New Mexicans have bought a staggering $1 billion worth of THC-containing cannabis since legislators and Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham legalized and regulated the sale of cannabis in 2022.
But that tally doesn’t include the growing segment of synthetic THC-lookalike products for sale in smoke shops and gas stations citywide that are sold with little regulation, testing or protections against sales to youth that the state’s regulated cannabis program requires.
Albuquerque’s City Council may be the first in the state to crack down on synthetic THC products if a bill sponsored by Councilor Dan Lewis passes council tonight.
City Desk previously reported on Lewis’ efforts to regulate so-called “hemp-derived” cannabis products which are chemically similar to THC compounds regulated by the state but just chemically distinct enough to exist in the gap between traditional hemp and Delta-9 THC:
The state’s 2022 law legalizing the sale of cannabis for adult-use only regulated delta-9 THC, the primary psychoactive component in cannabis. But other cannabis compounds such as delta-8 and THC-A, are not covered by the law, though they can produce similar effects to delta-9 when synthesized in a lab or burned. These compounds are then sold as hemp-derived products.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning that “[delta-8] may be labeled simply as “hemp products,” which may mislead consumers who associate “hemp” with “non-psychoactive.”
Lewis’ initial bill was amended in a council committee to distinguish between different types of synthetic hemp and to allow for commercial uses that are not intended for retail sale to consumers in the city.
Two different versions of a similar bill supported by Governor Lujan Grisham passed both chambers of the state legislature in 2025 but failed to receive concurrence on a final version.
If the city bill receives 5 votes tonight it will be forwarded to Mayor Keller who can send it back to council through a veto or allow it to become law. Under the law, anyone caught selling synthetic cannabis in the city would be a charged with petty misdemeanor.
Get involved.
The Albuquerque City Council meets on Monday June 2, 2025 at 5:00 p.m. in the basement of City Hall. To provide public comments to the Council, in person or virtually, everyone must sign up by 4:00 pm on the day of the meeting by completing this web form or calling 505-768-3100.
Or, you can email your city councilor here.
