By Olivier Uyttebrouck / Albuquerque Journal

Published on April 11, 2017

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — After a medical cannabis grower displayed a seedling named Dorothy at the New Mexico State Fair last year, a state agency ordered the company to close its dispensaries for five days this month.
A Santa Fe judge this week overruled the New Mexico Department of Health sanction, ruling that the dispensaries can remain open for business from April 17-21.

DOH issued the sanction in November ordering Ultra Health LLC close its seven dispensaries that week.

First Judicial District Court Judge David Thomson of Santa Fe called Ultra Health’s decision to display a seedling at the fair “at the very best misguided,” but found little support for the five-day suspension.

“The seedling should be treated as medicine and not an item for show and tell,” Thomson wrote in an order issued Monday.

But Thomson also wrote that “the sanction imposed is excessive and without much support in law or regulation.”

Ultra Health had planned to show the seedling for 10 days at a booth the company rented at the fair, but the plant was ejected the first day, on Sept. 8, after fair officials and New Mexico State Police were notified. No arrests were made.

Health department officials told Ultra Health that removing the plant from the company’s Bernalillo production facility violated state law and regulations, which require that cannabis “be housed on secured grounds.”

Duke Rodriguez, owner and CEO of Ultra Health, said the closure coincided with “four-twenty” – the unofficial cannabis celebration on April 20 – which is the nation’s biggest sales day for cannabis.

Rodriguez estimated that the closure would have cost Ultra Health $200,000 in lost revenue had Thomson not ordered the stay.

“We’re very happy that the judge ordered this stay,” Rodriguez said. “Those are literally the five busiest days of the year.”

DOH responded Tuesday that the stay is only temporary until Thomson holds a full hearing, which had not been scheduled Tuesday.

“We feel the five-day suspension and fine is appropriate action for discipline based on the rules governing the program,” DOH spokesman Paul Rhien said in a written statement. DOH also fined Ultra Health $100, which Thomson approved.

“The primary role of the state Medical Cannabis Program is to provide patients with safe access to medicine and a regulated system,” the statement said. “We will continue to defend the sanctions as we allow the legal process to run its course.”