New Mexico’s Democratic Governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, is one of my heroes–or heroines, if you will. What other governor would call a special session of the state legislature for the sole purpose of legalizing marijuana? No one that I know of. In 2021, she did that very thing–and succeeded! Here’s what she said about cannabis then: “We are proactively stopping the disproportionate criminalization of people of color for cannabis possession, and we are building a new industry in which all New Mexicans can participate – and that will bring millions of dollars to our local communities and our state.” She added, “We’re going to start righting past wrongs of this country’s failed war on drugs. And we’re going to break new ground in an industry that may well transform New Mexico’s economic future for the better.”
And she loves chile peppers, too. She believes they are a cultural unifier. Again, last year she commented, “Chile is a bridge across all lineages, from the Native Americans to Hispanics and is an entrenched part of the identity of the people in the state. This is a reflection of our culture and how we view ourselves. That is how New Mexican families embrace chile.”
A few years ago, when Governor Lujan Grisham was a Congresswoman, I had a chance encounter with her–sitting next to her at a wedding. After the services, we had a thirty-minute conversation that I thoroughly enjoyed. I gave her a copy of my book, Dishing Up New Mexico. I remember telling her, “If you want the job, you could be our next governor.” She replied, “We’ll see about that.”
After she was elected, I never heard from her again. She never writes, she never calls. Oh, well. I still like her.
For Chileheads and Potheads, the Ideal Governor
