The Las Cruces Sun-News
Published on December 11, 2017

LAS CRUCES – Patient enrollment in New Mexico’s medical cannabis program reached 45,347 as of Nov. 30, a 77 percent increase and a 19,650 net patient gain over the same period last year. On an annual basis, this is the highest percentage gain and the greatest net patient increase since the inception of the program in 2007.

At the same time, the program’s patient count has also experienced ongoing enrollment adjustments by New Mexico Department of Health officials, which has been attributed by the NMDOH to “legacy data” being removed from the database, according to a news release from the New Mexico medical cannabis dispensary Ultra Health. The department has disenrolled thousands of patients from September 2017 to October 2017 for the third consecutive year, according to the dispensary chain.

Based on documents obtained through an Inspection of Public Records Act request, it is believed more patient data was removed than indicated by the net month-to-month differences. Written communication between NMDOH and the vendor responsible for program data confirm ongoing reporting concerns.

“The challenge we run into, as we have stated several times, is these reports keep having staggering changes in numbers,” Andrea Sundberg, NMDOH Patient Services Manager, said in an email obtained by an IPRA. “Last year we had a change of 5,000 active enrollees in a one month period that nobody could ever explain. Then last month (September 2017) we ran the report and the numbers by county and condition were different than the active count by over 7,000,” Sundberg continued. “These type of issues two years into the system are not appropriate and only lead to greater confusion about our valid data.”

Despite the frequent restatement of data by the NMDOH, the rapidly expanding Medical Cannabis Program continues to exceed projections and show significant year-over-year growth. The program remains on track to reach near 50,000 patients by Dec. 31.

By Olivier Uyttebrouck / The Albuquerque Journal
Published on September 28, 2017
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A New Mexico medical cannabis grower who wants to advertise on Albuquerque buses was turned down by city officials, who say the ads would violate federal laws and put the city at risk of losing transit funding.

Duke Rodriguez, owner of Ultra Health LLC, had planned to buy an ad on the outside of ABQ Ride buses advertising the firm’s three Albuquerque dispensaries. Ultra Health had planned to spend up to $25,000 a year on the ads, he said.

Bruce Rizzieri, director of the city’s transit department, cited federal drug laws in a Sept. 13 letter to Rodriguez rejecting Ultra Health’s request.

Rizzieri said that “even if the medical cannabis program is allowed under state law, advertising of Schedule 1 substances is still prohibited by federal law.”

The federal Drug Enforcement Administration lists marijuana as a Schedule 1 controlled substance.

Albuquerque and other agencies that receive Federal Transit Administration grants are prohibited from advertising a substance that remains illegal under federal law, Rizzieri wrote.

Rizzieri said Ultra Health’s proposed ad would violate the city’s policy, which prohibits advertising that “relates to an illegal or unlawful activity.”

City officials confirmed Rizzieri wrote the letter but did not offer additional comment Wednesday.

Albuquerque City Councilor Pat Davis sent a letter this week to the Federal Transit Administration expressing support for Ultra Health’s request and asking federal officials to approve the ads.

“I believe that distributing medical cannabis pursuant to a state law does not constitute illegally distributing a controlled substance,” Davis wrote in a letter dated Tuesday.

Rodriguez said he doubts the federal agency will approve his request to advertise on city buses, in which case Ultra Health would consider filing a federal lawsuit alleging the city violated the firm’s constitutional rights.

“If the answer remains unclear, then we have to go into the realm of whether this is a freedom of speech issue that needs to be adjudicated by the court,” Rodriguez said.

By Steve Terrell / The Santa Fe New Mexican
Published on September 27, 2017

KRQE News 13
Published on September 27, 2017

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The city has barred a medical marijuana company from advertising on buses.

Ultra Health says its proposed bus wraps do not violate any laws and do not show any images of cannabis, but the company says ABQ Ride wouldn’t go for it and expressed concerns about losing federal funding since pot is still illegal on the federal level.

Ultra Health is of 35 medical cannabis providers in New Mexico.

Earlier this year, Ultra Health filed a lawsuit against Expo New Mexico, for refusing to allow a pot plant to be displayed at the State Fair.

By Olivier Uyttebrouck / Albuquerque Journal
Published on September 26, 2017

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — For those seeking a cannabis suppository for sale at a local dispensary, your wait is over.
Tablets, patches, oils, topical creams, and lozenge-like “pastilles,” all containing measured doses of THC or CBD, also are on the market now. The suppositories are available in both rectal and vaginal varieties.

Ultra Health, a Bernalillo medical cannabis grower, is ramping up production now under a joint venture with Panaxia Pharmaceutical Industries, an Israeli pharmaceutical manufacturer.

