Originally published on March 5, 2021 6:01 pm
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A total of five bills have been introduced in this year s legislative session to legalize recreational cannabis. Despite this being a legislative priority, the New Mexico Senate only began debate on bills on February 27. Meanwhile, House Bill 12 passed the full House and has moved to the Senate.
But the clock is ticking for legalization to happen this year, with the session ending on March 20. KUNM s Megan Kamerick spoke with Andy Lyman with New Mexico Political Report, her co-host on the New Mexico PBS podcast “Growing Forward: Cannabis in New Mexico” to get an update on where things stand and why this push is happening so late in the 60-day session. The Senate Tax, Business and Transportation Committee was slated to take up debate on Saturday, March 6, on recreational cannabis legalization bills. They have since rescheduled that for Tuesday, March 9.
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A total of five bills have been introduced in this year s legislative session to legalize recreational cannabis. Despite this being a legislative priority, the New Mexico Senate only began debate on bills on February 27. Meanwhile, House Bill 12 passed the full House and has moved to the Senate.
But the clock is ticking for legalization to happen this year, with the session ending on March 20. KUNM s Megan Kamerick spoke with Andy Lyman with New Mexico Political Report, her co-host on the New Mexico PBS podcast “Growing Forward: Cannabis in New Mexico” to get an update on where things stand and why this push is happening so late in the 60-day session. The Senate Tax, Business and Transportation Committee was slated to take up debate on Saturday, March 6, on recreational cannabis legalization bills. They have since rescheduled that for Tuesday, March 9.
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“The work began even before the doors opened,” recalled Ralph Martinez, co-founder of Española Pathways Shelter (EPS), the first homeless shelter in Española.
During the Feb. 23 zoom meeting of the Rotary Club of Los Alamos, Martinez described how those doors opened permanently last month, but the urgency for this regional need was evident years before.
A native of Española and a 1996 graduate of Española High School, Martinez lost his home and his family just five years later when he spiraled into drug addiction. For six years he found shelter in vacant buildings, abandoned cars, and under a bridge in Española.
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SFNM
Cigarette tax and other taxes: A bill that would add $2 to the price of a pack of cigarettes received its first hearing Tuesday before the Senate Tax, Business and Transportation Committee.
But the committee took no action and held Senate Bill 197 as part of an effort to have a larger discussion on all legislation involving taxes. “They want to corral all these bills together that will have implications on revenue and taxes and look at them as a whole.” Chris Nordstrom said, a spokesman for Senate Democrats. The hope, he added, is to develop an omnibus tax package will details on each proposal.