By Olivier Uyttebrouck / The Albuquerque Journal
Published on September 28, 2017
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A New Mexico medical cannabis grower who wants to advertise on Albuquerque buses was turned down by city officials, who say the ads would violate federal laws and put the city at risk of losing transit funding.

Duke Rodriguez, owner of Ultra Health LLC, had planned to buy an ad on the outside of ABQ Ride buses advertising the firm’s three Albuquerque dispensaries. Ultra Health had planned to spend up to $25,000 a year on the ads, he said.

Bruce Rizzieri, director of the city’s transit department, cited federal drug laws in a Sept. 13 letter to Rodriguez rejecting Ultra Health’s request.

Rizzieri said that “even if the medical cannabis program is allowed under state law, advertising of Schedule 1 substances is still prohibited by federal law.”

The federal Drug Enforcement Administration lists marijuana as a Schedule 1 controlled substance.

Albuquerque and other agencies that receive Federal Transit Administration grants are prohibited from advertising a substance that remains illegal under federal law, Rizzieri wrote.

Rizzieri said Ultra Health’s proposed ad would violate the city’s policy, which prohibits advertising that “relates to an illegal or unlawful activity.”

City officials confirmed Rizzieri wrote the letter but did not offer additional comment Wednesday.

Albuquerque City Councilor Pat Davis sent a letter this week to the Federal Transit Administration expressing support for Ultra Health’s request and asking federal officials to approve the ads.

“I believe that distributing medical cannabis pursuant to a state law does not constitute illegally distributing a controlled substance,” Davis wrote in a letter dated Tuesday.

Rodriguez said he doubts the federal agency will approve his request to advertise on city buses, in which case Ultra Health would consider filing a federal lawsuit alleging the city violated the firm’s constitutional rights.

“If the answer remains unclear, then we have to go into the realm of whether this is a freedom of speech issue that needs to be adjudicated by the court,” Rodriguez said.