Details emerge from federal raid on Navajo-area farms
4 years, 1 month ago

Details emerge from federal raid on Navajo-area farms

Associated Press  

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The U.S. attorney’s office says it destroyed a quarter-million plants during marijuana eradication efforts at 21 farms in the Shiprock area of the Navajo Nation in northwestern New Mexico. In a news release Monday, federal prosecutors say the raids by U.S., state and tribal law enforcement authorities took three days to carry out, starting on Nov. 9, and involved more than 1,100 makeshift greenhouses. The Navajo Nation just weeks ago sued nearly three dozen people, accusing them of illegally growing hemp or marijuana on the reservation. New Mexico has no legal market for recreational cannabis and limits medical marijuana producers to 1,750 plants per licensed producer.

New Mexico Marijuana  tribes  navajo  raid  suspects  reservation  federal  navajoarea  farms  nation  release  plants  emerge  details  hemp  rooms  marijuana

History of this topic

Company vows to sue over damages after New Mexico authorities destroy cannabis crops
1 month, 2 weeks ago

Company vows to sue over damages after New Mexico authorities destroy cannabis crops

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy State police have destroyed tens …

Cannabis seizures at checkpoints by US-Mexico border frustrate state-authorized pot industry
8 months ago

Cannabis seizures at checkpoints by US-Mexico border frustrate state-authorized pot industry

Associated Press  

SANTA FE, N.M. — The U.S. Border Patrol is asserting its authority to seize cannabis shipments — including commercial, state-authorized supplies — as licensed cannabis providers file complaints that more than $300,000 worth of marijuana has been confiscated in recent months at highway checkpoints in southern New Mexico. “Regardless, the governor and her administration are working on a strategy to …

Navajo Nation charges 2 tribal members with illegally growing marijuana as part of complex case
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Navajo Nation charges 2 tribal members with illegally growing marijuana as part of complex case

Associated Press  

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — Authorities on the largest Native American reservation in the U.S. have charged two tribal members with illegally growing marijuana on the Navajo Nation, marking just the latest development in a years-long case that also has involved allegations of forced labor. Tribal prosecutors announced the charges Thursday, claiming that Navajo businessman Dineh Benally and farmer Farley BlueEyes …

New Mexico regulators revoke the licenses of 2 marijuana grow operations and levies $2M in fines
11 months, 3 weeks ago

New Mexico regulators revoke the licenses of 2 marijuana grow operations and levies $2M in fines

Associated Press  

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico marijuana regulators on Tuesday revoked the licenses of two growing operations in a rural county for numerous violations and have levied a $1 million fine against each business. One of the businesses — Native American Agricultural Development Co. — is connected to a Navajo businessman whose cannabis farming operations in northwestern New Mexico were raided …

Chinese immigrant workers sue over forced labor at illegal marijuana operation on Navajo land
1 year, 2 months ago

Chinese immigrant workers sue over forced labor at illegal marijuana operation on Navajo land

Associated Press  

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Chinese immigrant workers allege they were lured to northern New Mexico under false pretenses and forced to work 14 hours a day trimming marijuana on the Navajo Nation where cultivating the plant is illegal, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in state court. “We hope that this lawsuit will demonstrate that such abusive practices do not pay.” …

New Mexico recreational pot sales top $300M in 1st year
1 year, 8 months ago

New Mexico recreational pot sales top $300M in 1st year

Associated Press  

SANTA FE, N.M. — Recreational cannabis consumers bought just over $300 million in pot in New Mexico since sales without a prescription were legalized a year ago, the state cannabis control division said Monday. New Mexico legalized recreational marijuana on April 1, 2022, and brought sales to the doorstep of Texas, the largest prohibition state. In New Mexico, marijuana entrepreneurs …

‘The War on Drugs Part II’: California taxes, rules are killing small legal weed farms
1 year, 11 months ago

‘The War on Drugs Part II’: California taxes, rules are killing small legal weed farms

