Key Takeaways
- Weed is legal in New Mexico for recreational use, with a possession limit of 2 ounces outside of the home and no limit inside your home in a locked container.
- Medical cannabis is also legal in New Mexico, with a possession limit of 15 ounces for registered patients.
- Delta-8 THC is also legal in New Mexico as a result of the state’s hemp laws.
New Mexico legalized cannabis for recreational use in 2021 with the passage of HB 2, the Cannabis Regulation Act. This makes it completely legal for adults aged 21 and over to possess up to two ounces of marijuana (or more, if it’s stored appropriately), as well as cultivate up to six mature plants.
With sales having started at dispensaries in 2022, it’s a great time to be a stoner in the state.
New Mexico Cannabis Laws
Weed is completely legal in New Mexico thanks to the Cannabis Regulation Act. Anyone aged 21 or over can buy and possess up to two ounces of marijuana.
Recreational Cannabis Laws in New Mexico
HB 2, the Cannabis Regulation Act, was signed into law in 2021, and made it legal for anyone aged 21 or over to use and possess cannabis in New Mexico.
In particular, adults in the state can buy two ounces of cannabis flower, 16 grams of concentrate and 800 mg of THC in the form of edibles.
Although this is the limit for the amount of weed you can have outside your home, if you store additional weed at home in a locked container outside public view, New Mexico recreational weed laws place no limit on how much you can possess.
Dispensaries started selling legal weed in New Mexico on April 1, 2022.
Penalties for Possession
Although the legalization removes any punishment for being caught with up to 2 ounces of marijuana, there are punishments for having larger amounts.
This is true unless it is in a locked container that is out of public view.
- If you have more than 2 ounces but less than 8, it’s a misdemeanor, carrying a maximum sentence of one year in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.
- If you have more than 8 ounces, it’s considered a felony and carries a sentence of up to one and a half years and a fine of up to $5,000.
Medical Marijuana Laws in New Mexico
Medical marijuana is legal in New Mexico.
The state passed SB 523, the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act, in 2007. This required the New Mexico Department of Health to establish the statewide Medical Cannabis Program, allowing state residents to legally use cannabis provided they have a qualifying condition and a physician’s recommendation to use weed.
However, with the passage of the Cannabis Regulation Act, the Cannabis Control Division was established and given responsibility for the oversight and regulation of the program.
The original program now only keeps the list of qualifying conditions and the patient registry.
Medical Marijuana Patient Possession Limits
Medical marijuana patients in New Mexico can legally possess more weed than recreational users.
The Compassionate Use Act defined an “adequate supply” as “no more than reasonably necessary to ensure the uninterrupted availability of cannabis for a period of three months.”
However, the medical program has changed since the passing of the Cannabis Regulation Act, and it’s now made explicit that patients can possess up to 425 “patient units” of cannabis.
For dried flower, a patient unit is defined as a gram, which means you can legally possess around 15 ounces of flower.
For concentrates, edibles and other products, a patient unit is defined as 200 mg of THC. This means you can calculate your limit for a specific product by dividing the total amount of THC (in mg) in the product by 200, to get the number of units per package. Then you simply divide your 425 allowed patient units by the number of units per package.
For example, a 1000 mg container of wax contains 5 patient units per container. This means you can have 425/5 = 85 containers as a medical patient. You’re free to combine types of cannabis too, so you could use some of your 425 units for concentrates and the rest for flower, for instance.
How to Get a Medical Marijuana Card in New Mexico?
Getting a medical marijuana card in New Mexico works in basically the same way as in most other states.
First, you need a diagnosis of a qualifying condition from a state-licensed physician.
The qualifying conditions are:
- Alzheimer’s Disease
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Cancer
- Crohn’s Disease
- Damage to the Nervous Tissue of the Spinal Cord (with objective neurological indication of intractable spasticity)
- Epilepsy/Seizure Disorder
- Friedreich’s Ataxia
- Glaucoma
- Hepatitis C Infection currently receiving antiviral therapy
- HIV/AIDS
- Hospice Care
- Huntington’s disease
- Inclusion Body Myositis
- Inflammatory Autoimmune-mediated Arthritis
- Intractable Nausea/Vomiting
- Lewy Body Disease
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Obstructive Sleep Apnea
- Opioid Use Disorder
- Painful Peripheral Neuropathy
- Parkinson’s disease
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Severe Anorexia/Cachexia
- Severe Chronic Pain
- Spasmodic Torticollis (Cervical Dystonia)
- Spinal Muscular Atrophy
- Ulcerative Colitis
When you’ve received a diagnosis of one of these conditions and your physician thinks medical cannabis is a good treatment, he or she needs to fill out the Medical Cannabis Patient Application (and provide relevant medical records), and you need to sign it and provide a copy of some photo ID too.
