Jun. 30—SANTA FE — Three years after New Mexico threw open its doors to adult-use cannabis sales, the state is set to get serious about enforcement.
With a bill approved by lawmakers during this year's 60-day session set to take effect Tuesday, the director of the state agency tasked with cracking down on illicit actions in the cannabis industry said the expanded authority will be quickly put to use.
Specifically, state Regulation and Licensing Department Superintendent Clay Bailey told lawmakers Monday his agency is set to hire 10 compliance officers once the new law takes effect.
Those officers will be spread out around New Mexico and will have full law enforcement powers, including the ability to seize and destroy unlawful cannabis products. Funding to hire the officers comes from a $1.6 million earmark in this year's budget bill, which also takes effect this week.
"I'm going to do the best I can with what we've got," Bailey said during a meeting of the legislative Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee in Taos Ski Valley.
He also said vehicles for the new law enforcement bureau have already been picked out, and said he's hopeful officers with experience enforcing drug laws will be hired for the new positions.
New Mexico lawmakers approved legislation legalizing adult-use cannabis sales in 2021, and the state became the 17th state to launch such a law in April 2022.
But uncertainty over which law enforcement agency should take the lead in enforcing the cannabis industry's laws and regulations has led to what critics describe as a free-for-all of sorts.
It also prompted this year's legislation, which passed overwhelmingly with bipartisan support in both the Senate and House of Representatives.
While the state Cannabis Control Division has revoked 18 operating licenses to date and issued nearly $4.4 million in fines, state officials acknowledged enforcement efforts have been largely limited to administrative actions to date.
Among the issues expected to be tackled by the new law enforcement bureau are dispensaries having more cannabis than allowed, no testing records on file, mislabeled products and a lack of surveillance video, Bailey told lawmakers.
Sen. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, who opposed the push to legalize recreational cannabis, said some New Mexico communities have become overrun with legal marijuana dispensaries.
"We've become the Mecca for mota," he said during Monday's hearing, using a slang Spanish term for cannabis.
Specifically, Cervantes said there are roughly 36 cannabis dispensaries in Sunland Park, a Dona Aña County community nestled between Texas and New Mexico's border with Mexico.
"I think we have to be able to step back and say, 'Maybe we didn't get this right,'" he added, saying such a concentration of dispensaries was not healthy for communities.
Since New Mexico began adult-use cannabis sales in April 2022, licensed cannabis retailers statewide have sold about $1.7 billion worth of cannabis products, according to RLD data. About $1.2 billion of that amount stems from recreational cannabis sales, with the rest purchased by medical marijuana patients.
However, the state's monthly sales have largely leveled off over the last year after increasing over the new industry's first two years.
Some legislators said Monday the revenue infusion has come at a societal cost for state residents, citing elevated use of cannabis among New Mexico minors and the ease of buying disposable vapes and other products.
"I think we're somewhat neglecting our youth with this issue," said Rep. Andrea Reeb, R-Clovis, a former prosecutor.
