New Mexico Register / Volume XXXVI,
Issue 7 / April 8, 2025
NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE HEARING
Public Hearing. The New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department
(RLD), Cannabis Control Division (CCD), will hold a public rule hearing on Friday,
May 9, 2025, at 9:00am. The rule hearing
will be held at the Rio Grande Conference Room in the Toney Anaya State Office
Building located at 2550 Cerrillos Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico. The hearing will be live-streamed via Internet-based
video and via telephone for those wishing to observe the hearing. Individuals wishing to participate and offer
comment on the proposed rules will appear in-person at the hearing
location. A PDF of the proposed rule and
meeting details may be accessed through the Cannabis Control Division website: https://www.rld.nm.gov/cannabis/
or from Victoria Kaniatobe at the contact information listed below.
Purpose of Rule Hearing. The purpose of the public rule
hearing is to receive public commentary regarding the proposals for amendments
to rules as described below.
Any technical information
used to inform the proposed rules will be accessible by visiting: https://www.rld.nm.gov/cannabis/.
Statutory Authority. Legal authority for this rulemaking may be found the
Cannabis Regulation Act, Section 26-2C-1 through Section 26-2C-42 NMSA 1978 (2021).
Additional authority may be found at Section 9-16-6 NMSA 1978 (2021).
Public Comment. The Division will begin accepting public comment on the proposed rules beginning April 8, 2025. Please submit written comments on the proposed
rules to Bradford A. Borman, Attorney for the Cannabis Control Division, via
electronic mail at ccd.publiccomment@state.nm.us. Written comment may
also be submitted by visiting the Division website at https://www.rld.nm.gov/cannabis/
or by mailing the comment to the following address:
Cannabis Control Division Public Comment
c/o Bradford A. Borman
P.O. Box 25101
Santa Fe, NM 87504
All public comments must be
received by the close of the public rule hearing on May 9, 2025. Persons will also be given the opportunity to present their
comments at the rule hearing. Comments
received prior to the rule hearing will be posted to the RLD website at: https://www.rld.nm.gov/cannabis/.
No later than April 8, 2025,
interested parties may obtain and review copies of the proposed rules and
public comments by going to the Cannabis Control Division website at https://www.rld.nm.gov/cannabis/
or by contacting the Cannabis Control Division at RLD.CannabisControl@rld.nm.gov
or (505) 476-4995.
Any individual with a
disability who is in need of a reader, amplifier,
qualified sign language interpreter, or other form of auxiliary aid or service
to attend or participate in the hearing should contact Victoria Kaniatobe, Legal
Clerk for the Cannabis Control Division at Victoria.Kaniatobe@rld.nm.gov or
(505) 476-4577 at least seven (7) days prior to the hearing.
Summary of Proposed Amended
Rules.
16.8.1.7 Definitions
·
Adds definition
of “audited product”.
·
Adds definition
of flowering”.
·
Adds definition
of “immature plant”.
·
Adds definition
of ‘inhaled product”.
·
Adds definition
of “oral consumption”.
·
Adds definition
of “skin and body product(s)”.
16.8.1.11 Cannabis Regulatory
Advisory Committee Meetings
·
Clarifies that
meetings of the Cannabis Regulatory Advisory Committee may be held remotely at
the discretion of the Superintendent of the Regulation and Licensing
Department.
16.8.2.8 General Operational
Requirements For Cannabis Establishments
·
Prohibition
against licensees providing free non-medical cannabis moved from 16.8.2.40 NMAC
16.8.2.11 Recall Of Cannabis
·
Clarifies that the
CCD may order destruction of cannabis as part of a recall order.
16.8.2.20 Monitoring Of Licensee
·
Eliminates the
requirement that licensees submit a biennial audit to the CCD
16.8.2.21 Cannabis Producer Licensure; General
Provisions
·
Removes reference
to Subsection BB of 16.8.2.8 NMAC, which doesn’t exist
16.8.2.27 Minimum Requirements For The Production Of
Cannabis
·
Corrects
referenced rule for cannabis waste procedures
16.8.2.29 Cannabis Manufacturer Licensure; General Provisions
·
Clarifies that licensed
manufacturers may only conduct activities authorized for the class for which
they are licensed
·
Clarifies that
restriction on manufacturing without a license encompasses all cannabis
products
·
Modifies the
prohibited additives to cannabis products and separately addresses products for
oral consumption
16.8.2.30 Application
Requirements For Cannabis Manufacturer License
·
Removals topicals
from the requirement to obtain authority from the New Mexico environment
department.
