New Mexico plan to legalize recreational cannabis sales is derailed

A key Senate subcommittee in New Mexico voted against legalizing the sale of adult-use marijuana in the state, likely killing any chance of legislation being adopted this year.

The committee voted 6-4 against a proposal that would have permitted recreational marijuana sales in every city and county in the state.

Two Democrats joined Republicans in opposing the measure, which also would have protected the state’s medical marijuana program with tax breaks and patient subsidies.

Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who supported the proposal, said after the vote that “legalized recreational cannabis in New Mexico is inevitable.”

A bipartisan proposal in 2019 to legalize marijuana sales through state-owned stores won House approval by a two-vote margin but stalled in the Senate.

– Associated Press