With this week’s windy bill-signing ceremony, celebration about New Mexico’s status as the newest recreational cannabis state is in full swing and will surely ramp up as the 4/20 holiday approaches.
In addition to the rules that establish a taxation and licensing structure, the governor also signed a bill mandating the automatic expungement of past criminal records for cannabis possession charges for an estimated 150,000 people.
1 allows those businesses the required five months or so to get a commercial crop of the plant from seed to flower and ready for sale.
While licenses are significantly less expensive for new businesses that plan to grow up to 200 plants, the state expects current medical cannabis growers and out-of-state operations to apply for licenses at the same time.
As department superintendent, Linda Trujillo was the face of the Lujan Grisham administration as cannabis reform grinded through the legislative process.
“We are going to start at the top and we are going to have to go down as we get more resources.
The much-amended section of the act creating the Cannabis Regulatory Advisory Committee stipulates that it must include three members who are designated by their positions and 14 appointed by the superintendent of RLD from various groups or professional qualifications.
As production starts to kick off, the state also has created a complicated task for itself in regulating supply and avoiding market saturation.
In the end, the RLD must consider the market demand based on average sales in other states paired with New Mexico’s population.
In his professional life, Candelaria represents cannabis producer Ultra Health in a lawsuit against the health department’s plant counts.
First, on June 29, the act would put to rest longstanding debate about the legality of applying gross receipts tax to medical cannabis sales by creating a specific exemption in the tax code.
While backers say the “sweet spot” for taxation that raises revenue for the state and still pushes the illicit market out of business is about 20%, the tax structure for new cannabis sales would put the final rate higher than that in Santa Fe on the day sales begin.
At first, local governments probably won’t notice the change to cash flow, says Taxation and Revenue Department Secretary Stephanie Schardin Clarke.
Locals are likely to notice those numbers, which analysts expect to grow over time.
Analyst Kelley O’Donnell estimates statewide sales at $318 million in the first full year of legalization, growing to $800 million in year four and $1.1 billion by year five.
New Mexicans who want in on the first wave of commercial production should get ready by completing business basics, Trujillo says.
They come in various strengths and dosages, but for the sake of argument, let’s say you wanted a bag of gummies.
The law allows not more than six mature cannabis plants and six immature cannabis plants per person with a household maximum of 12 mature cannabis plants.
Cannabis possession and homegrow provisions of the law begin, allowing individuals over the age of 21 to hold on their person and/or in their vehicle 2 ounces of cannabis, 16 grams of cannabis extract and 800 milligrams of edible cannabis at one time, and to grow six mature plants per person or 12 per household.
Last day for rules to be promulgated on a variety of regulatory topics, including product purity and safety tests; businesses licensure; inspection, recordkeeping, labeling; purchase limits; physical and cyber security.
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