Ultra Health gains two licenses to cultivate low-THC varieties of cannabis

(Albuquerque) – Ultra Health, New Mexico’s #1 Cannabis Company with a nationwide presence, has expanded its operations to include the cultivation and production of hemp biomass.

The provider, which has been awarded Continuous Hemp Production Licenses (CHPL) by the New Mexico Department of Agriculture to grow hemp in both Bernalillo and Tularosa, New Mexico, will initially be dedicating a total of 872,000 square feet to hemp cultivation. The Tularosa campus will be a premier hub for cannabis commerce, where all parts of the cannabis plant will be processed into refined products such as therapeutic oils, fibers, and feed.

Nationally, President Trump signed the 2018 Farm Bill Thursday, which permanently removed hemp from the Controlled Substances Act. The bill altered the language of a major drug law which had not been changed for 50 years.

From now on, hemp will be forever treated as an agricultural commodity rather than a controlled substance. Previously, hemp was deemed a controlled substance because it comes from the same plant species as high-THC cannabis.

The Farm Bill also legalized interstate commerce of hemp products, allowed hemp farmers to access crop insurance, and granted State and Tribal governments the ability to impose separate requirements on the production and sale of hemp products.

With the addition of legalized hemp at the state level in New Mexico, medical cannabis producers will have the opportunity to become fully vertically integrated operators, as the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act intended.  “By expanding our operations from solely medical cannabis to hemp cultivation and production, we look forward to providing medicine to meet each patient’s needs while also serving everyday consumers,” said Duke Rodriguez, CEO and President of Ultra Health®.