Valencia County, NM Public Conduct: Public Marijuana Use (2026)

20, adopted by Ordinance 22-01 in January 2022, governs where cannabis may be consumed anywhere in unincorporated Valencia County. 18 as property owned or occupied by the County of Valencia, or in any other location where the smoke is detectable from a public place or public property. PUBLIC PLACE is defined broadly in the same section to include hallways and common areas of apartment houses and hotels, highways, streets, schools, places of amusement, parks, playgrounds, and public transportation facilities. 20 restricts it further. A licensed cannabis consumption area limited to qualified patients or reciprocal participants may sit inside a retailer's premises, but smoking is allowed only in a standalone building whose HVAC system does not let smoke reach other indoor workplaces or public places, consistent with the state's Dee Johnson Clean Indoor Air Act, NMSA 1978, Chapter 24, Article 16.

A consumption area open to the general public carries the same standalone-building rule, bans outdoor smoking entirely, and restricts entry to persons 21 and older. 21.