New Mexico: Lawmakers Fail to Approve Marijuana Legalization Before Key Legislative Deadline

Members of the New Mexico state House and Senate failed to approve House Bill 12 to legalize and regulate the adult-use marijuana market prior to Saturday’s adjournment of the 2021 legislative session.

A spokesperson for Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Friday evening that “the governor is prepared to call a special session to get cannabis done and done right.”

“Lawmakers, for the moment, have once again failed to deliver common sense marijuana policy reform for the people of New Mexico, an overwhelming majority of whom support legalizing cannabis for adults.” said NORML State Policies Manager Carly Wolf. “In the interim, thousands of their constituents, disproportionately their constituents of color, will continue to be saddled with criminal records and the lifelong penalties and stigma associated with it.”

House Bill 12 sought to allow adults to legally purchase up to two ounces of marijuana and 16 grams of cannabis extract from licensed retailers, and also would have permitted the home-cultivation of up to six mature plants for one’s own personal use. Under this measure, those convicted of offenses involving the possession of up to two ounces of marijuana possession would have been eligible for automatic expungement, and those currently incarcerated for these offenses would have been eligible for either a dismissal or a revision of their sentence.