Dadi Segal, CEO of Panaxia, and three employees were in New Mexico recently setting up a 3,600-square-foot production facility at Ultra Health’s property in Bernalillo. They also will oversee training of a local workforce at the plant.

Segal said he started Panaxia in 2010 to apply good manufacturing practices in the pharmaceutical industry to cannabis, which he says will make products more useful to patients and doctors.

“Our idea is to offer products to those patients who will not try the benefits of cannabis because they can’t use it like any other medication,” Segal said.

Panaxia and its parent firm manufacture a variety of prescription and over-the-counter pharmaceuticals in Israel, he said.

Ultra Health plans to manufacture 28 Panaxia products in all, each containing specific doses of THC or CBD, the active components of cannabis. The measured dosages in Panaxia products have made it possibly to begin clinical trials that are now underway in Israel, Segal said. The findings from those trials will help U.S. physicians use cannabis more effectively as a medicine, he said.

“You can’t do clinical trials unless you have measurable dosages,” he said. Marijuana “can never be a medication if you have to smoke it.”

Leonard Salgado, Ultra Health’s director of New Mexico operations, said the new manufacturing facility is a $1.7 million investment for Ultra Health. It will employ at least 12 people when production ramps up, he said.

The joint venture between Panaxia and Ultra Health emerged from three years of discussions between the firms, Salgado said. Panaxia products now are on sale at Ultra Health’s eight dispensaries statewide, he said. Costs range from $20 to $70 per product, with most falling in the $25 to $30 range.

“I think what the medical community is looking for is a product that is consistent, that has a measured dose, and that actually has the look and feel of a pharmaceutical product,” Salgado said.

By Algernon D’Ammassa / Deming Headlight
Published on August 31, 2017

A proposed medical marijuana dispensary in downtown Deming remains empty almost one year after the City Council approved a special use permit for New Mexico Top Organics-Ultra Health to open here. The storefront is located at 117 E. Spruce.

With the opening of a new location in Alamogordo on Tuesday, however, the Bernalillo-based provider tells the Headlight they are confident Deming will soon follow.

“In my opinion,” said Ultra Health spokeswoman Marissa Novel, “allowing us to open Alamogordo is a reflection of [the Department of Health’s] willingness to recognize a Licensed Non-Profit Producer’s right to produce, possess, dispense, and distribute cannabis…without arbitrary limitations.”

The New Mexico Department of Health limits licensed providers to a total of 450 plants, and has blocked Ultra from opening more locations, arguing that it cannot it stock more dispensaries and legally comply with the plant count. Meanwhile, by July of 2017, the number of authorized patients in the Medical Cannabis program has increased by 42 percent to more than 45,000 individuals.

An amendment that would have allowed Ultra Health to open the Deming location was denied late last year. For 207 Luna County patients enrolled in New Mexico’s medical cannabis program, the nearest dispensaries are in Las Cruces, a trip that requires passing through a border patrol checkpoint where federal laws forbidding possession of marijuana for any purpose are in force.

Members of the Deming City Council voted to approveBuy Photo
Members of the Deming City Council voted to approve a special-use permit for Ultra Health’s medical marijuana dispensary downtown in September 2016. (Photo: Bill Armendariz – Headlight Photo)
In a civil lawsuit heard in Santa Fe earlier this month, Ultra Health argued the plant count limit is arbitrary and prevents licensed providers from serving the growing number of New Mexico cannabis patients. Ultra Health CEO Duke Rodriguez, reached by phone on Monday, said he was confident of a favorable ruling. “This case is going to become probably the single-biggest decision since the beginning of the program,” he said.

The Department of Health would not comment on the pending litigation, but in a written statement for the Headlight DOH spokesman David Morgan said, “Our job is to assure that there is enough medicine available for patients. Ultra Health continues to request approval for opening still more locations while admitting publicly that it can’t sustain them.” Rodriguez argues that Ultra would be able to stock locations through wholesale purchases.

For patients, blocked access

While Ultra Health seeks to expand its share of a lucrative and growing market in more parts of the state, for Luna County patients, as in other rural parts of the state, the issue is access to legally prescribed medicine.

“Having a local, licensed dispensary in Deming would be the difference between having a card but no care,” said Deming resident Jennie Kirchen, a cancer patient struggling to pay for treatment while also seeking employment. She travels to Las Cruces for her medication and says that while the border patrol hasn’t stopped her yet, she is aware during every trip that “they are federal agents and have the legal right to inspect and confiscate my medication if they believe I am transporting an illegal federal substance.”

