The medical marijuana program grew by 32 percent from March 2020 thru March 2021. If that growth was replicated in the next year--before legal weed takes full effect in April of 2022--the state would have nearly 150,000 patients.
And it may grow even more. After all, medical marijuana will not be subjected to the 12 percent excise tax (that eventually goes to 18 percent) as recreational pot will, so why not get to the doctor and get medical marijuana while the getting is good?
Well over half of those prescribed medical marijuana are diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. There's plenty of that to go around in New Mexico.
As for legal weed, the rhetoric upon the Governor's signing of recreational legalization was typically over wrought, replete with promises of an economic transformation. But we've reported extensively on the mostly low wage jobs (about $13 an hour) that will dominate the new industry. And the 11,000 jobs that supporters say would result from the industry would take a decade to come on line. That’s under the rosy scenario.
And with medical marijuana use soaring and the black market expected to continue to operate, the economic boost the boosters pledge may come in on the low end of expectations. (Estimates for tax collections have repeatedly been lowered.)
Cannabis is going legal mainly because it has become what a martini was (or still is) to your parents or grandparents--a way of taking the edge off, and a majority of the population now supports legalizing.
But the political class couldn't help from throwing a pot party rooted in a disconnected reality as the Governor gleefully signed the new law. The real reality will be on their doorsteps soon enough. Don’t say we didn’t tell you.
BEING A BILLIONAIRE
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| Ron Curio |
Thanks to our Alligators we learn that 59 year old Ron Corio (net worth $1.1 billion) belongs to that growing group of voters registered as "decline to state" or independent for short.
According to voter info from official files, Corio voted in all NM general elections from 2004 through 2020, with one big exception. In 2016 when Trump was elected, Corio did not cast a ballot.
Corio may be the richest man in New Mexico but when it comes to housing he appears to live below his means. On Zillow the value of his 5,800 square foot ABQ home is put at $1.4 million.
Corio made his fortune in solar (Array Technologies) and when the ABQ-based company's stock was listed on the NASDAQ he reaped millions.
With the impending sale of PNM, New Mexico will soon lose its only company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, but we're picking up a billionaire. If there's anything the state needs it is more capital circulating. So spend and invest liberally in the community right here, Mr. Corio, and watch out for those Alligators trying to make you sign up as a D or R.
By the way, Corio may get to be a billionaire a couple of times over. His father, Phil Curio, lived to the ripe old age of 109.
MORE SENATE SPAT
We continue to get comments on that spat between Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart and ABQ Dem Senator Daniel Ivey Soto that took place in the final hours of the recent legislative session. Our last commenter favored Stewart. This one goes with Ivey Soto:
I have been in the political realm for over two decades. The entire scenario and media behind Senator Mimi Stewart is completely blown out of proportion. Stewart’s comments are taking the entire women’s moment backwards. We have overcome unequal pay, no access to credit, second class citizens, and sexual harassment. Stewart was treated like an equal, a colleague. The fact that she could not answer the questions or did not like Ivey Soto's questions is not the same as abuse, and it is certainly not the same as abuse from a family member. As a survivor myself, her comparison to abuse trivializes what I have endured and survived. She is taking us backwards. Women deserve more. We have prevailed in this society and in no way do I want a man to refrain from treating me like an equal or with kit gloves. A woman on leadership should portray herself strong and not an a victim.
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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2021
(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2021