By Caleb James / KOB 4

Published on June 2, 2017

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — It’s a sticky situation pitting cannabis against the Constitution. A metro medical marijuana producer wanted to bring cannabis cultivation equipment to 2017’s New Mexico State Fair, but organizers told them they couldn’t.

Ultra Health is a massive medical marijuana producer and provider. The company’s vice president, Leonard Salgado, said purchasing booth space at Expo New Mexico in September would be pointless if they’re not allowed to educate folks about medical marijuana production.

There’s now a federal lawsuit. Ultra Health says restrictions on displaying equipment are illegal.

State Fair bars marijuana imagery at booth; producer files lawsuit
Salgado’s Sandoval County grow operation is the largest in New Mexico’s largest. Tens of thousands of square feet rustle with millions in medical grade marijuana. It’s a calling for Salgado, who strongly believes in the plant’s medicinal power.

“We feel we have an obligation we have a duty to educate the public about the medicinal benefits of the plant and the program — the medical cannabis program,” he said.

With the number of people who go to the State Fair, a booth there seems like a no-brainer. Thus, Ultra Health applied for a vendor’s permit.

Expo administration was open to an Ultra Health booth, but with a tightly-packed list of restrictions. Salgado said they would be prohibited from displaying anything that could be used to “plant, propagate, cultivate, grow, harvest, manufacture, compound, convert” and about 14 more verbs related to marijuana.

“You could not even display an image, a photograph of a cannabis plant,” Salgado said.

Expo New Mexico confirmed the same list of restrictions Salgado mentioned. Fair officials said Salgado did not attempt to negotiate or ask for a compromise before retracting his application for a booth.

Cannabis is cultivated and regulated in New Mexico, and it is legal in the state for medical use. Still, there is something slightly taboo and forbidden about marijuana, something uncomfortable about being in the presence of all this pot.

Salgado said it is flat-out unconstitutional to suppress marijuana imagery.

“We made the decision to file the federal complaint,” he said.

Salgado passed on this year’s fair. Now he’s suing Expo New Mexico, claiming restrictions rolled into the rules violate the First and 14th Amendments.

“You could not even display an image, a photograph of a cannabis plant,” he said.

There is no chance a fairgoer would get high off a picture, he said. Recreational use isn’t even on the company’s agenda. The only THC talk he’ll have focuses on what’s legal in New Mexico.

“We’re asking the court to defend us, to defend our constitutional right,” Salgado said.

Expo points to New Mexico law allowing for the State Fair commission to place restrictions on vendors.