The Cannabis Law Board has drafted the following letter to the governor to advocate for cannabis legalization to be placed on the agenda for the emergency legislative session (date pending). If you have any comments, concerns or questions, you may email the State Bar General Counsel at sralstin@nmbar.org.
As a section member, you have until Wednesday, May 27 to comment. Any feedback will be evaluated at the time. After the two week period, a follow up will be sent with any results and/or summary of legislative actions.
Dear Governor Lujan Grisham:
I am writing on behalf of the Cannabis Law Section of the State Bar of New Mexico (“CLS”). CLS’s purpose is provide a forum for members to consider and discuss legal issues surrounding the changing legal landscape regarding the regulation of cannabis in New Mexico; the interrelationships between cannabis law and other fields of law; to represent the view of the members of the Section to the legislature, the Bar and the public; and, to take further action as may be necessary to present the Section’s views to the appropriate court, executive office, or legislative body.
First, we want to thank you for your extraordinary work and success that you continue to accomplish in our State combating COVID-19. We are most grateful for the many lives that you continue to save in New Mexico.
The purpose of this letter is to urge and encourage you to add a proposal to legalize, regulate and tax recreational or adult-use Cannabis to the Agenda of the Special Session that you plan to call to address our State’s dire budget challenges. Even without considering the savings from suspending misguided law enforcement efforts, the predictable tax revenue would help offset the budget deficit due to the drastic drop in energy prices and production.
We also want to thank you for your support of legalizing recreational cannabis in New Mexico in this year’s regular session. Now is the time to get it done. As media commentators have observed, “If cannabis sales are soaring, even in this depleting market, it would make sense to take another look at the recreational cannabis bill during the upcoming session.” [1]
We genuinely appreciate your time and consideration of this request.
This letter is sent by the Cannabis Law Section of the State Bar of New Mexico; however, the request and views expressed are neither endorsed nor approved by the State Bar of New Mexico.
Sincerely,
Patricia M. Monaghan, Esq.
Chair Cannabis Law Section
[1] Ramona Chavez, “Hindsight is 4/20 Governor regrets recreational fail,” Weekly Alibi’s Leaflet, May 4, 2020, https://alibi.com/cannabis/60782/Hindsight-is-4-20.html