New Mexico’s governor has approved a bill that will allow for automatic expungements of prior cannabis convictions.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Democrat, signed legislation passed by Javier Martinez (D), and Andrea Romero(D).
Although the state legislature included automatic expungements in its 2021 legalization law, certain cases have been difficult to process by the courts.
The bill, now signed, aims to address those issues by allowing individuals to check the status of their expungement or request expedited processing of charges that are still being handled by the courts.
The text states that “if an arrest or conviction involved marijuana and non-cannabis offenses, a person can request expungement” via an administrative procedure, which the courts would need to establish under the legislation.
“The passage and approval of HB 314 reflects New Mexico’s priorities after legalization are not about collecting taxes but also fulfilling its commitment to reduce the harm caused the prohibition of cannabis,” Gracie Johnson (policy director at the Last Prisoner Project, or LPP), told Marijuana Moment.
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LPP wrote to the state Supreme Court requesting assistance in the implementation of automatic expungements after the Administrative Office of the Courts had requested it.
The organization stated that in order to correct the injustices of prohibition, legalization must be made available to all residents.
New Mexico’s adult-use cannabis market was launched at this time last year. The governor recently celebrated the occasion by highlighting the state’s more than $300 million in sales and the thousands of jobs that the cannabis industry has created.
Lujan Grisham did not say whether she made any purchases in the first year of the market, but she did mention that she visited a cannabis retailer last year and didn’t rule out making purchases.
A separate bill was passed by New Mexico legislators to establish a state body that would study whether a program of psilocybin therapy could be launched for certain mental health conditions.
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Photo by Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.
The post New Mexico Governor Signs Marijuana Expunements Processing Bill To Complement Legalization Law originally appeared on Marijuana Moment.
