FGGAM NEWS JUST RECEVED THIS NEWS RELEASE:
Public Health Organizations Call on Lawmakers to Protect NM’s Clean Indoor Air Laws; Express Concern Over Cannabis Regulation Act
All New Mexicans deserve to live, work, study and play in smokefree environments
ALBUQUERQUE – March 26, 2021— As Governor Michelle Lujan-Grisham is planning to call a special session to pass the Cannabis Regulation Act, a coalition of leading public health groups across New Mexico joined together to urge lawmakers to protect the state’s smokefree air laws, cautioning against the potential dangers of the this legislation. The group, including the American Cancer Society-Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), American Heart Association, American Lung Association in New Mexico, Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights, Campaign for Tobacco Free-Kids and New Mexico Allied Council on Tobacco issued a letter to lawmakers and Governor Lujan-Grisham stating the following:
“As leading public health organizations, we want to express significant concerns with the Cannabis Regulation Act. The Cannabis Act would roll back protections in the Dee Johnson Clean Indoor Air Act by allowing marijuana smoking, including the use of e-cigarettes, indoors in licensed marijuana establishments.
“Our organizations have long fought for laws and policies to make our communities in New Mexico and across the country smokefree. All Americans deserve to live, work, study and play in smokefree environments. By implementing smokefree environments, all workers and patrons can be protected from the dangers of all types of secondhand smoke, including marijuana smoke.
“Secondhand marijuana smoke contains many of the same toxins and carcinogens found in tobacco smoke. These toxins can cause lung irritation, asthma attacks, and make respiratory infections more likely. Exposure to secondhand marijuana smoke can exacerbate health problems especially for people with respiratory conditions like asthma, bronchitis, or COPD. The chemicals in marijuana have also been linked to an increased risk of heart attacks, heart failure and atrial fibrillation in observational studies.
“In 2007, New Mexico took a tremendous step forward for public health when it passed the Dee Johnson Clean Indoor Air Act, which eliminated smoking in almost all public places and workplaces in the state.
As states consider legalizing cannabis, our organizations have strongly urged decisionmakers to ensure current smokefree laws are protected. The smoking or aerosolizing of marijuana should be prohibited anywhere that tobacco use is currently prohibited. Decisionmakers must ensure that the smokefree environments that have been created continue to offer protection from secondhand marijuana smoke for workers and patrons.
“Unfortunately, the Cannabis Regulation Act would significantly roll back the Dee Johnson Clean Indoor Air Act. Of particular concern are sections that include wording for “cannabis consumption areas” and exemptions to the clean indoor air act. Decriminalizing marijuana should not roll back smokefree protections and bring smoking of cannabis indoors to public places and businesses. Every worker deserves a smokefree workplace.
“Nobody should have to breathe secondhand smoke, including secondhand marijuana smoke, while earning a paycheck. To best protect public health, we encourage the state legislature not to roll back the Dee Johnson Clean Indoor Air Act by allowing marijuana to be smoked, including through e-cigarettes, inside any workplaces, including licensed marijuana establishments.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Amber Herting
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
Phone: 508-450-8690
E-mail: amber,herting@cancer.org
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New Mexico is the State with the 6th Worst Unemployment Rate Recovery – WalletHub Study
With the U.S. gaining 379,000 jobs in February and the national unemployment rate at 6.2% compared to the nearly historic high of 14.7% at the peak during the coronavirus pandemic, WalletHub today released updated rankings for the States Whose Unemployment Rates Are Bouncing Back Most.
In order to identify the states whose unemployment rates are bouncing back most, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on five key metrics that compare unemployment rate statistics from the latest month for which we have data (February 2021) to key dates in 2019 and 2020.
Below, you can see highlights from the report, along with a WalletHub Q&A.
Unemployment Recovery in New Mexico (1=Most Recovered, 25=Avg.):
- 55.60% Change in Unemployment (February 2021 vs February 2019)
- 78,354 unemployed people in February 2021 vs 50,355 in February 2019;
- 20th worst recovery in the U.S. .
- 57.44% Change in Unemployment (February 2021 vs January 2020)
- 78,354 unemployed people in February 2021 vs 49,768 in January 2020;
- 18th worst recovery in the U.S.
- 59.14% Change in Unemployment (February 2021 vs February 2020)
- 78,354 unemployed people in February 2021 vs 49,236 in February 2020;
- 21st worst recovery in the U.S.
- 259.86% Change in Not Seasonally Adjusted Continued Claims (February 2021 vs February 2019)
- 36,026 continued claims in February 2021 vs 10,011 in February 2019;
- 5th worst recovery in the U.S.
