Citing concerns about federal law, Albuquerque rejects medical marijuana bus ads

By Steve Terrell / The Santa Fe New Mexican
Published on September 27, 2017

Ultra Health, a medical marijuana provider licensed by the state of New Mexico, wanted to advertise on the outside of city buses in Albuquerque. The proposed wraparound ads featured large color photos of people of various ethnic groups and ages and a slogan, “Your Health. Our Commitment.”

But even though the sale and use of marijuana for medical purposes has been legal under state law for a decade, and the city of Albuquerque’s bus advertising policy does not specifically prohibit medical cannabis ads, the city’s Transit Department rejected the ads, citing concerns about federal law and restrictions on federal grant funding.

“The City Legal department has concluded that any advertisement displayed by the Transit Department for any sale or distribution related to medical cannabis, including THC or CDB, is prohibited by federal law, despite the state of New Mexico’s medical cannabis laws and regulations which provide limited license for distribution and patient use,” said Bruce Rizzieri, director of Albuquerque’s Transit Division, in a Sept. 13 letter to Ultra Health’s president and CEO Duke Rodriguez, who was state Human Services Department secretary under Gov. Gary Johnson.

Rizzieri added that recipients of federal transportation grants are prohibited from advertising marijuana.

The issue highlights the conflict between federal law and less restrictive state statutes and policies concerning the production and sale of cannabis, which a growing number of states have legalized even for recreational use.

A spokeswoman for Ultra Health said the design of the bus ads purposely avoided advertising the company’s products as recreational drugs.

“It’s a health care-centric design,” said Marissa Novel in an interview Wednesday. “If we took off our logo and used the name of another health care provider, like Lovelace, I’m sure the city wouldn’t have rejected it.”

Rizzieri said the city would be willing to write to the Federal Transit Administration requesting its position on medical marijuana advertising. One Albuquerque city councilor who disagrees with the city’s rejection of the ad proposal took it upon himself to do just that.

Councilor Pat Davis — who is seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination for a congressional seat — sent a letter this week to the agency’s chief counsel, Dana Nifosi, as well as to Acting U.S. Attorney James Tierney asking for guidance. “I do not see that advertising medical cannabis (that is offered for sale pursuant to a state law) is prohibited,” Davis wrote.

Albuquerque’s bus advertising policy prohibits ads related to “an illegal or unlawful activity” or alcohol or tobacco products. But none of the policy’s restrictions deal with medical cannabis.

Referring to a federal law that Rizzieri had cited, Davis wrote, “Please note that this section of law prohibits advertising that seeks to illegally distribute a controlled substance. I believe that distributing medical cannabis pursuant to a state law does not constitute illegally distributing a controlled substance.”

Davis also argued that an amendment added by Congress to the federal government’s appropriations bills specifically forbids the U.S. Justice Department from taking actions against people and companies participating in medical cannabis programs licensed by the states. However, that protection is set to expire in December.

Ultra Health has eight dispensaries in New Mexico, including one in Santa Fe. Novel said the company has not tried to advertise with Santa Fe’s bus system but might consider it in the future.

It’s not clear what would happen if they did try it.

Don Templeton, president of Templeton Marketing Services in Albuquerque, which handles advertising on Santa Fe Trails buses, said Wednesday the city of Santa Fe does not have a specific policy related to medical marijuana advertising. “I’ve never been asked by any [dispensary],” he said. “If I did, I’d want to bounce it off the city first. Anything that might be controversial I’d always ask the city.”

Ads for marijuana have appeared on buses in California — where both medical and recreational marijuana are legal — without any federal repercussions.

But even though medical marijuana is legal in more than half of the states, other cities have been reluctant to allow advertising for it on their buses. The Boston Globe in March reported that the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority “has an explicit policy prohibiting ads that promote ‘the sale, use, or cultivation of marijuana or marijuana-related products.’ ”


Medical pot producer claims it was barred from advertising on buses

KRQE News 13
Published on September 27, 2017

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The city has barred a medical marijuana company from advertising on buses.

Ultra Health says its proposed bus wraps do not violate any laws and do not show any images of cannabis, but the company says ABQ Ride wouldn’t go for it and expressed concerns about losing federal funding since pot is still illegal on the federal level.

Ultra Health is of 35 medical cannabis providers in New Mexico.

