By Morgan Lee, Associated Press
Legislators have advanced a proposal to legalize recreational cannabis across New Mexico and lift the state's tight restrictions on production for its medical cannabis program.
After more than six hours of testimony and deliberations, a legislative committee on health issues on Monday endorsed one bill backed by Democrats and sidelined a second, in efforts to set up a taxed and regulated marketplace for broad cannabis sales.
The two-day hearing pushed to the forefront an initiative that would subsidize medical marijuana for the poor and do away with current limits on the number of plants each licensed producer can grow.