Pub. 16 2019 Issue 3

Issue 3 • 2019 15 O V E R A C E N T U R Y : B U I L D I N G B E T T E R B A N K S - H E L P I N G N E W M E X I C O R E A L I Z E D R E A M S opt-out of commercial sales. The bill ultimately died in the Senate. The second bill, SB 577, sponsored by Senate Repub - licans, would have legalized recreational use for adults 21 or over, but state-owned stores would have been the only legal outlets to ensure stronger regulatory control. SB 577 also died in the Senate. SB 577 was a compromise bill that would have alleviated some of the concerns of those opposed to legalization. But state-run stores are not the answer, as it would completely neuter many of the economic opportunities that would come with cannabis legalization. Ultimately, it’s a question of when, not if, recreational marijuana will be legal in New Mexico, so what is the point of delaying the inevitable, depriving the state of millions of dollars in revenue? Opponents of marijuana le - galization cite safety and health concerns, but there are other test cases now to examine, including the wildly successful legalization effort in Colorado. Use those other test cases as examples and move forward. There is simply no excuse at this point, particularly in a state where legalization is overwhelm - ingly favored. In a September 2018 Albuquerque Journal poll, 60% of New Mexico voters supported legalizing and taxing cannabis, while only 32% opposed. When discussing the economy, a word that people often throw around is “diversification.” It sounds great, but di - versifying an economy means developing multiple thriving industries that can flourish statewide. All one has to do is look at the evidence to understand the potential impact of cannabis legalization on the New Mexico economy. According to a 2018 study by the Kansas City Federal Reserve, “In the first month that recreational marijuana stores opened in Colorado, rec - reational sales exceeded $14 million, and medical sales more than doubled that amount at $32.5 million. In 2014, total an - nual recreational sales were $303 million, while medical sales totaled $380 million. By 2017, recreational sales had grown to almost $1.1 billion, and medical sales were almost $417 million. Thus, in 2017, combined marijuana sales in Colorado exceeded $1.5 billion. To put the magnitude of marijuana sales in perspective, personal consumption expenditures on all goods and services totaled $236.3 billion in 2016 in Colorado. Marijuana sales were $1.3 billion in 2016, or 0.55 percent of all personal consumption expenditures. By comparison, spend - ing on food and beverages purchased for off-site consump - tion made up 7.2% of personal consumption expenditures in Colorado. In 2017, the state of Colorado collected more than $247 million from the marijuana industry, including state sales taxes on recreational and medical, special sales taxes on recreational, excise taxes on recreational and application and licenses fees.” In the spring of this year, Governor Michelle Lujan Grish - am established a working group on cannabis legalization, and she announced that the template for their studies would be HB 356, one of the competing bills from the most recent legislative session. The governor has also stated that she will add the issue to the agenda for the 2020 session. With the governor on board, it is now up to the legislature to send her legislation to sign. Letting another year go by without taking advantage of this economic opportunity would be simply unacceptable. Nothing will be gained, except for more missed opportunities, by throwing money away for another year. Aside from how important cannabis legalization could be to the New Mexico economy, there are other factors to consider. Can cannabis be an effective way to treat substance abuse and addiction? According to a 2018 study by the National Center for Biotechnical Information, “The opioid overdose epidemic is arguably the worst public health crisis in U.S. history. At the time of this publication, more people are dying than at the peak of the AIDS epidemic, and for the first time, drug overdoses outnum - ber automobile and handgun deaths. A continental crisis of this magnitude warrants the immediate implementation of novel strategies that prevent opioid misuse, overdose and death. Grow - ing pre-clinical and clinical evidence appears to support the use of cannabis for these purposes. The evidence summarized in this article demonstrates the potential cannabis has to ease opioid withdrawal symptoms, reduce opioid consumption, ameliorate opioid cravings, prevent opioid relapse, improve OUD treat - ment retention, and reduce overdose deaths. Cannabis’ greatest potential to positively impact the opioid epidemic may be due to its promising role as a first-line analgesic instead of or in addition to opioids.” In summary, New Mexico has absolutely nothing to lose in legalizing recreational marijuana. The state stands to benefit economically in a profound way. When studying other test cases, there is seemingly no downside. The state legislature has no excuse not to act in 2020. There are very few other legislative initiatives that could have the same overall impact as cannabis legalization, so this needs to be a priority. New Mexico often finds itself on the sidelines, watching the action, waiting to enter the game. Sometimes that opportunity never comes. We have an opportunity for the state to get in the middle of the action and there is absolutely no reason to let it go. n