A little more than a year after the bill legalizing recreational marijuana in New Mexico, The law officially took affect Friday. Throughout the week, neighborhood residents were asked:
What are your thoughts on recreational marijuana being legal in New Mexico?
Ty Kramer from the Barstow Park/Heritage Hills area answered: “Personally I don’t use marijuana, not at this age. But I feel like it’s a step forward because personally I don’t think any drugs should be illegal. I think there should be a lot of rehab and, like, no punishment, but rehabilitation. I would say it’s a step forward.”
Teresa Valderrama, who was walking her dog Cinnabon at Heritage Hills Park, responded: “Whew, that’s a complicated one. I think that we are going to have recreational marijuana regardless. And so, I think that Colorado has implemented it, California has implemented it, and they’ve, I think fairly successfully, permitted that kind of usage in a way that prevents abuse and maybe protects people. I don’t personally use it or support it, but I think that I’d rather see it in the legal realm like alcohol being regulated than have sort of an underground or the opportunity for the drug trade to kind of influence our state. So that’s kind of my thought.”
While at Heritage Hills Park with some young soccer players, Sharon Lewin answered: “I don’t have an issue with it, but the only concern I have is driving under the influence. I think it’s harder to monitor that, and as far as myself, that’s the one thing I’ve been paying attention to while driving is just being a little bit more alert and careful. I think there’s pros and cons. I think it’s good for our taxes to get some extra money for the state, especially if people were doing it anyways. I am an advocate for medical marijuana, so I think that that helps a lot for medical reasons, too.”
When asked at Heritage Hills Park, Angie Lerner responded: “I don’t mind it. I just want it to be regulated correctly and possibly the taxes help to pay for school like it does in Colorado.”
Blake Cusick took a break from kicking the football at Heritage Hills Park to say: “I really don’t have any thoughts about it, to be honest.”
While sitting on the bench near the playground at Heritage Hills Park, a gentleman who asked to remain anonymous answered: “I prefer it isn’t. I think there are enough distractions that people have in terms of drinking or other things that cause problems in this state, and so I’d rather not have recreational marijuana. We have so many drunken drivers here and then if you add people doing recreational marijuana, I would just prefer it wasn’t the case. I’ve talked to some folks who left Colorado and came here because they felt like legalized marijuana made the state a mess. You know medical is one thing, but recreational is something else.”
A gentleman at Heritage Hills Park who also asked to remain anonymous answered: “I’m fine with it. I think it was gonna happen eventually, given that other states have already done so and have seen good tax revenues. I think it was the right move. We’ll see how it plays out long term.”
Another gentleman who asked to remain anonymous while at Heritage Hills Park responded: “I don’t smoke myself. I’ve never smoked, but at the same time if its legal and people want to do it, then it doesn’t really bother me as long as I don’t smell it. That’s pretty much my thought on it.”
