Opinion: Cannabis will be big business in NM

New Mexico has become the 18th state to legalize recreational cannabis. It’s been a long time coming.

Not counting a failed half-century drug war that grossly distorted the damage marijuana does to body and mind, New Mexicans started arguing in earnest over full legalization about 10 years ago — around when our neighbor to the north, Colorado, was preparing to blaze the trail. We had already been a frontrunner in the legalization of medical marijuana, but got cold feet when it came to recreational use.

In 2012, when Colorado was preparing to take the plunge into full legalization, New Mexico’s Gov. Susana Martinez remained a staunch opponent, and the threat of her veto pen thwarted attempts to legalize it legislatively. Efforts to take the question directly to the voters repeatedly failed as well, so the issue languished for nearly a decade.

Then came Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. From the onset of her run in 2018, she was all in favor and promised to make it happen. It took a couple of failed tries but, after a special session earlier this year, full legalization was passed. As of June 29, it became legal to grow and consume, and within a year it’ll be legal to sell and distribute commercially.

If we’re anything like Colorado, black-market sales will not only continue, they will thrive in their own niche. I think it has something to do with regulation and taxes, since some people don’t want to bother with either.

It’s those inevitable regulations and taxes that have state agencies busy in preparation. Taos News reporter Michael Tashji recently did a good job encapsulating the work and the deadlines state officials are facing as they usher in legal cannabis — producers will begin being licensed by Sept. 1; all other licenses, including the license to sell, by Jan. 1; and adult-use purchasing will be no later than April 1 of next year.

Tashji’s report also points out that on the same day in which the personal consumption and growing of pot became legal, all but medical marijuana licensing was turned over to the state Regulation and Licensing Department. Suddenly, the RLD and its Cannabis Control Division is a lot more powerful.

Meanwhile, there are a lot of licensing requirements to put in place, which will include public input into the rules to be written, published and incorporated into laws.

But the state isn’t just working out ways to regulate this new industry, it’s also offering to help people get started in the business. The New Mexico Economic Development Department is offering assistance to anyone wanting to jump into the cannabis business with startup assistance in job training and wage reimbursements, new equipment costs and even some Local Economic Development Act (LEDA) funding for infrastructure investments.

Interestingly, the more conservative region of the state, eastern New Mexico, could stand to benefit the most from cannabis sales, since Texas is one of only 14 states still with an all-out ban on marijuana, both recreational and medicinal.

That means places like Tucumcari, along the Interstate 40 corridor; Clovis and Lovington, just a handful of miles from the Texas border; and Hobbs right alongside that border will get a lot of business from the Lone Star State.

One thing is certain: Cannabis will be big business in New Mexico in the years ahead.

Tom McDonald is editor of the New Mexico Community News Exchange. Contact him at:

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