Agency: New Mexico pot legalization doesn’t change US law

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The U.S. Border Patrol says agents at checkpoints in New Mexico will continue to enforce a federal law making possession of marijuana illegal even though the state has legalized recreational marijuana.

Carlos Rivera, a spokesman for the agency’s El Paso Sector, said Tuesday that means agents will still regard marijuana as contraband and seize it.

New Mexico’s legalization of recreational marijuana took effect Friday, but a Border Patrol statement explained that marijuana remains a prohibited drug under the federal Controlled Substances Act.

The El Paso Sector includes New Mexico and the two most western of Texas’ counties, including El Paso.