ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — After greater than a 12 months of leisure marijuana gross sales, New Mexico is rolling out its first marketing campaign to teach folks about accountable use.

The first batch of billboards is now going up across the state whereas TV, radio, print and digital ads might be working by means of the month of June. The media purchase is price $400,000.

The state Cannabis Control Division confirmed Wednesday that it began engaged on the marketing campaign final 12 months, however the contract for the work was finalized solely lately. An Albuquerque-based advertising and marketing firm gained the contract following a aggressive bidding course of.

The “Yes & Know” marketing campaign is constructed across the phrase “Yes - cannabis is legal. Know - the rules.”

“We recognize the need for education in this new cannabis industry. This campaign opens the conversation for responsible storage and safe cannabis consumption,” stated Linda Trujillo, who heads the state Regulation and Licensing Department, which oversees the hashish division.

New Mexico is amongst greater than 20 states nationwide which have legalized marijuana for adults. Sales started in April 2022, after lawmakers handed laws that had been championed by Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. The state already had a medical marijuana program.

In the primary 12 months of leisure gross sales, New Mexico issued round 2,000 hashish licenses - together with licenses to greater than 630 retailers and over 500 producers.

Sales for the primary 12 months topped $300 million, with month-to-month gross sales marking their highest ranges in March, April and May, in accordance with knowledge from the Cannabis Control Division.

The new marketing campaign means that customers begin with low doses and go gradual, saying hashish results everybody otherwise. It additionally tells folks to maintain hashish away from youngsters and pets, to not retailer it in cookie jars or take it throughout state strains or drive impaired.

The state Transportation Department earlier this 12 months held a summit to extend consciousness of the dangers related to driving underneath the affect of hashish and to have a look at evidence-based approaches for stopping impaired driving.

While police in New Mexico’s largest metropolis haven't observed a major improve in cannabis-related crashes or different crimes, Albuquerque police spokesman Gilbert Gallegos stated the division was working to get extra officers educated to conduct such investigations.

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