Albuquerque Business First / Justina Grant
Published on January 30, 2017

Medical marijuana patient enrollment in New Mexico soared last year.

As of December 2017, there were nearly 50,000 patients enrolled in NM’s Medical Cannabis Program, according to the New Mexico Department of Health. This is a 61 percent increase from the total number of patients enrolled the previous year.

There are currently 35 licensed nonprofit producers of medical marijuana in New Mexico. Ultra Health was the largest medical marijuana company in the state on our 2017 List of Medical Marijuana Companies. Ultra Health had $10.5 million in revenue in 2017, the company said in a press release. Ultra Health recently announced plans to construct what it bills as the state’s largest cannabis cultivation campus in Tularosa. The site is set to open in 2019 and will be built on 200 acres of land. The cannabis company also plans on expanding its dispensaries to 31 locations statewide by 2020.

With medical marijuana sales rising at exponential rates, the NM Department of Health has faced criticism for actions that could restrict growth of New Mexico’s medical marijuana industry, such as delaying the issuance of cannabis cards and limiting the amount of marijuana plants a licensed provider can cultivate.

The most common qualifying conditions of medical marijuana cardholders in New Mexico are PTSD, severe chronic pain and cancer. PTSD tops the list with over 22,000 NM cardholders facing the condition.

New Mexico became the 12th state to legalize the use of regulated medical marijuana with the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act in 2007, according to the NM Department of Health.

Las Cruces Sun-News / Diana Alba Soula
Published on January 28, 2017
LAS CRUCES – The number of medical marijuana dispensaries in Las Cruces is set to double by the end of March, thanks to the recent or impending openings of three new stores.

A fourth new medical cannabis retail outlet is slated to open in Sunland Park in upcoming months.

The growth in dispensaries is driven by a spike in patient numbers, growing public awareness of the state’s medical cannabis program, and growing acceptance of marijuana as a treatment option, companies said.

More: New Mexico fifth grader mistakenly passes out pot candy in school

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New Mexico’s medical marijuana program making changes to keep up with growth

Ultra Health officially opens its door in Alamogordo

The state’s medical marijuana program could be in jeopardy, some say, after U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded a 2013 directive by the Obama administration that allowed states to establish their own laws on marijuana use.

The new policy will allow federal prosecutors in states that have legalized marijuana for either recreational or medicinal uses to decide how aggressively to enforce existing federal law. It’s unclear how it would affect the state’s medical marijuana users and vendors.

But it hasn’t stopped a number of new dispensaries from opening in the Las Cruces area.

Up and running

The newest medical cannabis retailer, Sacred Garden, marked a grand opening Friday at its location, 642 S. Alameda Blvd., Ste. A. The parking lot was packed with cars for much of the day, and a steady stream of foot traffic passed through its doors. It’s the company’s first location in Las Cruces.

Sacred Garden had a soft opening Jan. 12, said Zeke Shortes, CEO/president of the organization. So far, he said it’s attracted a lot of interest.

“We’ve had a lot of repeat customers,” he said.

The 3,200-square-foot dispensary actually features two shops — one with non-THC-containing products, which is open to the general public, and another with the THC-containing products, only open to customers who have a state-issued medical cannabis card. THC is the psychoactive component of marijuana.
Sacred Garden doesn’t grow marijuana on site, but transports it from a growing site in Santa Fe.

Shortes said Sacred Garden made the decision to expand into Las Cruces because some medical marijuana patients had been traveling to Albuquerque, Sacred Garden’s nearest location, to buy products. But federal checkpoints near Las Cruces, even though they don’t affect southbound drivers, still make people uneasy about carrying marijuana, even for medical purposes. Plus, he said there’s a demand for the roughly 100 product types created by Sacred Garden. The company focuses on made-from-scratch products, including tinctures and salves.
“We offer a breadth and depth of products they don’t have down here,” he said.

Friday, Jose Aguilar of El Paso waited for his girlfriend, a Sunland Park resident who’s a medical cannabis patient, in the parking lot of Sacred Garden. He said Las Cruces was the closest place she could find to get a supply of medical marijuana. The fact there are new dispensaries shows medical marijuana is becoming more widely accepted, he said.

“I’m very happy people are getting what they need and off the opiates,” he said, referring to prescription painkillers that can be addictive.

