2023 New Mexico Statutes › Chapter 26 - Drugs and Cosmetics › Article 2C - Cannabis Regulation › Section 26-2C-11 - Cannabis server permits; cannabis servers; permit required; applications; education program approval required; issuance or denial of a permit or approval; penalties.

A. The division shall promulgate rules consistent with this section and industry standards for issuance of a cannabis server permit and licenses for a cannabis consumption area. A cannabis research laboratory or an employee of the laboratory is not required to obtain or possess a cannabis server permit while performing activities authorized pursuant to a cannabis research laboratory.
B. The division shall issue cannabis server permits to persons twenty-one years of age or older who satisfy the requirements of this section and rules promulgated by the division. An applicant shall provide proof of satisfactory completion of a program provided by a cannabis server permit education provider approved by the division. A person shall not be employed as a cannabis server on a licensed premises unless that person obtains a cannabis server permit within thirty days of employment.
C. The cannabis server education program curriculum shall include the following subjects:
(1) the effect cannabis products have on the body and behavior, including the effect on a person's ability to operate a motor vehicle when under the influence of cannabis products;
(2) the effect cannabis products have on a person when used in combination with alcohol or legal or illegal drugs;
(3) state laws concerning cannabis licensure, cannabis liability issues and driving under the influence of cannabis;
(4) methods of recognizing problem cannabis product users and techniques for intervening with problem cannabis product users;
(5) methods of identifying false driver's licenses and other documents used as evidence of age and identity to prevent the sale of cannabis products to a person under twenty-one years of age pursuant to the Cannabis Regulation Act; and
(6) harm reduction practices related to cannabis use.
D. A cannabis server permit is the property of the state and shall be immediately returned to the division upon suspension or revocation or denial of renewal of a permit.
E. Cannabis server permits shall be valid for a period of three years from the date the permit is issued and may be renewed upon providing proof that the permit holder has successfully completed up to four and one-half hours of continuing education and an examination as determined by the division.
F. In addition to any other penalties provided by law, the following penalties may be imposed for sales, service or dispensing a cannabis product to a person under twenty-one years of age in violation of the provisions of the Cannabis Regulation Act or rules of the division:
(1) the division may suspend a cannabis server permit for a period of thirty days if the director finds that the cannabis server is guilty of a first offense of selling, serving or dispensing a cannabis product to a person under twenty-one years of age;
(2) the division shall suspend a cannabis server permit for a period of one year when the division finds that the cannabis server is guilty of a second offense of selling, serving or dispensing a cannabis product to a person under twenty-one years of age in violation of the Cannabis Regulation Act arising separately from the incident giving rise to the cannabis server's first offense;
(3) the division shall permanently revoke a cannabis server permit when it finds that the cannabis server is guilty of a third offense of selling, serving or dispensing a cannabis product to a person under twenty-one years of age in violation of the Cannabis Regulation Act arising separately from the incidents giving rise to the cannabis server's first and second offenses; and
(4) no person whose cannabis server permit is suspended pursuant to the provisions of this section shall offer, sell, serve or dispense a cannabis product as part of commercial cannabis activity in a cannabis consumption area during the period of suspension.
History:
Laws 2021 (1st S.S.), ch. 4, § 11.
ANNOTATIONS
Effective dates.
— Laws 2021 (1st S.S.), ch. 4 contained no effective date provision, but, pursuant to N.M. Const., art. IV, § 23, was effective June 29, 2021, 90 days after adjournment of the legislature.