New Mexico's Cannabis Industry: Caught in a Federal Fiasco

A Thriving Industry Under Siege

New Mexico's cannabis industry is booming, raking in over $1.4 billion in sales by mid-2025. This growth has:

Created jobs
Boosted tax revenue
Empowered small businesses, especially in rural areas

However, just 60 miles north, at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) checkpoints, this progress hits a wall.

Federal agents frequently seize cannabis shipments, treating licensed businesses like criminals and stifling the very economy they are supposed to protect.

Systematic Crackdown

These seizures are not random; they are part of a systematic crackdown that started ramping up in February 2024.

CBP has confiscated over $1.6 million in products, cash, and even vehicles from licensed operators.
Drivers transporting cannabis are detained for hours, fingerprinted, and left with nothing.
No charges are filed, and no compensation is offered.

Devastating Losses

One southern grower lost an entire harvest, worth up to $100,000, forcing her to limit sales locally and cut her payroll.
Another business reported losses exceeding $300,000, enough to shut down smaller operations overnight.

The industry employs 10,000 people statewide, but federal interceptions are:

Eroding investor confidence
Hindering expansion in the border region
Reducing tax revenue

Every seized pound means lost excise and gross receipts taxes that could fund community programs under the Cannabis Revenue Fund.

In a state where cannabis taxes topped $100 million last fiscal year, even small diversions add up to millions lost for education and public health.

Legal Action

Frustrated operators have taken legal action.

In October 2024, eight licensed companies sued the Department of Homeland Security and CBP in U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico.
The lawsuit alleges violations of:
The Fifth Amendment's due process clause
The 10th Amendment's federalism principles
The lawsuit demands:
The return of seized assets or equivalent compensation
An end to warrantless takings

By June 2025, the case had advanced to a critical phase, with a judge weighing motions amid calls for nationwide policy consistency.

Federal-State Clash and Policy Shifts

This federal-state clash comes at a crucial time, as President Donald Trump moves to reschedule cannabis.

Potential Impacts of Rescheduling

Rescheduling would not fully legalize cannabis but would:

Acknowledge its accepted medical use
Ease research barriers
Unlock banking access
Potentially shield state programs from interference

President Trump signed an executive order directing the U.S. attorney to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III, a category for less dangerous substances.

This change could prompt CBP to align with the spirit of the Obama- and Biden-era Cole Memorandum, deprioritizing state-legal operations.

It would affirm federalism, allowing states like New Mexico to capture the full economic benefits without punishing businesses.

Conclusion

The checkpoints symbolize a broader issue: federal rigidity clashing with state innovation.

In a border state driving America's cannabis renaissance, these seizures do not secure the homeland; they sabotage it.

Swift action is needed, or New Mexico's green gold will turn to dust.