Participation continues rapid pace, available supply under Emergency Rule remains strained

(Albuquerque) – New Mexico’s medical cannabis patient enrollment reached 70,743 patients as of March 31, 2019, according to data released by the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH).

This enrollment level represents a 39% increase over March of 2018. It’s likely the Medical Cannabis Program will double in size over the next year, as the Governor signed Senate Bill 406 into law Thursday. The new law includes enhancements to the program such as three-year cards, telemedicine, framework for out-of-state medical patients to access the program, and more.

On March 1, 2019, NMDOH issued an emergency rule lifting the plant cap from 450 plants to 2,500 plants per provider. Given the expected increase in medical cannabis activity from the enactment of Senate Bill 406, even more plants will be needed to satisfy current and future patient demand. New conditions are also likely to be accepted, as the Medical Cannabis Advisory Board recently approved opioid-use disorder as a qualifying condition.

A flexible plant-per-patient ratio of no less than three plants per patient is the most sustainable and compassionate answer to providing medicine for an ever-changing, evolving program.

The most recent data published by NMDOH indicates 96% of all patients live in a county with at least one dispensary. Although these patients have access to a provider, the availability of medicine for patients to legally purchase in rural areas continues to be an ongoing issue. Dangerously-low supply levels across the state were predicted in February, and will continue into the third quarter of 2019.

While the emergency rule will help provide more availability of medicine than the 450 plant cap, any initial relief is not likely to come until July after the first plants under the temporary 2,500 cap have been harvested. Even then, supply levels will continue to be strained as more patients enroll in the program.