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The ongoing saga involving federal agents confiscating legal weed at New Mexico’s internal checkpoints took a turn after a portion of a phone call between Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and an unidentified Joe Biden administration official was leaked last month.
In the audio, which the governor’s office has confirmed as authentic, Lujan Grisham can be heard telling the unknown official that the recent cannabis seizures and detainments have the governor “boxed in.”
“Either we have to adjust it or I have to send you a letter saying you’re persecuting a state,” Lujan Grisham said in the phone call.
The governor also mentioned in the call that she is “cranky” with U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas over the hard stance Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) has taken when it comes to state-sanctioned cannabis companies trying to move product out of Las Cruces and the surrounding areas.
Lujan Grisham’s office has confirmed that she met with Mayorkas in April about what seems like a sudden shift in the CBP policy on state-legal weed.
The meeting was in response to a number of state-licensed cannabis operators losing their products to Border Patrol agents at interior border checkpoints since February — an issue The Paper. has been following for weeks. The New Mexico Cannabis Chamber of Commerce reports that 12 companies have had products seized by Border Patrol agents and at least one employee was arrested, although they were later released.
Industry insiders say more than $300,000 worth of products have been seized in the last three months. Those losses translate to thousands in lost taxes, and state leaders are concerned about the impact of these seizures.
Michael Coleman, director of communications at the governor’s office, tells The Paper. that Mayorkas signaled to Lujan Grisham that federal agents will continue to enforce federal law, even if company’s have the proper paperwork proving they’re abiding by state law.
“Secretary Mayorkas assured the governor that federal policies with respect to legalized cannabis have not changed,” says Coleman.
Mayorkas’ response to the governor sounds familiar to industry leaders and reporters who have spoken to representatives of CBP about the seizures and have been told that the agency will continue to confiscate drugs that have been federally designated as controlled substances, no matter what local laws are in place.
“Regardless, the governor and her administration are working on a strategy to protect New Mexico’s cannabis industry,” Coleman says. He says the governor’s office has received a number of inquiries on the issue and is actively working to solve the problem.
When New Mexico legalized adult-use marijuana, the agency publicly clarified that the state’s marijuana laws didn’t change anything about the way the feds handle weed.
“Border Patrol agents have drug enforcement authority. Marijuana is still a prohibited drug under Schedule I of The United States Controlled Substances Act. Therefore, U.S. Border Patrol agents will continue to take appropriate enforcement action against those who are encountered in possession of marijuana anywhere in the United States,” CBP said in a 2022 news release.
But other border states that have legalized weed reportedly aren’t experiencing the same issues as New Mexico’s industry.
“At this point, New Mexico seems to be the only state affected by these seizures and we’re working to understand why,” Coleman says.
New Mexico Cannabis Control Division (CCD) Director Todd Stevens tells The Paper. that he spoke to regulators in other border states that have legalized cannabis and discovered that their marijuana businesses aren’t having trouble with checkpoints in their states.
“This is a complicated issue that currently only appears to be impacting New Mexico cannabis businesses and not other states with legal adult use cannabis markets,” Stevens says. “We are continuing to collect data from our licensees related to these seizures and hope to work towards a proper resolution with authorities at the federal level.”
Which raises the question: What’s different about New Mexico?
Legal cannabis in theory hurts the illicit drug trade and gives cartels in Mexico and South America less incentive to transport illegal drugs into the country. In this way, the legal cannabis industry directly supports one of CBP’s stated missions: To “detect, deter and disrupt transnational organized crime that threatens U.S. national and economic security interests at and beyond the border.”
Meanwhile, a coalition of state-licensed cannabis operators sent a letter in April to New Mexico’s congressional delegation asking lawmakers to take the issue to Capitol Hill.
“The seizures are having an impact on our businesses, and we are asking for your assistance changing Border Patrol policy,” the group wrote.
The letter calls for a new policy that allows licensed marijuana businesses to transport products through the checkpoints as long as they are carrying the state-required paperwork for cannabis transport.
According to Matt Kennicott of cannabis business consultancy company The Plug and one of the business leaders who signed the letter, the delegation hasn’t responded yet.
“It’s important that this issue gets resolved soon,” Kennicott says. “Not only are the seizures impacting cannabis businesses statewide, but consumer safety could be impacted due to a lack of testing labs in the southern part of the state. We are going to continue working through the congressional delegation, but we need solutions immediately.”
In an email to The Paper., Rep. Gabe Vasquez’s office said it was looking into the matter and that the congressman believes the federal government should respect New Mexico law. Rep. Melanie Stansbury previously told The Paper. that “this is a problem that we must address.”
And while Sen. Martin Heinrich has not responded to requests for comment, he has told other outlets that the Department of Homeland Security should be focused on more pressing concerns than state-compliant marijuana businesses. Heinrich told reporters that the agency should be more concerned with stopping the flow of illegal fentanyl into the country.