Borderland law enforcement agencies prepare for legal recreational marijuana sales April 1 - KFOX El Paso
LAS CRUCES, NM (KFOX14) — As of Tuesday, there is just one month to go until recreational marijuana sales become legal for those 21 and over in the state of New Mexico.
The Doña Ana County Sheriff's Office said their deputies have been trained from start to finish as to how to deal with people in possession of marijuana and just because it’s legal in New Mexico, does not mean you can’t get arrested.
“You are still going to have responsibilities, everybody knows that you can’t drink and drive, everybody understands that. But we want to make sure people understand that you can’t partake in cannabis and drive, now it might be smoking, it could be oils, it could be edibles, all of those can affect your driving,” Peter Skowronski, a DASO lieutenant said.
The Doña Ana County Sheriff's Office and Las Cruces police tell KFOX14 their biggest concern, is more people driving under the influence.
If necessary, they plan to draw blood from drivers who are high on the roads.
“I’m just hoping for a smooth rollout and making sure that no one is driving while they’re impaired,” LCPD Deputy Chief Kiri Daines said.
According to Daines, only can you be arrested for that, but also..."Providing it to someone under the age of 18 or having accessibly huge amounts, regarding if there was trafficking or not selling it within the confines of the regulation.”
It’s also important to remember that in our sister cities, of Anthony and El Paso, Texas the drug is still illegal.
“There won’t be any learning curve as far as a grace period if marijuana is brought into Texas and if stopped by an El Paso Police Officer then we’ll take the appropriate enforcement action," said Daines.
El Paso police Sgt. Enrique Carrillo said. “Whatever enforcement measure we can take, whether it’s booking into jail or issuing a citation, whatever falls into the criteria is how it will be enforced.”
There are already 14 medical marijuana dispensaries in Las Cruces, KFOX14 requested a list from the city that shows there is nine businesses that’ve applied for retail licenses with that number only expected to increase.
Those are listed below:
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source: https://kfoxtv.com/news/local/borderland-law-enforcement-agencies-prepare-for-legal-recreational-marijuana-sales-april-1
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