- 8.2% Unemployment Rate (February 2021)
- 5th highest unemployment rate in the U.S.
To view the full report and your state’s rank, please visit: https://wallethub.com/edu/states-unemployment-rates/74907/
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TO BE CLEAR! When Governor Lujan Grisham became Governor we stopped getting any news releases from the New Mexico Governors office. I have called and not even a call back. However, I do get emails from the Governor to donate to her cause!!!! We also do not getting any press releases from the Democrat Senate and House.
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The latest press releases from the New Mexico GOP Senate:
Senate Republican Leaders’ Statement Regarding Special Session
SANTA FE – New Mexico Senate Republican Leaders today released the following statement in response to Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s call for a Special Session:
“Once again, the Governor is sacrificing the best interests of New Mexicans to accommodate the special interests of her big donors. While she waited months to call a Special Session to address the COVID crisis, she has now announced a Special Session on marijuana less than a week after the Legislature adjourned.”
“Marijuana legalization does not constitute a public emergency and a Special Session is not a tool for a governor to extend a Legislative Session. With overwhelming Democratic majorities in both the Senate and House, the Governor had two months to pass her agenda. The fact that certain bills failed does not justify a $50,000 per day, taxpayer funded Special Session, with other added security costs.”
“Adding further insult to injury, the Governor has scheduled the Special Session during Holy Week exactly one year after she shuttered churches on the eve of Easter Sunday. This snub against New Mexicans of faith, including many Legislators, is disrespectful and inexcusable.”
Republican Leader, Senator Greg Baca (District 29-Bernalillo and Valencia)
Republican Whip, Senator Craig Brandt (District 40-Sandoval)
Republican Caucus Chair, Senator Mark Moores (District 21-Bernalillo)
Senator Cliff Pirtle Introduces Compromise Cannabis Legislation Ahead of Special Session
SANTA FE – Senator Cliff Pirtle (District 32-Chaves, Eddy, and Otero) today announced a compromise cannabis legalization bill ahead of Tuesday’s Special Session. After several years of work and refinement, this bill has bipartisan support and addresses many of the concerns from law enforcement, local governments, and other stakeholders.
Senator Pirtle issued the following statement regarding his bill:
“This bill represents countless hours of work across the aisle and with the community. If the Governor insists on forcing this issue by calling a Special Session, this is the sensible and prudent solution to cannabis legalization. This bill enhances public safety measures and guarantees that our farmers have a low barrier to market entry to support our agriculture community. This bill is the only piece of legislation with bipartisan support. The Governor and the Legislative Leadership want cannabis legalization and this is the bill to quickly get it done.”
More From Today:
With crime out of control, as usual here, the Legislature left a lot of unfinished business…BUT POT IS SO VERY IMPORTANT!
Will New Mexico return to God?
Why did so many CRIME BILLS fail in the New Mexico Legislature?
TO BE CLEAR! When Governor Lujan Grisham became Governor we stopped getting any news releases from the New Mexico Governors office. I have called and not even a call back. However, I do get emails from the Governor to donate to her cause!!!!
FGGAM just received this news release from the New Mexico GOP House:
MLG pushing for ‘holy grail’ pot bill, while blocking Easter holiday again for second year
Santa Fe, NM- House Republican Leader Jim Townsend (Artesia), Whip Rod Montoya (Farmington), and Caucus Chair Rebecca Dow (TorC) questioned Governor Lujan Grisham’s decision to put Easter on the backburner again. Last year the governor’s administration was fiercely criticized after closing churches on Easter Sunday. Now, just days before Palm Sunday, the Governor continues to show her contempt for Holy Week and its significance to traditional New Mexicans. She has once again decided to preempt the Christian holiday, but this time it is to pass her “holy grail” pot legislation.
“Does she realize that it’s Holy Week? We’ll likely end up working through Good Friday or possibly Easter Sunday.” said House Republican Whip Rod Montoya (Farmington). “The governor’s priorities and those of average New Mexicans are 180 degrees out of phase. The public is not in a mad panic to get recreational marijuana legalized, especially when it will cost taxpayers $83,000 a day to do it.”
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Our Dear Friend Chuck Akeley’s post from July of 2019 really hits a homerun for God!
