Recreational marijuana sales will start in New Mexico on April 1, and Albuquerque city councilors met to talk about enforcing where people can use it. The debate was centered around the Albuquerque clean indoor air act. The act is designed to control where tobacco is consumed in public, and some city council members believed that the enforcement of marijuana use regulations needs to be tightened before April 1st. Consuming marijuana in public is illegal in New Mexico. Still, at the Albuquerque city council meeting on March 20, councilors couldn’t decide on a bill that would allow Albuquerque police officers to enforce that law.District 7 councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn said there is already a state law that makes consuming marijuana in public illegal, so there was no need to establish city legislation.District 1 councilor Louie Sanchez countered by saying that it is crucial that the city government has a way to enforce that law at a local level.The council eventually decided to defer the decision until the next city council meeting.”I really don’t think we need to be creating additional means of punishment for the use of a legal substance,” said councilor Fiebelkorn.Councilor Sanchez said, “It’s about safety. It’s about doing the right thing. Not only for the cannabis distributors but also for those who use cannabis.”The city bill wouldn’t add a second penalty onto state law, but councilors in favor say it would allow for additional oversight of what is already illegal.District 8 councilor Trudy Jones said, “I think a law is a law, and if we’re going to allow public consumption of cannabis, we better be careful of how we do it.”Cannabis business managers like Sabrina Archuleta say that even if the bill is passed into law, it won’t take away from consumer demand.Archuleta said, “As long as you’re able to consume in your own personal residence, away from where it could be potentially offensive to the general public, I don’t think that that would necessarily affect people’s want to purchase recreational cannabis.”Albuquerque’s City council is scheduled to meet again on April 4 to vote on the proposed bill.

Recreational marijuana sales will start in New Mexico on April 1, and Albuquerque city councilors met to talk about enforcing where people can use it. The debate was centered around the Albuquerque clean indoor air act. The act is designed to control where tobacco is consumed in public, and some city council members believed that the enforcement of marijuana use regulations needs to be tightened before April 1st.

Consuming marijuana in public is illegal in New Mexico. Still, at the Albuquerque city council meeting on March 20, councilors couldn’t decide on a bill that would allow Albuquerque police officers to enforce that law.

District 7 councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn said there is already a state law that makes consuming marijuana in public illegal, so there was no need to establish city legislation.

District 1 councilor Louie Sanchez countered by saying that it is crucial that the city government has a way to enforce that law at a local level.

The council eventually decided to defer the decision until the next city council meeting.

“I really don’t think we need to be creating additional means of punishment for the use of a legal substance,” said councilor Fiebelkorn.

Councilor Sanchez said, “It’s about safety. It’s about doing the right thing. Not only for the cannabis distributors but also for those who use cannabis.”

The city bill wouldn’t add a second penalty onto state law, but councilors in favor say it would allow for additional oversight of what is already illegal.

District 8 councilor Trudy Jones said, “I think a law is a law, and if we’re going to allow public consumption of cannabis, we better be careful of how we do it.”

Cannabis business managers like Sabrina Archuleta say that even if the bill is passed into law, it won’t take away from consumer demand.

Archuleta said, “As long as you’re able to consume in your own personal residence, away from where it could be potentially offensive to the general public, I don’t think that that would necessarily affect people’s want to purchase recreational cannabis.”

Albuquerque’s City council is scheduled to meet again on April 4 to vote on the proposed bill.

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