SANTA FÉ, N.M. Now, regulators have identified some issues that they would like lawmakers to address.
“We need the biometric criminal. . . Linda Trujillo, Superintendent of the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department, spoke to lawmakers at a Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee Meeting on Wednesday. “We tried to pass some legislation in the last two sessions.”
New Mexico cannot conduct federal background checks prior to issuing cannabis licences. Trujillo said to lawmakers that they were only doing state background checks. It doesn’t provide us with information from another state.
This could pose a safety risk, as showed in an investigation by Larry Barker. It’s possible that cartel members could be operating within the state licensing system without any federal background checks.
Plant counts are another issue that needs to be resolved.
Problem is, the regulations that limit cannabis producers to only a limited number of plants may expire within a few short years. “So, you’ve got to make a decision,” Trujillo said. “We must have the ability to regulate this market.”
A technicality that legislators could fix is allowing businesses with alcohol licensing to also hold a cannabis licence.
State law currently prohibits people to have both an alcohol and cannabis license. It was intended to prevent people from getting into a dangerous situation if they consumed both alcohol and marijuana at the same time.
Trujillo says that the goal was not to have both licenses at the same location, but because of the way the law is written, it’s impossible to have them at the same time, even if the locations are different. It’s a simple technical fix.
Finally, regulators are asking New Mexico lawmakers to revisit the rules surrounding cannabis education.
The state was supposed be able issue licenses to places that train people for work in the cannabis sector. Trujillo claims they have avoided the licensing process because of the classification in the statute.
Trujillo: “It is higher education. That’s why that’s a type of license that we haven’t issued.” Trujillo said, “We won’t license higher education.” However, if the law was reworded slightly the Regulation and Licensing Department could be more than happy to issue these licenses.