In our country and yes, our state, it has become almost fashionable to support the growth and use of marijuana, whether for medicinal use or recreational use. So much so, that even our state executive and many legislators consider government sanctioned and controlled distribution of marijuana to be a worthy effort as means to acquire tax dollars. Let’s consider some of the well-established issues facing New Mexico. For many years, we’ve been rated at the bottom or almost the bottom for quality of education, children living in poverty, drug use (e.g., opioid use), drug trafficking (I-40, I-10, I-25 and the southern border corridors) and DWI offenders (including the associated deaths). Is there really wisdom in enhancing these issues by creating a culture of “legalized” use of marijuana here in New Mexico?
A wise man once told me that if you have any doubt as to whether to do or say something, then ask yourself, would you look to Jesus and say “Lord, I do this thing as unto You” or “Lord, I give You thanks for this which I am about to do.” If the answer is no, then why are you doing it? Would you ask Jesus to bless your firing up of a joint or bowl or eating of a laced edible so that you would experience a high? The scripture says we should seek His wisdom. According to Proverbs 4:7, “[w]isdom is the principal thing; [t]herefore get wisdom [NKJV].” Ephesians 5:15-21 instructs us to walk in wisdom: “[s]ee then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ [NKJV].” Just because we CAN do something doesn’t necessarily mean we SHOULD do something.
My background includes a few years as a Special Agent with the USAF Office of Special Investigations, during which much of the training involved drug enforcement. I spent the first year after completing the initial academy leading the Travis AFB, CA Joint Drug Enforcement Team and subsequently worked for several years at Holloman AFB, NM participating in drug enforcement operations with the other agents. Once you have strapped on the equipment and executed a few warrants, you tend to develop a very different perspective about “low level drug use,” as the small amounts of drugs came from someone who was probably not your next door neighbor, and that person’s drugs came from a trafficker – a very dangerous person. The perspective that I’m not hurting anyone is a big lie. It is not surprising to me that the military and local or state police have had to lower standards in order to acquire acceptable cadets. Today, our children and youth often do things as a result of cultural or peer influences which can devastate future employment opportunities. How much worse it is when our children’s parents are the ones modeling this behavior? I thank God that our Lord is forgiving and merciful, and am reminded that we are called to forgive others and to help guide our friends, family and others unto salvation and into their God-given destiny!
It’s interesting to hear discussions about “legalizing” recreational use of marijuana at the state level. If a state allows something that is forbidden at the federal level, it is not really legal, but what is happening is that the federal government has elected, as a matter of enforcement discretion, to refrain from seeking prosecution under certain circumstances and the state has elected to ignore existing federal code or statutes. The federal Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”), 21 USC 812, establishes five schedules of controlled substances, identified as Schedules I, II, III, IV and V. Schedule I lists substances that have been determined to have: 1) a high potential for abuse; 2) no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States; and 3) a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or substance under medical supervision. The psychoactive substance in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol (“THC”), remains to this day a listed Schedule I substance. Because of this, many states have struggled with the medicinal and recreational use of marijuana and declare legality, when in point of fact, what is occurring is simply enforcement discretion at the federal level and a glaring lack of willingness of the federal government to take a solid position one way or the other.
There is MUCH remaining to be said about this issue, including the increasing levels of THC in modern-grown marijuana plants provided by dispensaries and technologically-advanced illicit grows, the lack of clear means for law enforcement to easily determine the degree of driving impairment compared to determining alcohol impairment, the effect that such has or may have on us developmentally, mentally and physically, the wisdom and procedure for assuring sound regulatory controls at the federal and state level – and assuming this issue isn’t going away quickly, the spiritual implications of encouraging, yet another mind altering substance for use by our residents, demonstrating yet again, the wisdom of man in the face of the wisdom of God.
Father, in the name of Jesus, I ask that You would speak to the hearts of those in a position to encourage, allow, regulate and/or spend tax dollars on marijuana matters in our beautiful State of New Mexico (and across this nation). Give us ears to hear and eyes to see what is the will of God. May wisdom guide our discussions and determinations, with a mighty hedge of protection over all who are doing Your will and serving Your people, in light of this challenge. But regardless, help us to always love. Always. Amen.
Chuck Akeley
Albuquerque, New Mexico
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I’m standing with Jesus and Cheering for Oral Roberts University!
Oral Roberts University’s basketball team has advanced to the Sweet Sixteen with stunning wins over No. 2 seed Ohio State and No.7 Florida. ORU is only the second 15 seed in NCAA tournament history to get so far.
ORU Coach Paul Mills put things in perspective and brought in the gospel message at the same time.
“In 100 years, none of us will be here. And what our guys need to understand is we’re really not that important. And you need to know that,” Mills said in a press conference.
USA Today Columnist Calls for NCAA to Boot ORU for Biblical Beliefs