Sacred Garden becomes the fourth medical marijuana dispensary in Las Cruces. Others are Mother Earth Herbs, 755 South Telshor Blvd., F201; MJ Express-O, 755 S. Telshor Blvd., Ste. 102A; and Pecos Valley Production, 2460 Locust St., Ste. I. Another company doesn’t have a dispensary but does deliver to clients in Las Cruces.

Sacred Garden a medical marijuana dispensary, sellsBuy Photo
Sacred Garden a medical marijuana dispensary, sells a wide range of medical cannabis products to people with medical cannabis cards. Friday January 26, 2018. (Photo: Josh Bachman/Sun-News)
Vivian Moore, with Mother Earth Herbs, said she’s not sure why the new dispensaries have chosen Las Cruces over more under-served areas of New Mexico, “but they have and it is certainly a benefit to all patients.”

“The more different producers there are in an area, the more selection,” she said. “Mother Earth Herbs is grateful to every patient that has walked through our doors, and we look forward to continuing to serve patietn needs for years to come.”

A fifth dispensary, Budding Hope, is slated to open on Conway Avenue in Las Cruces, said Mario Gonzales, president of the organization. He said the shop is awaiting an inspection from the state department of health, which regulates dispensaries, and could open any day.

Gonzales said the Las Cruces area has been underserved for medical cannabis since the state launched its medical marijuana program. Part of that may be due to the proximity to the U.S.-Mexico border and heightened drug enforcement, he said. Also, patient numbers are growing, as more people learn the process for obtaining a medical marijuana card and more doctors are willing to sign off on the paperwork need to get a card.

But with the new dispensaries in Las Cruces, the situation is changing, Gonzales said.

“It seems like the access is really opening up for the patients of Las Cruces,” he said.

Budding Hope in Las Cruces will be a dispensary only, at least in the beginning, Gonzales said. But it might eventually establish a growing site.

A sixth medical marijuana dispensary, Ultra Health, is slated to open in Pan Am Plaza, 1719 E. University Ave., Ste. 13B, in late March. Ultra Health plans to open a different dispensary in Sunland Park in late February or early March.

Marissa Novel, communications manager for Ultra Health, said the company’s goal is to eventually have a retail store in every county.

Sacred Garden, a medical marijuana dispensary, sells products to people with medical cannabis cards, as well as CBD products to the general public. The store became Las Cruces’ fourth dispensary when it opened this month and celebrated a grand opening Friday, Jan. 26, 2018.Buy Photo
Sacred Garden, a medical marijuana dispensary, sells products to people with medical cannabis cards, as well as CBD products to the general public. The store became Las Cruces’ fourth dispensary when it opened this month and celebrated a grand opening Friday, Jan. 26, 2018. (Photo: Josh Bachman/Sun-News)
“From our perspective, we believe every market is under-served if we aren’t there, just because we do provide patients those products that aren’t available anywhere else,” he said.

The Las Cruces dispensary will be Ultra Health’s 10th in the state.

“We do think this will be one of our most impressive locations, given the renovations we’re going to do there,” she said.

The number of medical marijuana patients in New Mexico has topped 46,600, a more than 60 percent increase over the past year.

Novel said patients’ knowledge about medical marijuana as a treatment option has been growing over the years, and there’s been more publicity about it, which factors into the growth.

“It’s really becoming more mainstream, I would say,” she said.

There are 21 medical conditions that can lead to a person obtaining a medical marijuana card.

Glenn Moore of Las Cruces checked out the new Sacred Garden dispensary Friday on behalf of his wife, who is battling cancer. They’ve also bought medical cannabis from Mother Earth Herbs and MJ Express-O. The products help relieve the pain she experiences from the disease, he said.

 

Albuquerque Journal 
Published on January 25, 2017

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The state’s medical cannabis market grew more than 70 percent last year, according to a report by New Mexico-based producer and dispensary owner Ultra Health.
Total industry revenues increased from $50.6 million in 2016 to $86.2 million in 2017. The number of patients enrolled in the program jumped 61 percent to 46,645 participants over the same period.

“With New Mexico regulators, simple things can be hard, and hard things can be near-impossible,” said Ultra Health CEO Duke Rodriguez in a statement. “But the cannabis industry continues to advocate an agenda that puts patients’ needs first.”

