SANTA FE – A New Mexico proposal to legalize recreational marijuana in the state for adults ages 21 and older has cleared its last major hurdle as legislators prepared to send the bill to the governor.
The state Senate voted 22-15 on Wednesday to endorse a House-approved bill that levies new taxes on recreational cannabis sales and closely regulates business licenses and production.
House concurrence with Senate amendments would send the legalization bill to supportive Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
A companion bill would automatically erase some marijuana convictions and reconsider criminal sentences for about 100 prisoners.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
SANTA FE, N.M (AP) – Legislators mounted a charge toward legalizing recreational marijuana in New Mexico, as House lawmakers on Wednesday sent an approved framework for pot sales, business licenses and taxation to the state Senate for consideration.
The Senate prepared for a decisive evening vote on a House-approved bill to to legalize recreational cannabis for adults 21 and older, after sidelining a competing Republican proposal.
The House voted 38-32 to approve the measure, with several House Democrats joining Republicans in opposition.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham called a special session of the Legislature to legalize recreational cannabis after time ran out during a regular annual legislative session.
“The United States of America is in the midst of a sea change when it comes to this,” said Democratic state Rep. Javier Martinez of Albuquerque, who has ushered legalization bills four times to House endorsements without final approval. “This bill begins to repair the harms of prohibition.”
Martinez’s initiative was stripped of several provisions for economic support to communities ravaged by the criminalization of marijuana and tough policing, but it retains low-cost licenses for small pot producers as a measure of equity. And past drug convictions would not necessarily disqualify people from operating a cannabis business.
The Legislature sent a companion bill to the governor Wednesday that would automatically erase pot convictions and reconsider sentences for about 100 prisoners. That expungement bill won Senate approval on a 23-13 vote and passed the House 41-28.
Under that Democrat-sponsored expungement bill, people serving jail time for marijuana-related offenses would have their cases reviewed by corrections officials within a month of the bill going into effect. State agencies have roughly a year to identify, vet and expunge minor cannabis convictions from legal records and background checks.
A half dozen other states have moving forward with legalization of recreational marijuana in recent months. Legalization was approved by ballot initiative in Arizona, Montana, South Dakota and New Jersey during November elections. This year, legislatures in Virginia and New York have approved broad legalization.
Lujan Grisham has hailed the industry’s potential to create jobs and bring a stable new source of revenue. And some legalization proponents hope to attract cannabis tourism from Texas and Oklahoma.
Taxes on medical marijuana would be eliminated, and a Democratic-backed regulatory framework would impose an initial excise tax on recreational pot sales of 12% that would rise to 18% over time. That’s on top of current gross receipts on sales that range from roughly 5% to 9%.
Possession of up to 2 ounces (57 grams) of marijuana would cease to be a crime, and people would be allowed six plants at home – or up to 12 per household.
People convicted of minor marijuana offenses wouldn’t need to hire a lawyer to get a clean slate, under the expungement bill.
“We don’t want to put a burden on the individual to file the lawsuit, to pay the filing fee to hire a lawyer to get rid of something from the record that we as a state ... are saying is no longer a crime,” said bill sponsor Sen. Katy Duhigg, D-Albuquerque.
Her bill also limits the extent to which employers and professional licensing boards could prevent hires because of convictions, including for crimes not related to pot. Employers can still ban marijuana consumption by employees under the reform proposals.
Separately, state oversight would largely fall to the governor-appointed superintendent of the Regulation and Licensing Department that would issue licenses for a fee to marijuana-related businesses. The agency initially would have the authority to limit marijuana production levels by major producers – a lever over marijuana supplies and pricing.
Those market controls stayed in the legislation amid harsh criticism from several senators who fear regulatory decision may be influenced by business interests, or made arbitrarily.
Clashing with Democrats, Republican House lawmakers insisted that legalization would increase youth access to marijuana.
State Rep. Greg Nibert of Roswell implored House Democrats to allow communities to turn away marijuana businesses. Local governments cannot ban the industry but would regulate where and when marijuana businesses can operate, under all proposed legislation.
Deliberations touched on lingering concerns about public health and marijuana use.
The regulatory framework bill from Martínez would create licensed “cannabis consumption areas” that might double as entertainment venues – and alleviate legal problems for marijuana users in federally subsidized housing or other circumstances where marijuana use is restricted.
Public health groups including the American Heart Association say the consumption areas could undermine hard-fought efforts to ensure clean indoor air by state statute and expose cannabis workers to contaminates in second-hand marijuana smoke or vapor.
Providing marijuana to children would remain a felony, and businesses that sell to people under 21 risk license suspension or revocation.
Attanasio is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues. Follow Attanasio on Twitter.
