Recreational marijuana legalization in New Mexico set for push

Help shape our annual “Diversity in Cannabis” special report by filling out our business survey here!


New Mexico would use proceeds from recreational marijuana to provide low-interest loans to small cannabis businesses and eliminate taxes on medical cannabis under a legalization proposal from an expert panel appointed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

Details weren’t immediately available Wednesday, but the task force earlier had recommended licensing private businesses rather than implementing a state-run store model that had been featured in a legislative compromise earlier this year.

The recommendations from a 23-member bipartisan task force sets the stage for a new push to authorize the recreational use and sale of marijuana when the state Legislature convenes in January 2020.

That bipartisan legalization legislation stalled in the state Senate, spurring Grisham, a Democrat, to form the cannabis task force.

Albuquerque City Councilor Pat Davis led efforts to outline a new regulatory framework that would not allow local governments to prohibit marijuana sales.

– Associated Press and Marijuana Business Daily