According to the report, Ultra Health had the largest market share of all 35 licensed producers in New Mexico in 2017, with $10.5 million in sales and a share of 12.2 percent. The second largest was R. Greenleaf with $8.7 million in sales and a 10 percent market share.

In the fourth quarter of 2017, the top five producers accounted for 44 percent of market share.

With regards to the challenges facing the state’s medical marijuana industry, Ultra Health described “delays by state officials in issuing medical cannabis cards, regulatory limitations on the number of plants a licensed provider can cultivate, repeated denials of new qualifying conditions . . . arbitrary patient consumption limits, and continued delays or refusals to designate new dispensary locations by the New Mexico Department of Health.”

The company disclosed in the report that it had filed a complaint against the department of health, “to ensure an adequate supply of medical cannabis” in the coming year. The company expects a judge to rule on the Santa Fe District Court case on Feb. 28.

The report said the regulated medical market is likely only about 16 percent of the total marijuana market in New Mexico. Ultra Health estimated the size of the marijuana black market to be $438.2 million.

According to the report, the size of the medical market in 2018 is estimated to surpass $110 million and include more than 60,000 patients.

Alamogordo Daily New / Jacqueline Devine
Published on January 19, 2017

TULAROSA — Ultra Health, New Mexico’s number one medical cannabis company, recently announced that it will soon start construction on the state’s largest and most sustainable cannabis production and distribution site in Tularosa.

The growth site will sit on 200 acres on Old Tularosa Farm Road. It will include indoor and outdoor medical cannabis cultivation, as well as hemp production.

The cutting-edge medical cannabis cultivation site is expected to open in 2019. It will initially employ 25 people when the facility opens then employ 100 people once it’s at full capacity. The site should be at full capacity by 2020.

Ultra Health’s largest and most advanced cultivation center is currently in Bernalillo, New Mexico. The cannabis cultivation campus sits on 11 acres and is home to a total of 90,000 square feet of greenhouse space and production buildings where the medical cannabis is grown and processed.

The cultivation site in Tularosa will take advantage of natural sunlight and secure water rights to more than 1,000 acre feet of water, the equivalence of 325.9 million gallons of water per year.

Ultra Health Communications Manager Marissa Novel said the Tulie cultivation site is going to be home to a few different types of cannabis products.

“There will be 20 greenhouses which will be growing the cannabis plants. We’re also planning on doing 80 acres of outdoor cannabis fields which will produce a different variety of cannabis. It will also produce hemp, which is a low tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) type of cannabis, higher in cannabidiol (CBD),” Novel said. “CBD is therapeutic and non-psychoactive, which means it doesn’t get the user high but still provides a lot of therapeutic effects.”
The medical cannabis plants will be grown indoors on 20 acres in air-supported, wind-assisted greenhouses. The outdoor medical cannabis fields will stretch across 80 acres of land on the west side of the ultramodern greenhouses. Behind the cannabis fields will be the area where hemp is produced where it will be manufactured into high CBD oils, topicals and concentrates as well as fibers and other products which will be available at the Ultra Health’s Emporio in Albuquerque.

According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), currently there are two main cannabinoids from the marijuana plant that are of medical interest, THC and CBD.

THC can increase appetite and reduce nausea. THC may also decrease pain, inflammation (swelling and redness) and muscle control problems, according to NIH.

Unlike THC, CBD is a cannabinoid that doesn’t involve giving patients a high. It may be useful in reducing pain and inflammation, controlling epileptic seizures and possibly even treating mental illness and addictions, according to NIH.
“Tularosa was the perfect candidate for this project because the climate is great, the soil is great for growing crops and there’s room for expansion,” said Marissa Novel, Ultra Health Communications Manager.
Novel said the cannabis producing facility in Tularosa will be an exciting addition to southern New Mexico and will have a positive impact on the local economy.

“This is something that people should be really proud of, mainly because Southern New Mexico does have a very prime climate for growing cannabis,” Novel said. “Tularosa was the perfect candidate for this project because the climate is great, the soil is great for growing crops and there’s room for expansion. We have set up meetings with Mayor Ray Cordova to discuss this project to bring representatives up to speed on the opportunity here.”
The Daily News attempted to contact Mayor Cordova seeking comment for this story but telephone calls were never returned as of press time.