On Kirchen’s budget, the medication is hard to afford. In Las Cruces, she pays between $20 and $40 for one gram of concentrated product. She said she may apply for a permit to grow her own, although that comes with its own restrictions and challenges.
Novel attributes high prices to the plant count, which she said allows less than 1/3 of a plant for each patient enrolled in the program. “Because the plant count is so restrictive, many providers cannot ramp up to economies of scale which would reduce costs for patients,” said Novel. Rodriguez added that DOH regulations prevent volume discounts that would save patients money.

William Wiggins of Deming enrolled in the state medical cannabis program for treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and says the difficulty and expense of obtaining his medicine has exacerbated his anxiety. “It’s scary at times going through the checkpoint,” he said, although he has not had his medicine confiscated either. Wiggins estimates his costs for a round trip to Las Cruces at about $25 on top of his medication. He adds, “Because of the lack of product in southern New Mexico, the prices get jacked.” Some dispensaries will deliver, but they add a service charge. He said a Deming dispensary would be “a game-changer” for himself and other patients in town.

When the city approved Ultra’s special-use permit last year, Rodriguez said the company anticipated $600,000 to $1 million in revenue in the first year, and on Monday he told the Headlight the number of patients from Luna County would likely increase if medical cannabis could be purchased in Deming.

Novel said that Ultra Health has resubmitted an amendment that would permit the Deming location to open. “We believe once we hear word from NMDOH about an inspection date we can have the location operational within 30 days of the inspection date…Driving all the way to Grant County for an alternative medicinal option is unfair, and we plan to establish increased access and patient choice across the entire state of New Mexico.”

By Jacqueline Devine / Alamogordo Daily News
Published on August 28, 2017

Ultra Health, New Mexico’s number one medical cannabis company, will officially be opening its doors today and will be in service seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

This will be Ultra Health’s eighth location in New Mexico. The opening comes after a long-awaited inspection from the New Mexico Department of Health.

According to a press release from Ultra Health, it initially submitted its amendment to open a dispensary in Alamogordo in May 2016. There are currently more than 45,000 enrollees in the state’s Medical Cannabis Program, 980 are from Otero County.

The Medical Cannabis Program was made possible by the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act which was passed by the New Mexico Legislature in 2007.

The Senate bill states that licensed producers are exclusively granted the authority to produce, possess, distribute and dispense cannabis.

“There is a current limitation on how many plants a producer can grow in New Mexico, the cap is at 450 plants. It is the most restrictive model and regulation that any state department has made for producers producing medical cannabis,” said Ultra Health Communications Manager Marissa Novel. “The New Mexico Department of Health took it upon themselves to assume that we were unable to stock our dispensary in Alamogordo because of the plant count that they put in regulation. We believe they are now recognizing those rights, that’s why they finally let us open the store. We bought 200 pounds of cannabis to stock this dispensary.”

Novel said Ultra Health is excited to show the community what they have to offer despite some negative reactions.
“We’re excited to finally engage with the community on a personal level,” said Novel. “I think the stigma really comes from a lot of the propaganda that has been in our country for so long. It basically wanted to scare people into thinking that cannabis was a dangerous drug and that it shouldn’t be used. I think it’s taken a while for the country to overcome that propaganda that was issued by the government and the media.”

According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), currently there are two main cannabinoids from the marijuana plant that are of medical interest, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD).

THC can increase appetite and reduce nausea. THC may also decrease pain, inflammation (swelling and redness) and muscle control problems, according to NIH.

Unlike THC, CBD is a cannabinoid that doesn’t involve giving patients a high. It may be useful in reducing pain and inflammation, controlling epileptic seizures and possibly even treating mental illness and addictions, according to NIH.

“Chronic pain is the second largest qualifying condition that people in New Mexico need to have to qualify for medical cannabis,” said Novel. “Granted, I will say there is still a lot of research coming out on cannabis and the side effects but I think the message is for people that have exhausted all other methods to medicate safely. A lot of times it’s cheaper than other medications would be.”
“We think that’s important because this is all a part of our effort to give medical cannabis patients in rural communities access to a full time dispensary so they don’t have to drive hours on end to seek an alternative method for medication,” said Ultra Health Communications Manager Marissa Novel
According to NIH’s website, many researchers, including those funded by the NIH are continuing to explore the possible uses of THC, CBD and other cannabinoids for medical treatment.

However, the cannabinoids has led to two Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved medications that contain cannabinoid chemicals in pill form. Continued research may lead to more medications.

Novel said the dispensary in town will be extremely beneficial to the community because there is almost 1,000 certified patients and counting in the county.

