OPINION: Why Trump's cannabis rescheduling can't come soon enough

New Mexico’s cannabis industry has blossomed into a billion-dollar powerhouse, generating over $1.4 billion in sales by mid-2025, according to the New Mexico Cannabis Control Division. This boom has created thousands of jobs, funneled tens of millions in tax revenue to schools and infrastructure, and empowered small businesses in rural communities long starved for opportunity. Yet, just 60 miles north of the border, this progress grinds to a halt at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB) checkpoints. Here, federal agents routinely seize our cannabis shipments, treating licensed businesses like smugglers and strangling the very economy they're sworn to protect.

These seizures aren't isolated incidents; they're a systematic crackdown that began escalating in February 2024. CBP has confiscated over $1.6 million in products, cash and even vehicles from licensed operators at interior checkpoints along Interstate 10, Interstate 25 and U.S. 70. Drivers transporting cannabis are detained for hours, fingerprinted and left empty-handed. No charges are filed, no recourse offered. One southern grower lost an entire harvest — up to $100,000 in one go — forcing her to restrict sales to the local area and slashing her payroll. Another business reported losses exceeding $300,000, enough to shutter smaller operations overnight. One Albuquerque operator refinanced equipment just to stay afloat.

Statewide, the industry employs 10,000 people, but federal interceptions erode investor confidence and deter expansion in the border region. Tax revenue suffers too: Every seized pound means lost excise and gross receipts taxes that could fund community reinvestment programs under the Cannabis Revenue Fund. In a state where cannabis taxes topped $100 million last fiscal year, even modest diversions compound into millions foregone for education and public health.

Frustrated operators have fought back in court. In October 2024, eight licensed companies sued the Department of Homeland Security and CBP in U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico. The suit alleges violations of the Fifth Amendment's due process clause and the 10th Amendment's federalism principles, demanding the return of seized assets (or equivalent compensation) and an end to warrantless takings. By June 2025, the case had advanced to a critical phase, with a judge weighing motions amid calls for nationwide policy consistency — why New Mexico, when Arizona and California face no such scrutiny? The lawsuit underscores a glaring hypocrisy: CBP claims it's targeting "illegal narcotics," yet diverts resources from fentanyl interdiction to harass businesses.

This federal-state clash arrives at a pivotal moment, as President Donald Trump moves to reschedule cannabis. Rescheduling wouldn't fully legalize cannabis but would acknowledge its accepted medical use, easing research barriers, unlocking banking access and potentially shielding state programs from interference via updated enforcement guidance.

 On Thursday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the U.S. attorney to move marijuana from Schedule I, a category reserved for illegal drugs such as heroin and LSD, to Schedule III, according to Forbes. Rescheduling could prompt CBP to align with the spirit of the Obama- and Biden-era Cole Memorandum, deprioritizing state-legal operations. It would affirm federalism, letting states like New Mexico capture the full economic upside without punishing businesses. Trump, ever the dealmaker, has a chance to cut through the red tape: Reschedule now, and turn a policy quagmire into a win for states' rights and small-business resilience.

The checkpoints symbolize a broader failure: federal rigidity clashing with state innovation. In a border state fueling America's cannabis renaissance, these seizures don't secure the homeland; they sabotage it. The time to act swiftly is now, or New Mexico’s green gold will turn to dust.

Matt Chadwick is the CEO and co-founder of Top Crop Cannabis, Dark Matter, Iron Lung and the Frost Factory. His companies have had close to $200,000 in cannabis seized since February 2024.