New Mexico Governor Adds Adult-Use Cannabis Legalization to 2020 Legislative Agenda

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is renewing her push to legalize adult-use cannabis this year, and has officially added the issue to the state’s 2020 legislative agenda, according to a local KRQE report.

Grisham announced in March 2019 that she would like to tackle cannabis legalization in this year’s 30-day legislative session, after a legalization proposal stalled in the Senate last year.

Last year’s legislation did pick up a great deal of momentum, however; the New Mexico House passed the measure in early March by a narrow margin of 36-24, and the bill even cleared a Senate panel before its ultimate demise.

A decriminalization measure that reduced penalties for the possession of small amounts of cannabis passed the legislature last year and was signed into law last spring, and Grisham recruited health, legal and fiscal policy experts last summer to serve on a committee tasked with providing recommendations on legalization.

The governor-appointed work group of 22 policy leaders submitted its recommendations to state officials in October, and New Mexico Rep. Javier Martinez (D-Albuquerque) announced earlier this month that he would pre-file an adult-use cannabis legalization bill that incorporates these recommendations.

New Mexico’s 2020 legislative session opens on Jan. 21, and Feb. 5 is the deadline for the introduction of legislation. The session ends Feb. 20.