SANTA FE – A New Mexico proposal for legal marijuana sales throughout the state unveiled on Wednesday would subsidize medical marijuana purchases for low-income patients with taxes on recreational pot sales and set aside money for police departments and loans to cannabis startup companies.
An expert panel appointed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, published recommendations for pot legalization, taking cues from the experiences of other states that regulate recreational marijuana markets and suggesting some innovations to shore up the state’s existing medical cannabis program and address social justice issues.
The new recommendations would prohibit local governments from banning marijuana sales, though they would be allowed to apply restrictions on business hours and locations, said Albuquerque City Councilor Pat Davis, who led the governor’s task force on legalization. That provision is aimed at curbing illicit markets and keep marijuana shoppers from traveling long distances.
Davis said several elements of the proposal would set New Mexico apart from other U.S. states with legal marijuana sales, in part by protecting the state’s medical marijuana program from a potential exodus of patients – an outcome that has been seen in several other states.
“We’re going to use some of the revenue from recreational marijuana to reinvest ... so we don’t lose those patients,” he said.
Medical marijuana which is currently taxed on average at 7% would become tax-free. And millions of dollars would be set aside to subsidize cannabis for low-income patients who have qualifying medical conditions such as cancer, post-traumatic stress disorder or chronic pain.
All licensed recreational marijuana business would be required to serve the medical marijuana market, with priority given to medical patients when supplies are scarce.
The recommendations from the 23-member task force set the stage for a new push to authorize the recreational use and sale of marijuana when the state Legislature convenes in January 2020.
Recreational marijuana is prohibited in New Mexico and bipartisan legalization legislation stalled in the state Senate earlier this year. That bill proposed state-operated marijuana stores to limit the proliferation of storefront pot shops in small towns – and encountered resistance from existing medical dispensary owners.
Lujan Grisham has made her support for recreational marijuana contingent upon solutions to protecting children, roadway safety and effective workplace regulation.
The task force’s recommendations include a ban on any ads geared toward youths – and no marijuana ads on television, radio and mobile devices.
Nonsmoking marijuana products would be tested and labeled to show the concentration of psychoactive THC to try to reduce hospital visits linked to unintentionally high doses of THC.
Legal cannabis would be treated much like alcohol when it comes to the workplace, with no changes regarding accidents and injuries involving cannabis that result in workers’ compensation claims. Workers currently must demonstrate that a long period of time separates intoxication and job duties.
To pay for safety and other initiatives, a 10% excise tax on recreational marijuana was suggested, with the proceeds divided equally between state and local governments. Combined with standard gross receipts taxes on sales and business transactions, that would mean an average markup of 17%.
Initial annual revenues of $55 million are anticipated, a figure that officials have predicted could double within five years.
A cannabis venture fund would provide loans to low-income and small family-owned businesses to start up marijuana businesses and provide cannabis-industry job training at community colleges.
Home growing of recreational marijuana would continue to be prohibited under the recommendations – a concession to concerns about illicit market supplies, Davis said.
The task force instead recommended decriminalizing home-grow violations involving up to six plants “to remove felony criminal implications.”
Davis said the decriminalization provision could be applied to past convictions through the state’s recently reformed clemency process.
Currently, medical cannabis patients must register for a personal production license to grow up to 16 plants at a time – and just four mature plants with ingestible flowers.
The recommendations are the result of a series of public meetings over the course of four months. It’s still up to legislators to craft a bill.