Earlier this year, Ultra Health filed a lawsuit against Expo New Mexico, for refusing to allow a pot plant to be displayed at the State Fair.


NM cannabis firm teams with Israeli pharmaceutical manufacturer

By Olivier Uyttebrouck / Albuquerque Journal
Published on September 26, 2017

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — For those seeking a cannabis suppository for sale at a local dispensary, your wait is over.
Tablets, patches, oils, topical creams, and lozenge-like “pastilles,” all containing measured doses of THC or CBD, also are on the market now. The suppositories are available in both rectal and vaginal varieties.

Ultra Health, a Bernalillo medical cannabis grower, is ramping up production now under a joint venture with Panaxia Pharmaceutical Industries, an Israeli pharmaceutical manufacturer.

Dadi Segal, CEO of Panaxia, and three employees were in New Mexico recently setting up a 3,600-square-foot production facility at Ultra Health’s property in Bernalillo. They also will oversee training of a local workforce at the plant.

Segal said he started Panaxia in 2010 to apply good manufacturing practices in the pharmaceutical industry to cannabis, which he says will make products more useful to patients and doctors.

“Our idea is to offer products to those patients who will not try the benefits of cannabis because they can’t use it like any other medication,” Segal said.

Panaxia and its parent firm manufacture a variety of prescription and over-the-counter pharmaceuticals in Israel, he said.

Ultra Health plans to manufacture 28 Panaxia products in all, each containing specific doses of THC or CBD, the active components of cannabis. The measured dosages in Panaxia products have made it possibly to begin clinical trials that are now underway in Israel, Segal said. The findings from those trials will help U.S. physicians use cannabis more effectively as a medicine, he said.

“You can’t do clinical trials unless you have measurable dosages,” he said. Marijuana “can never be a medication if you have to smoke it.”

Leonard Salgado, Ultra Health’s director of New Mexico operations, said the new manufacturing facility is a $1.7 million investment for Ultra Health. It will employ at least 12 people when production ramps up, he said.

The joint venture between Panaxia and Ultra Health emerged from three years of discussions between the firms, Salgado said. Panaxia products now are on sale at Ultra Health’s eight dispensaries statewide, he said. Costs range from $20 to $70 per product, with most falling in the $25 to $30 range.

“I think what the medical community is looking for is a product that is consistent, that has a measured dose, and that actually has the look and feel of a pharmaceutical product,” Salgado said.


Medical Cannabis Provider Denied Advertising on City Transit

City of Albuquerque cites funding concerns for denying advertising to state-licensed business

(Albuquerque) – Ultra Health, New Mexico’s #1 Cannabis Company, has been denied the opportunity to advertise on the ABQ Ride Buses due to concerns about losing federal funding.

Ultra Health is one of the 35 medical cannabis providers licensed by the New Mexico Department of Health, and its operations are completely legal under the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act.

In a letter sent September 13, the city’s legal counsel believed it would lose federal grants which are used to fund ABQ Ride Buses because it is illegal on the federal level to advertise a Schedule I substance.

In response to the city’s letter, City Councilman Pat Davis sent the Federal Transit Administration a letter asking for clarification on the legality of advertising medical cannabis in New Mexico as it is legal pursuant to state law.

“I believe that the patients who rely on medical cannabis to treat their debilitating medical conditions will benefit from the goods and services of licensed producers being advertised,” Councilman Davis states in the letter. “Competition in the marketplace is to be encouraged, and advertising is part of encouraging a thriving market will emerge in New Mexico.”

Ultra Health submitted bus design

The provider’s submitted advertising design does not violate any of the transit agency’s policies or contain any cannabis imagery.

Currently, the ABQ Ride Bus Advertising policy states advertising content will not be displayed that:

  • Is false, misleading, or deceptive,
  • Relates to an illegal or unlawful activity,
  • Advertises alcohol or tobacco products,
  • Depicts violence and/or anti-social behavior, or
  • Includes language, which is obscene, vulgar, profane and scatological.

Ultra Health submitted bus design

In 2016, The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency allowed a cannabis campaign to advertise on its buses. The agency is federally funded and did not report losing grants due to the campaign.

It is unknown whether any other transit agency or organization has lost federal funding by allowing state-licensed and legally operating cannabis business to advertise their service or products.