New Mexico Gov. Signals Strong Support for Cannabis Legalization

New Mexico Gov. Lujan Grisham (D) signaled her support for adult-use cannabis legalization during her State of the State on Tuesday and later tweeted that legalization would lead to “tens of thousands of jobs” and “hundreds of millions in new revenue” for the state.

“I have no interest in another year of thousands of New Mexicans, eager to get to work and make their future in this industry, being told ‘no,’ just because that’s easier than doing the hard work to get to ‘yes’ when we emerge from this pandemic. We can have the same-old economy with the same-old boom-and-bust future, or we can roar back to life, breaking new ground and fearlessly investing in ourselves, in the limitless potential of New Mexicans. I know which future I prefer.” – Grisham, State of the State, January 26, 2021

In a subsequent tweet, the governor noted that over the last two years the state has issued nearly 700 “brand-new” hemp licenses, which cover 15 million square feet of indoor and almost 10,000 acres of outdoor hemp cultivation. However, in 2020 state officials indicated hemp licensing in the state fell 31% from 2019.

According to a Marijuana Moment report, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth said in an interview last week with podcast Growing Forward – a joint project of NM Political Report and New Mexico PBS – that he was “feeling more confident” about legalization this year.

The report notes that anti-legalization Democrats, including the Senate president pro tem and the Finance Committee chair, were defeated last year by progressive primary challengers.