8-24-2023 9:45am

Should New Mexico Cannabis Laws Allow Cross Border Sales and Distribution?

Chris Edwards Editor

Should New Mexico Cannabis laws be modified to allow cross border trade with other states where cannabis is legal? In doing so it could open an additional market for cannabis farmers in New Mexico. However, it could also add to competition amongst out of state verses in state growers. Historically for the consumer competition is good and quality improves.

First however the Federal Government needs to act to decriminalize cannabis on the Federal level. Once that occurs then similar to alcohol distribution of wine the interstate commerce clause debate will begin.

California, Oregon and Washington State are already working on the interstate or cross border sales scenario as they have all passed laws allowing officials to enter into cross-border cannabis trade agreements with other states, although Oregon’s and Washington’s laws both require some form of federal reform or guidance to proceed. California’s law, by contrast, contains a provision empowering Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) to craft interstate agreements if the state’s attorney general determines that doing so would not put the state in legal jeopardy.

The Marijuana Moment a industry trade publication reports:

“The review now underway in the California AG’s Opinions Unit was initiated following a request from the state Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) in January. Emails and letters provided to Marijuana Moment in response to a Public Records Act request offer a sense of how the process has unfolded in the months since.

DCC’s January request asked whether “state law authorization, under an agreement pursuant to Chapter 25 of Division 10 of the Business and Professional Code, for medicinal or adult-use commercial cannabis activity, or both, between out-of-state licensees and California licensees, will result in significant legal risk to the State of California under the federal Controlled Substances Act.”

Matthew Lee, general counsel to DCC, told Marijuana Moment in a phone interview on Tuesday that he has “no concerns at all” about the amount of time that’s transpired since the department submitted the request, saying “we feel very confident that the longer and more carefully you look at this issue, the more likely you are to agree with the conclusion that that we reached.” That is, interstate cannabis commerce carries no substantial federal legal risk for the state.”

Records obtained by Marijuana Moment show that several organizations—including Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC), the California State Association of Counties (CSAC) and the California Cannabis Authority (CCA)—have shared their perspectives. Each group expressed to the attorney general’s office that it believes authorizing interstate marijuana commerce would not lead to federal enforcement action.

CCA—a joint powers authority representing local governments that promotes cannabis industry oversight and taxation—sent a letter in April saying it does not believe that repealing a law that bans interstate cannabis commerce carries any risk, “much less a ‘significant’ one,” of federal enforcement under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

New Mexico’s cannabis industry is just a little over 1 year old. It just selected a new director of the Cannabis Control Department. This is just one of many issues that he faces working on in his new role. Intrastate sales are the rule of law in New Mexico at present.

A license was recently revoked in Albuquerque due to a dispensary selling products originating from out of state. Under the California, Oregon, Washington trade compact those products would be legal if New Mexico were to join.