NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – The feds have made it clear, that marijuana may be legal in New Mexico but it won’t stop federal seizures, fines, or arrests at checkpoints in the state. It has state officials trying to figure out what to do next.
According to the New Mexico Cannabis Chamber of Commerce, they’ve seen federal agents stop 12 licensed New Mexico cannabis businesses and seize more than $300,000 worth of product. The director of the state’s Cannabis Control Division says they don’t have any reports of this happening at other border states such as Arizona and California. He says if licensed cannabis companies are having their products seized to contact the CCD.
“Federal law does supersede state law. Unfortunately, as regulators, we don’t have much authority over this… again we are just trying to collect enough data to make sure we get accurate facts to the governor and her team to make the best decision possible,” said Director Todd Stevens of the Cannabis Control Division.
The U.S. Border Patrol sent this statement:
El Paso Sector U.S. Border Patrol would like to remind the public that, although medical and recreational marijuana may be legal in some U.S. States and Canada, the sale, possession, production and distribution of marijuana or the facilitation of the aforementioned remain illegal under U.S. federal law, given the classification of marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance. Consequently, individuals violating the Controlled Substances Act encountered while crossing the border, arriving at a U.S. port of entry, or at a Border Patrol checkpoint may be deemed inadmissible and/or subject to, seizure, fines, and/or arrest.
Orlando Marrero-Rubio, Strategic Communications-Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Border Patrol