She said now that Ultra Health has opened several dispensaries across the state after careful inspections from the New Mexico Department of Health, she hopes that people will be more accepting of the controversial plant.

“From an agricultural standpoint, cannabis is a very unique plant. When it’s planted on pieces of land that have been deteriorated from a bean or corn crop, the cannabis plant can actually restore the soil,” Novel said. “In terms of changing people’s minds, I think if people start seeing more hemp products available in New Mexico they’ll start to recognize the versatility of the cannabis plant as well as the medicinal value that can help a lot of people.”

Ultra Health opened its eighth dispensary in New Mexico right here in Alamogordo, 607 N. White Sands Blvd., in August 2017. There are currently more than 45,000 enrollees in the state’s Medical Cannabis Program, 980 are from Otero County.

The Medical Cannabis Program was made possible by the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act which was passed by the New Mexico Legislature in 2007.

The Senate bill states that licensed producers are exclusively granted the authority to produce, possess, distribute and dispense cannabis.

The current limitation on how many plants a producer can grow in New Mexico is at 450 plants.

Anyone interested in applying for the Medical Cannabis Program and obtaining a medical cannabis ID card can download an application on the New Mexico Department of Health’s website.

For more information on Ultra Health and its services, visit their website at ultrahealth.com

The Deming Headlight / Algernon D’Ammassa
Published on January 8, 2017

DEMING – New Mexico’s Medical Cannabis program continues to grow even as the U.S. Department of Justice signaled, on January 4, that it might be cracking down on marijuana use.

On Thursday, the DOJ announced it would rescind a 2013 policy granting federal prosecutors discretion to focus on other priorities in states that have legalized marijuana for medicinal or recreational purposes. Medical use of marijuana has been legal in New Mexico since 2007.

Among the most common conditions treated with marijuana are Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, cancer, and severe chronic pain associated with arthritis, peripheral neuropathy, and other causes.

Per data from the New Mexico Department of Health, the number of patients enrolled in the Medical Cannabis program reached 46,645 at the end of 2017, an increase of 61 percent over the calendar year. There were 256 patients from Luna County, while neighboring Doña Ana and Grant counties have seen more than 80 percent growth in the number of card-holding cannabis patients.

Despite rapid patient growth around the state, 60 percent of New Mexico’s 68 dispensaries are located in Bernalillo, Santa Fe, and Sandoval counties. Ultra Health was granted a special use permit by the Deming City Council in 2016 to operate a dispensary in downtown Deming, but 2018 arrived with the storefront still awaiting approval by the Department of Health.

That approval was refused at the end of 2016, with the Department of Health citing regulations that restrict the number of marijuana plants that may be cultivated by providers. Ultra Health has since resubmitted an amendment to its agreement with the state that allow them to open for business on Spruce Street. It has also sued DOH in district court, calling the plant count “arbitrary and capricious.” The dispensary said a ruling on that suit is expected on January 9.

Ultra Health Spokeswoman Marissa Novel told the Headlight on Friday that the company remains committed to opening their Deming dispensary “regardless of the plant count ruling.” She called the January 4 announcement by the U.S. Department of Justice “troubling,” saying, “In the absence of federal laws that could and should be passed to resolve this industry’s legitimacy, nothing is guaranteed.”

For now, she said Ultra Health’s response to the DOJ action was, “Business as usual.”

The Eastern New Mexico News / Jamie Cushman
Published on January 9, 2017

KOAT Action News / Justin Matthews
Published on January 8, 2017

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Attorney General Jeff Sessions is rescinding a policy where the federal government took a “hands-off” approach in enforcing marijuana laws in recreational and medical states.

Journal Washington Bureau / Michael Coleman

Published on January 6, 2017

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Justice Department’s decision last week to clamp down on legal marijuana use is unlikely to cause trouble for those involved in New Mexico’s medical marijuana industry, according to experts.
Meanwhile, all four Democrats in the state’s congressional delegation said they support keeping marijuana lawful for medicinal purposes.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday rescinded an Obama-era policy that kept federal authorities from cracking down on the pot trade in states where the drug is legal. The Justice Department will now leave it up to federal prosecutors to decide what to do when state rules clash with federal drug law.

“It is the mission of the Department of Justice to enforce the laws of the United States,” Sessions said in a statement.

But experts told the Journal on Friday that the decision appeared to be aimed more at the eight states that have moved to legalize recreational marijuana and not those, such as New Mexico, that have legalized marijuana only for medical purposes.

