Black market absorbs need as 1/4 of enrollees are unable to legally purchase consistent medicine

(Albuquerque) – Patient enrollment in New Mexico’s Medical Cannabis Program reached 72,375 patients as of April 30, 2019, marking a 39% increase over April 2018 enrollment.

Consistent double-digit patient enrollment growth shows no signs of slowing down, yet patient sales continue to lag behind at half the growth rate of patient enrollment. The gap between sales and enrollment indicates patients are being forced to purchase marijuana from the black market to meet their needs.

Currently, the regulated market is unable to meet patient demand due to program over-regulation in the form of insufficient plant count regulations, scant patient purchase limits, and the disallowance of volume discounts for medical cannabis patients.

The significant over-regulation has led to artificially high prices and a shortage of medical cannabis statewide. The predicted shortage was confirmed by the results of the Medical Cannabis Program’s patient survey conducted by Research & Polling Inc. The survey was taken in March and is soon to be released.

Preliminary survey results show 27% of patients who purchase flower had trouble purchasing medicine from dispensaries in the last 90 days because it was out of stock. Similarly, 24% of patients who purchase concentrates and 27% of patients who purchase edibles were unable to access medicine because it was out of stock.  

The shortage of available medicine in the regulated market is forcing patients to purchase black market marijuana and marijuana-derived products. The increasing rise of black market marijuana activity in New Mexico poses health risks for medical cannabis patients and public safety risks to New Mexican communities.