Update: House members have tabled SB 278 for the 2017 legislative session, and will not take any further action.
Update: Members of the House Business and Industry Committee voted 9-1 on Monday, February 27, to defeat House Bill 89.
State Representatives Bill McCamley and Javier Martinez introduced HB 89, the Cannabis Revenue & Freedom Act to regulate the cultivation and retail sale of marijuana in the state. Companion legislation, SB 278, introduced by Sen. Gerald Ortiz, is also pending in the Senate.
”It is either going to happen sooner or it is going to happen later and if it happens sooner we can realize the economic benefits now.” McCamley said.
The continued criminalization of adult marijuana use is out-of-step with the views of adults in New Mexico, 61 percent of whom now endorse legalizing and regulating cannabis, according to a 2016 ABQ Journal poll.
Despite more than 70 years of federal marijuana prohibition, Americans’ consumption of and demand for cannabis is here to stay. It is time for state lawmakers to acknowledge this reality. It is time to stop ceding control of the marijuana market to untaxed criminal enterprises and it is time for lawmakers to seriously consider common-sense regulations governing cannabis’ personal use by adults and licensing its production.
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