By Christopher Ortiz / Albuquerque Business First

Published on August 17, 2016

One of the state’s medical marijuana producers and a New Mexico mother whose infant daughter has a rare form of epilepsy filed a lawsuit against the New Mexico Department of Health Tuesday claiming a shortage in plants is causing direct and immediate harm to patients.

The mother, Nicole Sena, and Ultra Health Inc. are suing over the state’s Medical Cannabis Program’s 450-plant count limit for producers. The plaintiffs claim that because of the state’s restrictive plant count, producers are unable to supply Sena with medicine her daughter needs.

As of last month, the state had 26,568 medical marijuana patients, according to the Santa Fe Reporter.

Ultra Health, a regional medical cannabis company with six locations in New Mexico, has made headlines over the past few months. The company said it was denied a sponsorship at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta this year, but later announced it was going to be the title sponsor of the Gathering of Nations Powwow for the next five years. Ultra Health also said it was denied the right to use the New Mexico True certification on its products by the New Mexico Tourism Department.

According to the New Mexico Department of Health, medical cannabis producers in the state brought in almost $9.9 million in total receipts in the first quarter. The Santa Fe Reporter says Ultra Health brought in about $727,000 of that money.