Albuquerque Business First / Justina Grant
Published on January 30, 2017

Medical marijuana patient enrollment in New Mexico soared last year.

As of December 2017, there were nearly 50,000 patients enrolled in NM’s Medical Cannabis Program, according to the New Mexico Department of Health. This is a 61 percent increase from the total number of patients enrolled the previous year.

There are currently 35 licensed nonprofit producers of medical marijuana in New Mexico. Ultra Health was the largest medical marijuana company in the state on our 2017 List of Medical Marijuana Companies. Ultra Health had $10.5 million in revenue in 2017, the company said in a press release. Ultra Health recently announced plans to construct what it bills as the state’s largest cannabis cultivation campus in Tularosa. The site is set to open in 2019 and will be built on 200 acres of land. The cannabis company also plans on expanding its dispensaries to 31 locations statewide by 2020.

With medical marijuana sales rising at exponential rates, the NM Department of Health has faced criticism for actions that could restrict growth of New Mexico’s medical marijuana industry, such as delaying the issuance of cannabis cards and limiting the amount of marijuana plants a licensed provider can cultivate.

The most common qualifying conditions of medical marijuana cardholders in New Mexico are PTSD, severe chronic pain and cancer. PTSD tops the list with over 22,000 NM cardholders facing the condition.

New Mexico became the 12th state to legalize the use of regulated medical marijuana with the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act in 2007, according to the NM Department of Health.