Border Patrol Warning Texas Residents Buying Marijuana In New Mexico
Just in case you missed it, New Mexico is the most recent state to legalize marijuana for recreational use and Texas stoners are excited at the prospect of having another state nearby that will allow you to burn one without worry of law enforcement. As Texas continues to drag its feet (because too many of our state's politicians are "financially in bed" aka campaign donations with prisons IN MY FACT BASED OPINION) with "talk" of legalization and "studies about the effects" it could have, the U.S. Border Patrol is issuing a warning to Texas residents about transporting weed across state lines: Don't Do It.
The U.S. Border Patrol is reminding people passing through New Mexico that possession of marijuana is still a federal offense.
The warning comes a few days after licensed retailers in New Mexico began dispensing marijuana for recreational purposes and residents of neighboring states like Texas crossed the state line to purchase cannabis products according to The Border Report.
Why Is The Border Patrol Issuing This Warning?
Well, if you don't know, The Border Patrol operates highway checkpoints in New Mexico on Interstate 10 near Deming, north of Las Cruces, south of Alamogordo and north of Columbus, among others. These checkpoints are miles away from the border and inside the U.S. so you don't have to be going to the border of Mexico to run into one. Agents there primarily check for immigration documents of people traveling to the interior of the United States, but they also make drug seizures.
The Federal Law Supersedes The State Law So You Will Go To Jail
Since The Border Patrol has drug enforcement authority, AND Marijuana is still a prohibited drug under Schedule 1 of The United States Controlled Substances Act, Border Patrol agents can and will take you into custody on FEDERAL (not state) charges regardless of your "legal" purchase. So unless you don't want to be treated like "El Chapo" for just going over state lines to smoke, be careful friends.