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.”