LA Times  

When Johnny Casali was a teenager growing weed illegally in the mountains of Northern California, there was always the risk the government would ruin everything — that his plants would be discovered and ripped up, or that he would be discovered and locked up. Johnny Casali, second from left, and partner Rose Moberly, second from right, talk with inspectors from …

Illegal marijuana farms take West’s water in ‘blatant theft’
3 years, 3 months ago

Illegal marijuana farms take West’s water in ‘blatant theft’

Associated Press  

LA PINE, Ore. — Jack Dwyer pursued a dream of getting back to the land by moving in 1972 to an idyllic, tree-studded parcel in Oregon with a creek running through it. But now, Deer Creek has run dry after several illegal marijuana grows cropped up in the neighborhood last spring, stealing water from both the stream and nearby aquifers …

After 50 Years, U.S. Opens The Door To More Cannabis Crops For Scientists
3 years, 6 months ago

After 50 Years, U.S. Opens The Door To More Cannabis Crops For Scientists

NPR  

After 50 Years, U.S. "It is a big disconnect," says Dr. Igor Grant, a psychiatry professor and director of the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at University of California, San Diego. "We'll see a decade or more of explosive cannabis research and potential new therapies," says Dr. Steve Groff, founder and chairman of Groff North America, one of three companies …

New Mexico proposes new rules for recreational pot growers
3 years, 6 months ago

New Mexico proposes new rules for recreational pot growers

Associated Press  

SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico on Tuesday took its first major regulatory steps toward legal production of recreational marijuana, publishing lengthy proposed ground rules for cannabis businesses that outline future licensing fees, quality controls, audit requirements and criminal background checks for producers. The state Regulation and Licensing Department announced the start of a public comment period that will culminate …

New Mexico to end taxes on medical pot, revise grow limits
3 years, 7 months ago

New Mexico to end taxes on medical pot, revise grow limits

Associated Press  

SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico will stop charging sales taxes on limited amounts of medical marijuana and begin revising current limits on pot cultivation June 29 in the first steps toward legalization of recreational marijuana, top health and licensing regulators announced Wednesday in a letter to authorized cannabis businesses. The letter also indicates that medical cannabis patients won’t be …

New Mexico lawmakers reconvene to consider legalizing pot
3 years, 8 months ago

New Mexico lawmakers reconvene to consider legalizing pot

Associated Press  

SANTA FE, N.M — New Mexico lawmakers redoubled efforts Tuesday to legalize recreational marijuana for adults 21 and older during a special legislative session on marijuana reform called by Democratic Gov. Successful legislation in New Mexico would extend legal recreational cannabis sales across the American Southwest that came mostly by direct ballot initiatives. New Mexico doesn’t allow legislation by ballot …

Marijuana takes center stage in New Mexico special session
3 years, 8 months ago

Marijuana takes center stage in New Mexico special session

Associated Press  

SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico lawmakers are embarking on an unusual legislative session that may focus entirely on the legalization of recreational marijuana. Successful legislation would extend legal recreational cannabis sales across the American Southwest, from California to the New Mexico state line with Texas, which still prohibits nonmedical pot. His bill emphasized support for communities where the criminalization …

Mexico on the verge of passing landmark cannabis bill
3 years, 9 months ago

Mexico on the verge of passing landmark cannabis bill

Al Jazeera  

People 18 years and older and with a permit, would be able to grow, carry or consume cannabis and its derivatives. Only people 18 years and older, and with a permit, may grow, carry or consume cannabis and its derivatives, according to the bill, which Lopez Obrador’s governing Morena party proposed. The health and justice committees approved the bill, which …

New Mexico seeks pot legalization amid discord on oversight
3 years, 9 months ago

New Mexico seeks pot legalization amid discord on oversight

Associated Press  

SANTA FE, N.M. — Several proposals to legalize marijuana are competing for support in the New Mexico state Senate with three weeks left to send a bill to the governor, amid widespread support among lawmakers for creating a taxed and regulated market for recreational sales. The state House approved a bill Friday from Democratic Rep. Javier Martínez of Albuquerque that …

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