SANTA FE New Mexico will join the swelling ranks of states legalizing and taxing recreational cannabis for adult users, after Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Monday signed a bill passed…
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Pending a signature from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, New Mexico is set to become the latest state to fully legalize cannabis. And while the state has received an abundance of national attention for the feat, some may have forgotten or overlooked the national attention a former governor garnered more than two decades ago for his, then-controversial, stance that cannabis should be legalized.
In the late 1990s, then-Gov. Gary Johnson, at the time a Republican, made national headlines for advocating for full legalization of cannabis, nearly seven years before the state would legalize medical-use cannabis and more than a decade before Colorado became the first state to legalize recreational-use cannabis.
SANTA FE In a way, it was only fitting a hotly debated New Mexico cannabis legalization bill passed the Senate by a seven-vote margin Wednesday evening.
After all, the Senate s seven first-term Democratic members played a key role in getting the bill across the finish line during a legislative special session after previous marijuana legalization bills had stalled in recent years. It was all about the election, Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart, D- Albuquerque, said Thursday, referring to last year s election results that saw five incumbent Senate Democrats ousted by more progressive primary challengers. The freshmen really carried the day, she added, saying the first-term senators were among a group of lawmakers that met on the fourth floor of the Capitol with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to celebrate approval of the cannabis bill after the two-day special session ended late Wednesday.
New Mexico primed to join recreational pot wave
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Lawmakers push legislation through in special session; governor’s signature awaits By Morgan Lee And Cedar Attanasio Associated Press
Thursday, April 1, 2021 2:12 PM Updated 2 hours 59 minutes ago Tourist Rene Greenmyer takes a picture of her friend Dawn Plonkey, outside the state capitol building on Tuesday in Santa Fe. The Arizona residents happened to pass by the 1999 bronze sculpture “Passage” by Dan Namingha as New Mexico lawmakers met in a special session to revisit a sprawling set of marijuana legalization proposals that led to a deadlock during the regular session earlier in March. Plonkey says she doesn’t use marijuana but voted in favor of a ballot initiative to legalize it in Arizona.