New Mexico Medical Marijuana Card Legislation
New Mexico has had medical marijuana legalization since 1978, and in 2007 New Mexico passed SB 523 also known as the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act. SB 523 legalized medical marijuana and created a system to be regulated by the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH). SB 523 directed NMDOH to establish the statewide Medical Cannabis Program, allowing residents with a physician’s recommendation to recognize one of 28 qualifying medical conditions for medical marijuana use.
In 2018, Albuquerque decriminalized possession of 1 ounce of marijuana, with a fine of $25. Following in 2019 by SB 323 which decriminalized first-time possession of marijuana for adults 18 and older, and reduced possession of under half an ounce to a $50 fine as opposed to jail time.
In 2021 New Mexico passed the Cannabis Regulation Act, known as HB 2. The law allowed adults 21 and older to purchase, possess, consume marijuana. Additionally, it allowed adults 21 and over to give away up to 2 ounces of marijuana flower, 16 grams of concentrate and 800 milligrams of edibles. This act also legalized growing up to 12 mature marijuana plants per household and possessing any amount of marijuana at home if it’s stored in a locked container outside of public view. This was followed by Sb 2, which automatically expunged the records of those charged with or convicted of any action that would be legal under the new law.
New Mexico Medical Marijuana Card Cultivation & Possession
As of June 29, 2021, adults 21 and older can possess, consume, and give away 2 ounces of flower, 16 grams of concentrate and 800 milligrams of edibles. Also noted above, consumers can also possess cannabis at home if it’s stocked in a locked container outside of public view and doesn’t specify any amount of marijuana. Medical marijuana patients and caregivers are the only residents allowed to possess medical marijuana. Qualifying patients cannot access more than 8 ounces of marijuana over a three-month span. Patients and their caregivers can have a combined total of four mature marijuana plants, and 12 seedlings.