New Mexico Introduces Marijuana Legalization Bill

Polling data from 2016 shows New Mexican’s attitudes towards changes in marijuana policy have shifted. Results show a 60 percent majority of New Mexicans polled are in favor of reforming current marijuana laws.
“New Mexico’s current marijuana laws are unfair, unpopular and wasteful. Thousands of individuals are arrested for marijuana possession in New Mexico every year,” said Emily Kaltenbach, New Mexico State Director of the Drug Policy Alliance. “It is a waste of law enforcement resources and taxpayer money when we could have a safe and legal industry creating thousands of sustainable new jobs. Legalizing small amounts of marijuana will also increase tax revenue and remove millions in sales from the criminal market, putting that money into the New Mexico economy. The marijuana industry will immediately create one of NM’s most lucrative industries, bigger than film, pecan, chile, and craft beer.”