Current federal law prohibits the U.S. government from using tax dollars to interfere with medical marijuana programs in states such as New Mexico that have legalized it.

But that provision, which was sponsored by Republican California Rep. Dana Rohrabacher and approved in 2014, expires Jan. 19, along with legislation to fund the government.

The law protecting medical marijuana in the states will become void unless Congress renews it as part of a new spending bill. It’s not certain that will happen, but several Capitol Hill sources told the Journal on Friday that the medical marijuana issue is unlikely to trigger a fight in the upcoming showdown over keeping the government operating.

A Justice Department spokesman told the Journal on Friday that the department won’t interfere with medical marijuana operations as long as Congress keeps it lawful.

“The Justice Department will not violate any federal laws in order to pursue marijuana related prosecutions, including in the context of the Rohrabacher amendment (medical marijuana),” the Justice Department spokesman said in an email.

Unlike with medical marijuana, Congress has not passed a law protecting recreational marijuana.

Last week, Sessions rescinded the Cole Memorandum, a 2013 directive from the Obama administration stipulating that the Justice Department place a “low priority” on enforcing marijuana laws against businesses and organizations that comply with state law.

The memo stipulates that the federal government would not stand in the way of states that legalize marijuana, so long as officials acted to keep it from migrating to places where it remained outlawed, and out of the hands of criminal gangs and children.

New Mexico launched its medical marijuana program in 2007 – the law is officially called the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act – and the number of people enrolled in the program has skyrocketed in recent years. There were 46,645 active patients around the state as of last month, up from 9,950 in September 2013, according to the New Mexico Department of Health.

Marissa Novel, a spokeswoman for Ultra Health, a leading medical marijuana dispenser in New Mexico, said Friday that her company is not overly concerned by the Justice Department action because providers are protected under state law.

“We don’t see that there is a whole lot to worry about,” she said. “We abide by the state law. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ actions are troubling, indeed, and the reality remains that in the absence of federal laws that could and should be passed to resolve this industry’s legitimacy, nothing is really guaranteed.”

Morgan Fox, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, told the Journal on Friday that federal prosecutors are unlikely to target medical marijuana.

“I don’t think that will happen, at least not for medical (marijuana), and particularly not for patients because state and local law enforcement aren’t going to do the job and the feds don’t have the resources to start going after patients,” Fox said. “It’s also a PR nightmare” for the Justice Department, he said.

A Pew poll released Friday showed that 61 percent of Americans believe marijuana use should be legal for both recreational and medicinal purposes. That number mirrored a 2016 Journal poll, which found 61 percent of New Mexicans also thought the drug should be legalized.

Fox predicted the Justice Department’s move to crack down on the legal pot industry could backfire on Sessions, a longtime drug warrior who has characterized marijuana as being as “only slightly less awful” than heroin.

After Sessions’ announcement Thursday, some Republicans who champion states’ rights – most notably Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado – harshly criticized the policy shift.

“What this could result in is Congress taking a renewed interest in passing really comprehensive legislation that would allow states to determine their own marijuana polices without federal interference,” Fox said.

All four Democrats in New Mexico’s congressional delegation said Friday that they support states’ rights to legalize medical marijuana. A spokeswoman for Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat running for governor of New Mexico, said the congresswoman “supports the inclusion of the (Rohrabacher) amendment into any new spending bill and is supportive of the (medical marijuana) industry.”

Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., supports “states’ rights on these issues,” his spokeswoman told the Journal on Friday.

Rep. Ben Ray Luján and Sen. Martin Heinrich, both New Mexico Democrats, said they have both voted to prohibit federal crackdowns on medical marijuana and supported allowing Veteran Affairs providers in states where medical marijuana is legal to recommend the plant as a potential treatment.

“I’ve looked closely at this position and met with cancer patients who told me how medical marijuana helped them cope with the pain and allowed them to eat,” Luján said.

A spokeswoman for Rep. Steve Pearce, the delegation’s only Republican and also a candidate for governor, said: “The congressman has heard many stories of the positive value for some patients in medically prescribed marijuana – often called medical marijuana. It is the job of Congress to fund the government, and tacking on legislation like this (the Rohrabacher amendment) to make or break an important spending bill is a complicating factor.”