New Mexico lawmakers have advanced two cannabis reform bills to the governor’s desk: one to legalize the adult use of cannabis and another for the automatic review and expungement of low-level cannabis arrest and conviction records, CNN reports.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) — who brought state lawmakers back to the capital for a special legislative session dedicated to reaching a cannabis legalization deal — called the bills’ passage a “significant victory” for the state and said, “my signing pen is ready.”
House Bill 2, the legalization bill, allows adults aged 21 and older to legally purchase up to two ounces of cannabis flower and up to 16 grams of extract from licensed retailers, as well as grow up to six mature cannabis plants at home for personal use. Senate Bill 2, the expungement measure, sets up the automatic expungement of cannabis-related criminal records for offenses that would be legal under the new legislation. People currently incarcerated for a cannabis-related offense will be eligible to have their sentence dismissed.
New Mexico will be the next state to legalize cannabis, establishing a new industry that will create immense economic opportunity in communities both rural and urban while addressing and rectifying the harmful impacts of criminalization.https://t.co/zX7KMMpmeR
— Michelle Lujan Grisham (@GovMLG) April 1, 2021
New Mexico is only the second state this week to establish adult-use cannabis legalization after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signed his state’s legalization bill into law yesterday.
“This is a historic day for New Mexico! These important policy changes will ensure that consumers going forward will no longer suffer criminal arrest and prosecution, while also remedying past injustices caused by the drug war. I commend lawmakers for working together to craft legislation that prioritizes social justice and inclusion.” — NORML State Policies Manager Carly Wolf, in a statement
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