In advance of the 2021 legislative sessions, NORML will be providing a more detailed break down of legislative efforts in various states across the nation that are poised to enact significant marijuana reforms next year. This is the latest in a series of blogs examining where state-specific reform efforts stand.

Members of a legislative working group issued recommendations in 2019 to Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham urging lawmakers to legalize the adult-use cannabis market. They estimated that enacting legalization will create an estimated 11,000 new jobs and yield some $620 million in sales within five years.

Then in September 2020, a joint committee of House and Senate lawmakers met to discuss the economic implications of legalization in New Mexico, where an analysis found that the state could yield $68 million in excise tax revenue per year, with the potential to generate $25 million total in tax revenue within the first year alone.

The Governor backs the effort, tweeting, “I look forward to working with the Legislature to get a bill to my desk next year.” Lujan Grisham has also advocated for marijuana legalization as a way to mitigate the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

New Mexico House Speaker Brian Egolf similarly expressed support, saying, “hopefully we’ll get [marijuana reform] done in this session coming up.”

In 2019, House lawmakers passed adult-use legalization legislation through the chamber, but the proposal ultimately stalled in the Senate. A measure decriminalizing marijuana possession was enacted instead. In the 2020 legislative session, a legalization proposal was approved by a Senate committee but then was later defeated.

New Mexico’s legislative session begins on January 19, 2021. Lawmakers can pre-file legislation from January 4 until January 15.

According to statewide polling data, 72 percent of New Mexico residents said they favor a proposal to legalize, tax, and regulate cannabis sales, including 94 percent of Democrats, 46 percent of Republicans and 93 percent of independents.