Border Patrol warns against carrying pots in New Mexico

New Mexico just became the 18th state to legalize adult recreational cannabis use, but that makes no difference to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which this week issued a warning to all transiting the Land of Enchantment: For it’s still illegal for us.

“Border patrol officers have the power to enforce drugs. Marijuana remains a prohibited drug under Schedule 1 of the United States Controlled Substances Act. As such, U.S. Border Patrol agents will continue to take appropriate enforcement action against those found in possession of marijuana anywhere in the United States,” the agency said in a media release, as quoted by Border Report.

Recreational cannabis sales took off in New Mexico late last week, after dozens of other states and cities took their own actions to end their cannabis bans over the past decade.

But the Border Patrol’s admonition is a reminder that customers should still exercise caution if they happen to be traveling into the state. As Border Report noted, “Border Patrol operates highway checkpoints in New Mexico, including on Interstate 10 near Deming, north of Las Cruces, south of Alamogordo, and north of Columbus,” and agents located there “primarily check.” the immigration documents of persons traveling to the interior of the United States, but they also seize drugs under the authority of Title 21 of the US Code.”

And like other states, New Mexico welcomed the new policy as an economic engine for state and local economies.

“As we try to recover from the economic downturn caused by the pandemic, entrepreneurs will benefit from this great opportunity to start lucrative new businesses, the state and local governments will benefit from the additional revenue and, more importantly, workers will benefit from the opportunity to land new types of jobs and build careers,” New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a statement after signing the legalization bill last year.

“This legislation is a big, big step forward for our state,” added Lujan Grisham, a Democrat. “Legalized adult-use cannabis will change the way we think about New Mexico for the better—our workforce, our economy, our future. We are ready to break new ground. We are ready to invest in ourselves and the limitless potential of the New Mexicans. And we are ready to work to make this industry successful.”

But the Border Patrol’s warning captures the crucial tension of this era of legalization, in which new state and local cannabis laws invariably clash with the federal government’s cannabis prohibition.

That’s why Congress is under increasing pressure to finally change that. The US House of Representatives last week passed the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act, which would legalize cannabis at the federal level.

Legislation now heads to the Senate, where leaders say they intend to table their own legalization proposal by the end of the month.

At a news conference Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he was consulting with Republicans in the chamber to see what they would like to add to the cannabis bill.

The MORE Act was passed largely by a party-line vote in the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives.

For Schumer, getting done means fulfilling a promise his party made last year after coming to power. In an interview last spring, Schumer said, “Eventually we’re going to move forward [on legalization]Period.”

“In 2018, I became the first member of the Democratic leadership to speak out in favor of ending federal bans. I’m sure you’re asking, “Well, what’s changed?” Well, my thinking has evolved. When some of the early states—Oregon and Colorado—wanted to legalize, all opponents spoke of the parade of the terrible: crime would rise. Drug use would increase. Anything bad would happen,” Schumer said at the time.

“State legalization has worked remarkably well. They were a great success. The parade of the terrible never happened, and people were given more freedom. And people in those states seem very happy.”