HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

HOUSE BILL 128

56th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2024

 

 

                     

 

 

 

 

AN ACT

RELATING TO CANNABIS; CHANGING CANNABIS REGULATION ACT DEFINITIONS; PROVIDING POWERS AND DUTIES; PROVIDING PROCEDURES FOR CRIMINAL HISTORY BACKGROUND CHECKS; REMOVING THE PROHIBITION AGAINST A PERSON OWNING BOTH A CANNABIS LICENSE AND A LICENSE UNDER THE LIQUOR CONTROL ACT; PROHIBITING CO-LOCATION OF CANNABIS ACTIVITIES AND ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE SALES OR SERVICE ACTIVITIES TO THE PUBLIC OR MEMBERS OF PRIVATE CLUBS; PROVIDING FOR REDACTION OF CERTAIN PERSONAL IDENTIFIER INFORMATION DURING INVESTIGATIONS; ALLOWING FOR LICENSEE CONVERSION FROM NONPROFIT TO FOR-PROFIT CORPORATE STATUS; CHANGING PACKAGING REQUIREMENTS; REPLACING LICENSURE WITH REGISTRATION OF CANNABIS TRAINING AND EDUCATION PROGRAMS; INCLUDING THE CANNABIS REGULATION ACT IN THE RACKETEERING ACT, THE DELINQUENCY ACT AND THE UNIFORM LICENSING ACT; INCLUDING CANNABIS IN A LIST OF CONTRABAND IN JAILS, PRISONS AND JUVENILE DETENTION FACILITIES; CREATING CRIMES; PRESCRIBING PENALTIES; REPEALING A DELAYED REPEAL; AMENDING, REPEALING AND ENACTING SECTIONS OF THE NMSA 1978.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. Section 26-2C-1 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2021 (1st S.S.), Chapter 4, Section 1) is amended to read:

     "26-2C-1. SHORT TITLE.--[Sections 1 through 42 of this act] Chapter 26, Article 2C NMSA 1978 may be cited as the "Cannabis Regulation Act"."

     SECTION 2. Section 26-2C-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2021 (1st S.S.), Chapter 4, Section 2) is amended to read:

     "26-2C-2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Cannabis Regulation Act:

          [A. "advertisement":

                (1) means a statement or a depiction that is intended to induce the purchase of cannabis products and that is displayed in printed material or on a sign or other outdoor display or presented in a radio, television or other media broadcast or in digital media; and

                (2) does not include:

                     (a) a sign or outdoor display or other statement permanently affixed to a licensed premises that is intended to induce the sale of a cannabis product produced or sold on the premises;

                     (b) a label affixed to a cannabis product or the covering, wrapper or container of a cannabis product; or

                     (c) an editorial or other material printed in a publication when the publication of the editorial or material was not paid for by a licensee and was not intended to promote the sale of cannabis products by a particular brand or company;

          B.] A. "cannabis":

                (1) means all parts of the plant genus Cannabis containing a delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of more than three-tenths percent on a dry weight basis, whether growing or not; the seeds of the plant; the resin extracted from any part of the plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture or preparation of the plant, its seeds or its resin; and

                (2) does not include:

                     (a) the mature stalks of the plant; fiber produced from the stalks; oil or cake made from the seeds of the plant; any other compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture or preparation of the mature stalks, fiber, oil or cake; or the sterilized seed of the plant that is incapable of germination; or

                     (b) the weight of any other ingredient combined with cannabis [products] to prepare topical or oral administrations, food, drink or [another] other product;

          [C.] B. "cannabis consumption area" means an area of a licensed premises where cannabis products may be served and consumed;

          [D.] C. "cannabis courier" means a person that transports commercial or medical cannabis products to [qualified patients, primary caregivers or reciprocal participants or directly to] consumers;

          [E.] D. "cannabis establishment" means:

                (1) a cannabis testing laboratory;

                (2) a cannabis manufacturer;

                (3) a cannabis producer;

                (4) a cannabis retailer;

                (5) a cannabis research laboratory;

                (6) a vertically integrated cannabis establishment;

                (7) a cannabis producer microbusiness; [or]

                (8) an integrated cannabis microbusiness; or

                (9) a cannabis consumption area;

          [F.] E. "cannabis extract":

                (1) means a product obtained by separating resins, tetrahydrocannabinols or other substances from cannabis by extraction methods approved by the division; and

