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MARIJUANA MOMENT
NEW MEXICO GOVERNOR ‘OFFENDED’ BY TOP BIDEN OFFICIAL’S REACTION TO MARIJUANA
BUSINESS SEIZURE CONCERNS, LEAKED AUDIO SHOWS
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POLITICS
NEW MEXICO GOVERNOR ‘OFFENDED’ BY TOP BIDEN OFFICIAL’S REACTION TO MARIJUANA
BUSINESS SEIZURE CONCERNS, LEAKED AUDIO SHOWS
Published
6 seconds ago
on
April 26, 2024
By
Kyle Jaeger
The governor of New Mexico can be heard saying on a newly leaked recording that
she was “offended” when the secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) reacted to her concern about a recent surge in Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) seizures of marijuana from state-licensed businesses in her
state by saying, “Who cares? They make a lot of money.”
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) told DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, “Well
first of all, it’s patients’ medicine,” she said to an unnamed federal official
she was speaking with in the new recording, describing herself as “cranky” with
the secretary. “So I was really offended by that. Shame on him.”
The audio, leaked by an account on X called Chaos Coordinator on Thursday, also
reveals that the governor notified the Biden administration official that the
solution is either adjusting the policy causing the problem or her sending an
official letter “saying you’re persecuting the state” and “not using your
discretion.”
Teen Marijuana Use Has Declined In Washington Since Legalization
Teen Marijuana Use Has Declined In Washington Since Legalization
Recent data from a survey conducted among teenage students in Washington State
indicates a decline in both lifetime and recent marijuana use over the past few
years. The findings also suggest that underage students' perceived access to
cannabis has generally decreased since the state legalized it for adults in
2012. This contradicts concerns expressed by opponents of the policy change.
In 2023, approximately 8.4% of 10th graders in Washington reported using
marijuana in the past 30 days, a slight increase from 7.2 percent in 2021. But
both of those numbers were sharply lower than pre-legalization numbers. For
instance, in 2010, 20% of 10th graders admitted to using cannabis in the past
month. In King County, the most populous in the state, only 5.5% of 10th
graders reported recent cannabis use in 2023, down from 7.3% in 2021 and 18.1%
in 2010. Similar declines were observed in lifetime marijuana use across
different grade levels surveyed, including 6th, 8th, and 12th grades. "In 2021,
survey data showed a 50% decline in youth cannabis and alcohol use in the past
30-days among 10th graders. The 2023 results show these numbers have remained
relatively stable", said Kristen Haley, the state Liquor and Cannabis Board's
(LCB) public health education liaison. Health officials attribute the
significant drops in substance use between 2018 and 2021 partly to the COVID-19
pandemic. "The COVID-19 pandemic brought with it a large decrease, roughly 50%,
in most youth substance use. While the long-term impacts are unknown, in 2023 we
see that substance use has remained relatively stable, both in Washington and
nationally", said Washington State's Department of Health.
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“I don’t want to send that letter, but I’m boxed in,” the governor said, noting
that people are “accusing me of being feckless” in the face of the federal
actions.
The conversation took place this week, Lujan Grisham’s office told Marijuana
Moment. However, while the X account claimed that the governor was speaking with
Mayorkas’s chief of staff, the governor’s office disputed that, saying it was
with “another high level administration official in the federal government.”
The governor also said on the call that CBP officials are trying to justify the
interdictions of marijuana from state-legal businesses at interior checkpoints,
primarily around the Las Cruces area, as a necessary consequence of seizing
illicit fentanyl. However, as industry stakeholders have pointed out, the spike
in cannabis seizures seems to be largely isolated to New Mexico, even though
other states like Arizona and California also have legal cannabis operators near
the Mexico border.
“This unauthorized and edited recording of the governor’s private phone call
reflects what she has already said publicly—that she is frustrated by federal
seizures of licensed cannabis products in New Mexico, particularly those from
small producers,” Michael Coleman, communications director for Lujan Grisham,
said in a statement. “She has expressed the same concerns in phone calls with
Secretary Mayorkas.”
The governor’s office disclosed to Marijuana Moment last week that Lujan Grisham
expressed concern about the Border Patrol seizures. But they didn’t go into
detail, simply saying that the top Biden official reiterated that federal
cannabis laws haven’t changed, indicating that the seizures will continue.
“Secretary Mayorkas assured the governor that federal policies with respect to
legalized cannabis have not changed,” the office said at the time. “Regardless,
the governor and her administration are working on a strategy to protect New
Mexico’s cannabis industry.”
.
The new conversation happened in response to recent reporting, including that of
Marijuana Moment, about CBP seizing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of
marijuana from state-licensed cannabis businesses in New Mexico in recent
weeks—detaining industry workers in what appears to be a localized escalation of
national prohibition enforcement even as the federal government has largely
refrained from interfering with the implementation of state legalization laws in
recent years.
Marijuana Moment reached out to DHS and CBP for comment on the secretary’s
conversation with the governor both last week and in light of the recording on
Friday, but representatives have not responded.
New Mexico marijuana businesses report that the more than a dozen CBP seizures,
particularly at interior checkpoints around the Las Cruces area, are a
relatively new phenomenon. Since adult-use marijuana sales launched in the state
in 2022, the operators say they’ve generally been able to transport their
products to testing facilities and retailers without incident.
Starting around two months ago, however, the agency has evidently taken a more
proactive approach to enforcing federal prohibition, taking hundreds of pounds
of cannabis at the checkpoints inside the state. CBP is able to carry out its
activities within 100 miles of the U.S. border.
“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,” a
CBP spokesperson told Marijuana Moment earlier this month. ”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.”
CBP “wants to remind the public that while traveling through any U.S. Border
Patrol checkpoint, to include New Mexico, being in possession of marijuana is
illegal under federal law,” they said.
For now, there’s no clear solution to the New Mexico cannabis industry’s CBP
problem—or clear answers about why it’s happening two years after the state’s
adult-use market first opened. In the meantime, businesses have been reaching
out to members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation for support.
CBP’s actions against state-legal marijuana business is getting pushback in
Congress as well.
“The Biden-Harris Administration is not doing enough to protect states who are
not waiting for the federal government to catch up,” Rep. Earl Blumenauer
(D-OR), founding co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, told Marijuana
Moment this month.
“These seizures underscore the confusion and harm caused by the growing gap
between the federal government and state-legal operations,” the congressman
said. “Absent descheduling, President Biden urgently needs to issue guidance to
prevent this type of infringement from happening again.”
> Congress Will Not Pursue Marijuana Banking Reform Through Must-Pass Aviation
> Bill, Industry Group Says
Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.
Marijuana Moment is made possible with support from readers. If you rely on our
cannabis advocacy journalism to stay informed, please consider a monthly Patreon
pledge.
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Kyle Jaeger
Kyle Jaeger is Marijuana Moment's Sacramento-based managing editor. His work has
also appeared in High Times, VICE and attn.
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