If the patient is under 18, he or she needs a caregiver to submit a caregiver application too. There is no fee for the card, and it will be sent to you by mail within 35 days of the application (usually sooner).
Can You Consume in Public?
Although weed is legal in New Mexico, you still can’t smoke anywhere you want.
The Cannabis Regulation Act (PDF, page 57) explicitly states that you can’t smoke cannabis in public unless you’re in a designated consumption area. If you break this law, you’ll receive a $50 fine.
Can You Drive Under the Influence?
As in most states with adult-use cannabis laws, New Mexico does not allow driving under the influence of marijuana.
It’s important to remember that the state has an implied consent law, meaning that by operating a vehicle in the state, you’ve already consented to blood and breath sobriety tests.
If you refuse, not only is it taken as evidence of guilt, but if convicted, it will also make the offense an “aggravated DUI,” carrying stricter penalties.
For a weed DUI in New Mexico, the penalties depend on the number of previous offenses you have:
- For a first offense, you can receive a fine of up to $500, imprisonment for up to 90 days, or both. You also have to serve a minimum of 24 hours of community service and may have to pay an additional $300 fine. The court will require you to participate in a screening program to determine whether you need rehab, and you’ll need to attend “DWI school,” which educates drivers on the risks of drunk and drugged driving.
- For a second offense, the maximum fine increases to $1,000, and you’ll be sentenced to between 96 consecutive hours and up to a year in jail. You will also receive a minimum of 48 hours of community service and an additional fine of $500.
- Third offenses are treated very similarly to second offenses, except the minimum jail term is 30 consecutive days, the minimum amount of community service is increased to 96 hours and the additional fine is $750.
- From your fourth offense onwards, a DUI is considered a felony. A fourth offense carries a prison sentence of 18 months in prison, of which 6 months can’t be suspended, deferred, or taken under advisement.
- A fifth offense increases the sentence to two years, and half of this can’t be suspended, deferred, or taken under advisement.
- A sixth offense has a 30-month sentence, of which 18 months can’t be suspended, deferred, or taken under advisement.
- A seventh offense carries a three-year sentence, and two years of it can’t be suspended, deferred, or taken under advisement.
- An eighth offense carries a sentence of twelve years, and ten of those years can’t be suspended, deferred, or taken under advisement.
Is Delta-8 THC Legal in New Mexico?
Delta-8 THC is legal in New Mexico, according to the state’s Hemp Manufacturing Act (page 2, “O” and page 3, “XX”).
The state took the same definitions and limits as the federal Farm Bill, and as such, any delta-8 THC product is legal provided it contains less than 0.3% delta-9 THC by dry weight.
Given that New Mexico weed laws are now very permissive, it’s unlikely that this will change substantially – if anything, delta-8 products may be brought under the existing recreational weed law.
RELATED: Delta-8 THC Laws Explained
Is Weed Decriminalized in New Mexico?
Weed is legalized in New Mexico, which is beyond simple decriminalization.
Instead of simply issuing a fine, there is no punishment whatsoever if you have less than two ounces of marijuana outside of a locked container hidden from public view.
Is Growing Weed Legal in New Mexico?
The Cannabis Regulation Act also legalizes growing weed in New Mexico (page 55, marked (9)).
The law allows adults aged 21 and over to grow up to 12 plants (6 mature and 6 immature), with a maximum of 12 mature plants per household (regardless of the number of adults).
Punishments for larger numbers of plants (or under-age growers) are (page 58 and 59 of the PDF):
- If you have more than six mature plants but no more than 12, growing is still decriminalized, and only carries a $50 fine.
- If you have more than 12 mature plants, it’s considered a fourth-degree felony and carries a sentence of 18 months in prison.
- If you’re between 18 and 21, you get a $50 fine for up to six mature plants. If you have more than six but less than 12 plants, a misdemeanor punishment of up to 1 year in jail and a maximum fine of $1,000, and if you have more than 12, you’ll receive 18 months in prison.
- For people under 18 caught cultivating, you’ll have to attend a four-hour drug education program or do four hours of community service.
Conclusion
With weed legalized in New Mexico and the medical program only getting stronger, not to mention permissive hemp laws, it’s a fantastic state for weed users.
New Mexico weed laws don’t even put a hard limit on the amount of marijuana you can have, provided it’s locked up and out of public view. While you can still get in trouble for things like smoking in public, punishments tend to be fairly lenient unless you have a lot of weed or drive while high.