A new police force may be on the way to New Mexico, after a bill advanced through its first committee with unanimous support this week. The armed law enforcement officers capable of making arrests would be responsible for enforcing cannabis control laws.
House Bill 10, sponsored by Rep. Doreen Gallegos,D-Las Cruces, would establish the new force, which would work for the Cannabis Control Division under the office of the Superintendent of Insurance’s Regulation and Licensing division.
The new officers would only have authority to investigate and prepare cases directly related to the Cannabis Regulation Act.
Currently, the control division does have regulatory oversight, but New Mexico State Police Chief Troy Weisler said the responsibility of law enforcement often falls to local and state police.
“We believe that combining the regulatory oversight with criminal enforcement will enhance compliance, public safety and industry trust,” he said. “Existing law enforcement agencies, we have limited resources and competing priorities, making it difficult to maintain a sustained effort against organized criminal elements in the market, and this will assist with that.”
While most commenters were in support of the law, a few did voice concern, like Karina Miramontes, a local business owner and advocate, who thinks current laws, like inspections, should just be better enforced by current police.
“I am against the bill. I am just very concerned with creating a new police force,” she said. “There are many things built into the law that are not being implemented right now and like a basic pre- and post-inspection. Thank you very much.”
Chad Lazano also said he had hesitations because of what he calls “the low hanging fruit issue,” where he’s afraid smaller producers will be more targeted rather than large producers with money to defend themselves.
“There's a lot of mixed feelings in the industry when it comes to this bill, including myself,” he said. “There's a lot of fears we all know from the black market originally, and there's a lot of fears that a lot of us will be attacked or targeted if something isn't done correctly.”
But many others loudly supported the bill like Amy May, who said an illegal operation that was just shut down last week in Estancia operated less than five miles from her dispensary for years.
“I have been approached by representatives from that operation over the years. They've made me feel so unsafe,” she said “They've sat out front of my home. They've scared my children. We need this bill. We need help out there. I've gone to county. County tells me it's a state problem. State tells me it's a federal problem. Federal tells me it's a county problem.”
The bill passed the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee, and will now head to the House Judiciary Committee for its next test before a floor vote.
Support for this coverage comes from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation
