Marijuana legalization
Legislature to tackle thorny issue that some say could be a multimillion-dollar industry
Asweeping proposal to legalize recreational marijuana that will hit the Legislature this month is sure to rivet the attention of business owners, judges, law enforcement officials, educators and parents.
Supporters say passage would create an industry that could generate 11,000 jobs and millions of dollars in new state and local tax revenues and correct decades of social injustice to minorities and poor people who suffered the brunt of the so-called war on drugs.
Opponents dismiss the revenue projections as pie in the sky and say the social costs of sweeping marijuana legalization in a state where about 70,000 people now use medical marijuana are too high.
The proposal by Rep. Javier Martínez and Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino, both Albuquerque Democrats, is among the most ambitious pot legalization plans in the nation.
It would not only legalize marijuana sales to adults, but also would:
Allow people to wipe out “marijuana-related convictions” from court and police records.
Require some workplace protections for medical and recreational marijuana users.
Allow statewide licensed cultivation of marijuana.
Place no limit on how much a producer could grow, but each plant would be subject to a tax. That, in theory, would avoid the massive surpluses of marijuana seen in some states that have legalized it.
Require local governments to opt in or opt out of allowing licensed adult-use recreational marijuana dispensaries through elections.
Prohibit schools from refusing enrollment to someone using medical or commercial cannabis — although recreational use would not be allowed on school grounds.
Prohibit landlords from refusing to rent to someone using medical or commercial cannabis.
Prohibit the separation of children from parents who lawfully use medical or commercial marijuana.
Allow individuals to grow up to six mature marijuana plants for personal use.
Supporters say the bill would still allow people to be fired for using marijuana in the workplace — or being high at work — and would keep marijuana dispensaries away from schools, day care or youth centers.
They also say workplace protections for employees using marijuana when not at work would be balanced by exempting employers with federal government contracts from those protections if they would result in the loss of the business’s federal contract.
Bottom line: Most employers would not be able to discipline workers who consume marijuana on their own time, as long as they weren’t clearly impaired on the job.
Although marijuana legislation was a nonstarter under Republican Gov. Susana Martinez, the new occupant of the Governor’s Mansion in Santa Fe, Michelle Lujan Grisham, says she is open to it — but with plenty of conditions.
Meanwhile, how much revenue recreational marijuana would generate for the state is open to debate.
Legislative Finance Committee staffers, at one point, estimated the revenue at between $35 million and $70 million. Supporters argue the number is well over $100 million in the first year or two.
And they say it would create a multimillion-dollar industry that they acknowledge would require regulation, licensing and administration. In a way, it would be like creating and regulating today’s liquor industry from scratch.
Emily Kaltenbach, state director of the Drug Policy Alliance, a group that has worked for legalization of marijuana throughout the country, has been working on marijuana legalization and decriminalization for years.
She and other proponents said the experience of other states gives New Mexico an advantage in drawing up legislation to legalize recreational cannabis.
“We have been looking at how to avoid the pitfalls other states experienced,” she said. “This is a huge new marketplace that is very complex.”
Already, 10 states — Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington — and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for recreational use.
Meanwhile, marijuana legalization has widespread support in New Mexico, with 60 percent favoring it in an Albuquerque Journal poll of likely voters before last year’s election.