Recreational marijuana bills heard in Senate committees

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.- Lawmakers are moving forward with two bills that would legalize, regulate and tax marijuana for adult use in New Mexico.

Senate Bill 288 passed the Tax, Business and Transportation Committee Tuesday.

The same committee is also hearing House Bill 12, and debating changes to it.

This is the first to two Senate committees it needs to get through after passing in the House.

These bills debated Tuesday are technically a little different but would essentially do the same thing– legalize recreational marijuana.

Rep. Javier Martinez, who is sponsoring House Bill 12, is confident it still has time to get to the governor’s desk.

"This bill is also something that I’m very proud of because this is in the last few days of the session, this is really where the best minds from the House and the Senate can come together and get out a bill that we can all be proud of we can hopefully continue to move on and keep this discussion going," he said.

Two weeks ago, four different recreational marijuana bills were in the same committee. However, they’ve narrowed it down to two bills.