New Mexico provider becomes nation’s largest vertically integrated medical cannabis network

(Alamogordo) – Ultra Health, New Mexico’s #1 medical cannabis company, will officially open its eighth location in Alamogordo, N.M., on Tuesday, August 29. The eighth location will also make Ultra Health the nation’s largest vertically integrated, seed-to-sale medical cannabis network in the country.

 

The opening comes after a long-awaited inspection from the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH). Ultra Health initially submitted its amendment to open a dispensary in Alamogordo in May of 2016. There are currently more than 45,000 enrollees in the state’s medical cannabis program.

The new Alamogordo dispensary will bring the provider to eight locations serving six counties in New Mexico, more than any other medical cannabis provider in the state. Ultra Health ranks #1 by number of locations in the U.S. among the 21 states that operate medical-only cannabis programs (an additional 8 states have complete legalization for adults).

 

“Under the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act, licensed producers are exclusively granted the authority to produce, possess, distribute and dispense cannabis,” said Duke Rodriguez, CEO and President of Ultra Health®. “We are committed to fully exercising these rights to improve the quality of life of the patients we serve.  Ultra Health is proud to be actively establishing the highest quality, most accessible and affordable medical cannabis system in the United States.”

 

Ultra Health plans to increase patient choice and access by continuing to establish new dispensaries in underserved communities including Silver City, Espanola, Los Ranchos, Deming, Sunland Park, Las Vegas, Raton, Tucumcari, Artesia, Gallup, Farmington, Grants, Socorro, Truth or Consequences, Portales, Roswell, Los Alamos, Moriarty, Lovington, and the unincorporated South Valley of Albuquerque.

 

There are currently 15 New Mexico counties and thousands of medical cannabis patients without access to a full time dispensary. While approval for medical cannabis dispensaries in the rural areas has lagged, the Albuquerque market appears saturated with dispensaries.

 

As of August 4, there were 25 dispensary locations in Albuquerque serving a patient population of 13,812 enrollees in Bernalillo County. The Albuquerque dispensary density is higher than that of Tucson, Arizona, which has 10 dispensaries serving 18,766 patient enrollees in its respective Pima County.  The U.S. Census Bureau (2016) estimates the Albuquerque and Tucson city populations at 559,279 and 530,706 respectively.