New Mexico governor wants to legalize cannabis in 2020

New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham proposed in her 2020 agenda sent to legislators the passage of a bill «legalizing the use of recreational cannabis in New Mexico and establishing a regulatory framework for its use, including considerations of public safety, public health safeguards and protection of the state's existing medical cannabis program.»

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If legislators give him such a bill, New Mexico will be the next U.S. state to end cannabis prohibition, The legislature meets for a short 30-day session starting on January 21.

In 2019, the state House of Representatives has already passed a bill to legalize the possession, consumption and sale of cannabis. It had failed to get beyond the Senate. Legislators had then sent Lujan Grisham a more limited bill to simply decriminalize cannabis possession, which she signed.

In his new call, The governor is also asking legislators to pass a bill clarifying that the state's medical cannabis program applies only to residents. A court ruled last year that out-of-state patients could participate, over the objections of regulators. The amendment is nevertheless recommended to «protect the program and patients».

Two contradictory polls have recently published. The first, supported by the prohibitionist association Smart Approaches to Marijuana estimates that 63% of voters oppose legalizing cannabis in the state. The second, commissioned by Cannabis Legalization Working Group, The Governor's Task Force revealed that 75% of voters support the reforms.

Last October, the working group published a bill to legalize cannabis. He had estimated that the state would create 11,000 jobs by legalizing, with sales reaching $620 million within 5 years. Combined tax revenues from medical and recreational cannabis sales are estimated at $100 million a year.