created a\u00a0working group to study cannabis legalization<\/a>\u00a0and issue recommendations.<\/p>\n In May of last year, the governor signaled she was considering\u00a0actively campaigning against lawmakers who blocked her legalization bill<\/a>\u00a0in 2020. She also said that\u00a0she was open to letting voters decide on the policy change<\/a>\u00a0via a ballot referendum if lawmakers didn\u2019t send a legalization bill to her desk.<\/p>\n Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas Slams Feds\u2019 Marijuana Stance As \u2018Contradictory\u2019 And \u2018Unstable\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of WeedPornDaily<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post New Mexico Marijuana Legalization Law Officially Takes Effect<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
New Mexico\u2019s marijuana legalization law took effect on Tuesday, with limited personal possession and cultivation officially becoming legal for adults 21 and older. People can now lawfully possess up to two ounces of cannabis, 16 grams of concentrates and grow as many as six mature plants for personal use. ButContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":48559,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48558"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48558"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48558\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48560,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48558\/revisions\/48560"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
In #NM<\/a>: <\/p>\n![\"✅\"](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/2705-1.png\")
Possession of cannabis is legal for adults ages 21+![\"✅\"](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/2705-2.png\")
New Mexicans can grow up to 12 plants![\"✅\"](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/2705-3.png\")
Retail cannabis starts no later than 4\/1\/22<\/p>\n\n
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\nRead More: New Mexico Marijuana Legalization Law Officially Takes Effect<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"