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.