New Mexico Senators Kill Chance for Recreational Marijuana Vote in 2016

A vote of 24 – 87 in New Mexico’s Senate shut down the hopes of legalizing recreational marijuana and industrial hemp in the state this year. All 18 Republican members of the state’s Senate voted in opposition, along with 6 Democrats.

The biggest reason for opposition was crime, according to The Taos News.

Senator Gerald Ortiz y Pino sponsored the proposal. He claims that marijuana would have helped the state’s economy and lessen some of the strain on public agencies. It would have decreased low-level drug arrests and would de-clutter court systems. He stated that it would “increase ancillary revenue from businesses that would spring up because of the pot industry.”

Senator John Sapien agreed with Ortiz y Pino by saying, “This is an economic driver.”

One Republican Senator, Craig Brandt, proposed the legal age for possessing, purchasing and using marijuana to 25 instead of the proposed 21, which was approved. However, he flip-flopped on his age proposition and ultimately voted against the state’s constitutional change.

In 2015, state legislature voted to allow for research at New Mexico State University, however, Governor Susana Martinez vetoed that bill. A new proposal regarding industrial hemp research was not even heard at the most recent discussion.

Ortiz y Pino, in an effort to fight his case for marijuana legalization says that continued prohibition exhausts revenue tying up police with misdemeanor drug cases.