ALBUQUERQUE, NM– A bill that would give state regulators more enforcement power over the cannabis industry passed the state House Thursday with a lone “no” vote.
Recreational cannabis in NM has become a billion dollar industry since its legalization in 2021. But the Cannabis Control Division Cannabis Control Division has faced problems when it comes to enforcing its administrative authority.
The Division has had to rely on law enforcement agencies to do things like issuing fines, or suspending or revoking the licenses of cannabis providers. That structure effectively lets violators get away with breaking the rules, said co-sponsor Marian Matthews, an Albuquerque Democrat who is a former prosecutor.
“If a lot of rule breaking is tolerated due to poor regulation, then an atmosphere is created in which it becomes easier and easier for rulebreakers to step up their infractions,” Matthews said.
The problem is that law enforcement doesn’t have the resources to go after cannabis violators, Cannabis Control Division Director Todd Stevens said in an interview.
“Law enforcement is focused heavily on crimes that involve physical danger or property crimes,” Stevens said. “We want to try to unburden those law enforcement partners that we work with and give that authority back to us so they can focus on those while we focus on some of these cannabis specific crimes that have a potential to happen in the regulated market.”
The Proposed Solution
To address the problem, a bipartisan group of lawmakers sponsored a bill, HB10, to establish an enforcement bureau of six certified, vetted, and specially trained peace officers who would have authority to combat illicit cannabis activity. Something that CCD compliance officers have no jurisdiction over.
“We need to do everything we can to make sure New Mexico customers are purchasing New Mexico made, legal, and safe products,” co-sponsor Doreen Gallegos, D-Las Cruces, said in an emailed statement.
The bureau would operate under the Department of Regulation and Licensing and would be able to do things like seize illegal plants, put a 10-day embargo on potentially dangerous products, conduct criminal investigations, and make arrests.
This would require an appropriation of $1.5 million dollars from the state’s general fund.
Supporters got a boost earlier in the session when Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham endorsed the bill.
But the head of the state’s largest cannabis expressed the concern that the benefits of an enforcement bureau wouldn’t be seen until years down the line, and that solutions need to be implemented now. Duke Rodriguez, CEO of Ultra Health, said giving more tools to law enforcement to “get it done” is a better idea.
If the bill becomes law then the state CCD can expect to double its fine collections to around $300,000. The fines are deposited into an education fund.
During a Feb. 3 legislative hearing, Rep. Cristina Parajón, D-Albuquerque, noted that historically the War on Drugs had unfairly targeted communitites of color and said she hoped the state would pursue justice fairly.
“Especially in our communities, our Black, Indigenous, Latino communities that have been targeted. As this legislation moves forward I’d really like to see from our RLD and from our cannabis control department how this will be regulated, that we are still pursuing justice and how we are regulating this industry and ensuring that we are not continuing to perpetuate the cycle that didn’t work originally in how we’re designing policy.”
The bill now heads to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
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