16.8.2.40 Minimum Standards For Retail Of Cannabis
Products
·
Removes
prohibition on sale or consumption of cannabis products removed from packaging
for display
·
Prohibition
against licensees providing free non-medical cannabis moved to 16.8.2.11 NMAC
·
Clarifies delivery
of cannabis products is to be made only by licensed cannabis couriers,
exclusively to residential addresses
16.8.2.41 Cannabis Courier Licensure; General
Provisions
·
Identifies approved
sources of payment for cannabis delivery as any legal method of payment
including gift card pre-payments but excluding Electronic Benefits Transfer Services
Card
·
Reduces maximum
retail value of cannabis allowed in a courier vehicle to five thousand dollars
($5000)
16.8.2.43 Cannabis Testing Laboratory License; General
Provisions
·
Clarifies that individuals
with an interest in or employed by a cannabis establishment may not also hold
an interest, invest in or be employed by a cannabis testing lab.
16.8.2.45 Submittal Of Application For Amended
Cannabis Testing Laboratory License
·
Reorganizes the
rule to clarify a material or substantial modification of the premises as an
increase or decrease in size; a sale of the property used for the testing laboratory;
the purchase of additional; property for the laboratory; or a change in the
laboratory’s location
·
Identifies
requirements for approval of a material or substantial change in testing
methods
o
Includes change
in type of instrument used in testing for required analyte
o
Limits material
or substantial changes to testing methods to once a year at time of license
renewal
o
Requires
submission of any information representing material or substantial change and
an initial demonstration of capability for any new or materially changed
testing method
16.8.2.48 Minimum Standards For The Testing Of
Cannabis Products
·
Updates the
standard sample size for microbial test samples to no less than one gram, and
the standard sample size for non-microbial test samples to no less than 0.5
grams
·
Updates the
minimum quantity of sample increments:
o
For a dried
cannabis batch size of five or less pounds, a minimum sample increment of 10;
for a dried batch size of 5 to 15 pounds, a sample increment of 10 plus 5 per
pound or fraction thereof above five pounds
o
For a Topicals,
edibles, concentrates, and volatile solvents batch size of two pounds or less, a
sample increment of 10; for a batch size greater than two pounds, a sample
increment of 5 per pound
·
Removes the
option to use for internal control purposes a portion of a cannabis test sample
that is not destroyed
16.8.2.49 Cannabis Consumption Area Licensure; General
Provisions
·
Eliminates the
two classes of license types for cannabis consumption areas
·
Limits all
cannabis products to be consumed at licensed cannabis consumption areas to
pre-packaged 10 mg or less units purchased at the consumption area.
16.8.3.9 Cannabis Finished Product
Labeling
·
Adds to the
principal display label on cannabis products the requirement to include the license
number of the retail licensee that sold the finished cannabis product
16.8.3.12 Cannabis Finished
Product Packaging
·
Adds a requirement
that every regulated cannabis product be in an opaque, resealable and
continually child-resistant container at the time of transfer to a cannabis
consumer
·
Clarifies an
exception for medical cannabis to the Total THC limitation of 10 mg per serving
and 1000 mg per package
·
Eliminates
requirement that liquid cannabis finished products be single-serving only
·
Eliminates as
unneeded the runway for selling medical cannabis packaged prior to the
enactment of the CRA
16.8.3.13 Exit Packaging
·
Eliminates the
requirement for exit packaging
16.8.7.15 Required Testing Of
Cannabis Products
·
Eliminates an
exception to required testing for pesticide residue for any cannabis product made
from cannabis concentrate or extract that has verified pesticide residue test
results. Testing of such products for pesticide residue will now be required.
·
Limits re-testing
by a cannabis establishment of failed samples to one re-test by any state
licensed cannabis testing laboratory
·
Adds a
requirement that any cannabis finished product that has been remediated to
microbial contaminants be labeled as Remediated
·
Clarifies that
cannabis that fails a test for pesticides is subject to destruction under CCD
wastage rule
16.8.8.9 Cannabis Plant Tier
Levels
·
Eliminates
authority of licensee to increase its authorized plant count
up to eight increments at a time
16.8.8.10 Plant Increase
Request
·
Eliminates from
the CCD’s factors to consider in a licensee’s request to increase its plant
count:
o
That the licensee
has met the required minimum sale of medical cannabis each of the most recent
three months; and
o
Whether there is
a shortage of medical cannabis during the most recent six month period