                (2) does not include the weight of any other ingredient combined with cannabis extract to prepare topical or oral administrations, food, drink or another product;

          [G.] F. "cannabis flowers" means only the flowers of a cannabis plant;

          [H.] G. "cannabis manufacturer" means a person that:

                (1) manufactures cannabis products;

                (2) packages cannabis products for resale; or

                [(3) has cannabis products tested by a cannabis testing laboratory; or

                (4)] (3) purchases, acquires, sells or transports wholesale cannabis products to other cannabis establishments;

          [I.] H. "cannabis producer" means a person that:

                (1) cultivates cannabis plants;

                [(2) has unprocessed cannabis products tested by a cannabis testing laboratory;

                (3)] (2) transports unprocessed cannabis [products] only to other cannabis establishments; or

                [(4)] (3) sells cannabis [products] wholesale;

          [J.] I. "cannabis producer microbusiness" means a cannabis producer at a single licensed premises that possesses no more than two hundred total mature cannabis plants at any one time;

          [K.] J. "cannabis product" means a product that is or that contains cannabis or cannabis extract, including edible or topical products that may also contain other ingredients;

          [L.] K. "cannabis research laboratory" means a facility that produces or possesses cannabis products and all parts of the plant genus Cannabis for the purpose of studying cannabis cultivation, characteristics or uses;

          [M.] L. "cannabis retailer" means a person that sells cannabis products to [qualified patients, primary caregivers or reciprocal participants or directly to] consumers;

          [N. "cannabis server permit" means an authorization that allows a person to directly offer, sell or serve cannabis or cannabis products as part of commercial cannabis activity in a cannabis consumption area;

          O. "cannabis server permit education provider" means a person that provides cannabis server education courses and examinations;

          P.] M. "cannabis testing laboratory" means a [person] facility that samples, collects and tests cannabis products and transports cannabis products for the purpose of testing;

          [Q. "cannabis training and education program" means a practical or academic curriculum offered by a New Mexico public post-secondary educational institution designed to prepare students for participation in the cannabis industry;

          R.] N. "commercial cannabis activity":

                (1) means the cultivation, production, possession, manufacture, storage, testing, researching, packaging and labeling, transportation, couriering, purchase for resale, sale or consignment of cannabis products; and

                (2) does not include activities related only to the medical cannabis program [to cannabis training and education programs] or to the personal cultivation or use of cannabis products;

          [S.] O. "consumer" means a person twenty-one years of age or older who legally purchases, acquires, owns, possesses or uses a commercial cannabis product [for a purpose other than] not for resale or a person who holds a medical cannabis program registry identification card issued by the department of health or is a reciprocal participant;

          [T.] P. "contaminant" means pesticides and other foreign material, such as hair, insects or other similar adulterants, in harvested cannabis;

          [U.] Q. "controlling person":

                (1) means a person that controls a financial or voting interest of ten percent or more of, or an officer or board member of, a cannabis establishment; and

                (2) does not include a bank or licensed lending institution;

          [V.] R. "cultivation" means any activity involving the planting, growing, harvesting, drying, curing, grading or trimming of cannabis;

          [W.] S. "department" means the regulation and licensing department;

          [X.] T. "director" means the director of the division;

          [Y.] U. "division" means the cannabis control division of the department;

          [Z.] V. "dry weight basis", when used in the context of regulation of commercial cannabis activity, means a process by which delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol concentration is measured relative to the aggregate weight of all parts of the plant genus Cannabis, whether growing or not, including the leaves of the plant, the flowers and buds of the plant, the seeds of the plant, the resin of the plant and the stalks of the plant at the point of harvest by a licensee and with no moisture added to the harvested plant;

          [AA.] W. "facility" means a building, space or grounds licensed for the production, [possession] storage, testing, manufacturing, [or] distribution, sale or consumption of [cannabis, cannabis extracts or] cannabis products;

          [BB.] X. "financial consideration" means value that is given or received, directly or indirectly, through sales, barter, trade, fees, charges, dues, contributions or donations;

          [CC.] Y. "homegrown" or "homemade" means grown or made for purposes that are not [dependent or conditioned upon the provision or receipt of financial consideration] for resale;

          [DD. "household" means a housing unit and includes any place in or around the housing unit at which an occupant of the housing unit produces, manufactures, keeps or stores homegrown cannabis or homemade cannabis products;]

          Z. "illegal cannabis product":

                (1) means a cannabis product that is: