Month: April 2021

Month: April 2021

Legal weed in NM may be a buzzkill for Colorado dispensaries

Posted on by Marissa

Kyle Land / Journal North
Published on April 25, 2021

Legal recreational cannabis has been an economic boon for Trinidad and many other small towns across Colorado’s southern border.

But New Mexico’s recent legalization of recreational cannabis could force dispensaries in the region to adapt to shifting demand as operators in New Mexico begin setting up shop and adopting similar strategies.

Kim Schultz remembers what Trinidad was like before cannabis took over. When she moved to the area in 2003, the city was in a boom-and-bust economic cycle as such important industries as coal and natural gas closed up shop.

Continue reading “Legal weed in NM may be a buzzkill for Colorado dispensaries”

New Mexico medical cannabis producers want higher plant counts to avert ‘crisis of supply’

Posted on by Marissa

Daniel Chacón / Santa Fe New Mexican
Published on April 14, 2021

A day after recreational marijuana for adults became the law of the land in New Mexico, some of the state’s leading medical cannabis producers asked for a significant increase in plant counts to avert what they say could be a “crisis of supply” for people who use the drug as medicine.

Commercial sales won’t begin in New Mexico until next year at the earliest, but the group of producers contends the new law nullifies purchase limits on medical marijuana patients, who they predict will take advantage of the much higher caps when the new law takes effect June 29.

“Something must be done immediately to raise the level of production — and not by a small amount,” Duke Rodriguez, president and CEO of New Mexico Top Organics-Ultra Health, the state’s largest medical cannabis operation, said in a telephone interview Wednesday.

 

Continue reading “New Mexico medical cannabis producers want higher plant counts to avert ‘crisis of supply’”

Pot producers eager to ramp up, as legalization approaches

Posted on by Marissa

Morgan Lee / AP News
Published on April 14, 2021

SANTA FE, NM. (AP) — Several medical marijuana providers on Wednesday warned of a potential cannabis shortage in late June, when the first provisions of a new law go into effect to legalize recreational marijuana in New Mexico.

Authorized recreational cannabis sales don’t commence until early 2022. But several medical marijuana businesses, led by Ultra Health, say there could be a run on medical marijuana supplies in late June of this year when the new legalization law takes effect and increases purchase and possession limits, with virtually no restrictions on how much can be stashed away at home for personal use.

Ultra Health called for an increase in the current limits on marijuana production — set at 1,750 plants per producer — to ensure there is no extreme scarcity.

Continue reading “Pot producers eager to ramp up, as legalization approaches”

New Mexico Medical Cannabis Enrollment Continues Upward Pace in First Quarter of 2021

Posted on by Marissa

Available supply to be difficult as patient purchase limits increase twenty-two times above current rules

(Albuquerque) – Patient enrollment in New Mexico’s Medical Cannabis Program reached 112,183 patients as of March 31, 2021, according to recent data released by the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH). This represents an increase of 27,015 patients or 32% over March 2020 enrollment. 

The Medical Cannabis Program has seen substantial, double-digit increases in patient enrollment during the last five years, adding more than 90,000 patients since March 2016. Now, the challenge will be to supply the medical program and adult-use program with an adequate supply of cannabis statewide. 

Continue reading “New Mexico Medical Cannabis Enrollment Continues Upward Pace in First Quarter of 2021”