“I think it is especially important to the community being that there was no other dispensary in Otero County. There are 980 patients, almost 1,000, living in Otero County and this is the first dispensary location that they’ve had,” she said. “We think that’s important because this is all a part of our effort to give medical cannabis patients in rural communities access to a full time dispensary so they don’t have to drive hours on end to seek an alternative method for medication.”

Novel said Ultra Health offers a variety of medical cannabis products that include concentrated oils to baked goods containing the cannabis.

“We have the flower which is the regular cannabis in plant form. There are edibles such as baked goods, concentrates and concentrated oils from the flower that people can use,” said Novel. “We currently partnered with an Israeli pharmaceutical company that manufactures medical cannabis into oral tablets and sublingual tablets that dissolve under the tongue. Plus we also offer patches that can be worn discreetly and much more.”

Anyone interested in applying for the Medical Cannabis Program can download an application on the New Mexico Department of Health’s website.

“Before people send in their application to the Department of Health, they must need a nurse practitioner or a doctor to certify them for medical cannabis,” said Novel. “They will give them an exam and give them a recommendation. The application would need to be mailed to the New Mexico Department of Health. The examinations may cost up to $100 but the card is free from the Department of Health.”

On Friday, Ultra Health is inviting the community to join them for their grand opening ceremony.

Novel said Ultra Health will be giving away prizes and more. Peace Medical will also be onsite and will be offering free consultations on how to obtain a medical cannabis card. Medical providers will also be in attendance to complete certifications.

For more information on obtaining a medical cannabis ID card visit the NMDOH’s website.

By Ron Davis / Albuquerque Business First
Published on July 25, 2017

We’re introducing our 34 Best Places to Work finalists daily leading up to our awards event Aug. 17 at Main Event Entertainment, where our Best Places rankings will be revealed.

Our survey partner, Quantum Workplace, administered anonymous workplace satisfaction surveys of employees at companies that were nominated by the public. The companies that received the highest scores are our Best Places finalists.

Meet Ultra Heath, a medical cannabis company and a finalist in the medium company category, or between 25-49 employees.

Top local exec: Leigh Jenke, President

Employees: 46

Address:

255 Camino Don Tomas., Bernalillo, NM 87004

Phone: 505-280-6693

Website: ultrahealth.com

What is the most popular perk at your office?

I think the biggest perk is the relaxed environment. We can wear comfortable clothing and T-shirts, play music, educate themselves and we celebrate employee suggestions and ideas. We allow people to express themselves and be artistic. We allow our employees to have a large degree of autonomy and when people are trusted and respected they live up to their full potential. As the saying goes, a happy employee is a wonderful employee and Ultra Health loves our employees.
What’s the average tenure of your employees?

We are fairly new in the industry but the majority of our people come to stay. We have even had employees that have taken another job and come back because they missed our working environment.

Are you hiring? If so, for what positions?

We are expanding and plan to open stores in more rural areas of New Mexico.

By Shelby Parea / Albuquerque Business First
Published on July 20, 2017

When it comes to cannabis, usually the discussion concerns revenue and taxes the crop can bring to state and local coffers. But leaders from Ultra Health and PurLife who spoke at a NAIOP breakfast Thursday discussed how New Mexico’s multimillion-dollar industry could also expand and affect real estate.

In 2016, the top 25 medical marijuana companies generated over $46 million in gross receipts and paid over $12.3 million in compensation to their employees.

Ultra Health and PurLife are medical marijuana companies both based in New Mexico.

Darren White is on the board of directors at PurLife, No. 20 on Albuquerque Business First’s Medical Marijuana Companies List. White said he knows the trouble of finding real estate for a cannabis company first hand. PurLife is opening a second location on Eubank and Montgomery this weekend but it took five months of negotiations with property owner Gene Hinkle to make it a reality. White is a former Bernalillo County Sheriff.

But White says times are starting to change and brokers are beginning to come to him and market properties toward his business. Duke Rodriguez, CEO and owner of Ultra Health is hoping even more change is on the horizon.

Rodriguez drew comparisons to Denver and illustrated New Mexico’s potential to be a leader in the next wave of cannabis production if it were legalized for social use in the state.

New Mexico became the 12th state to allow medical cannabis, according to the Department of Health. And eight states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational marijuana, according to Business Insider.

Ultra Health – which is No. 1 on our Medical Marijuana Companies List – leases 15 properties and owns two Rodriguez said and he plans to neg 15 properties more within the year.

“We haven’t had trouble finding locations,” he said. “The only difficulty is getting the state to move along.”

He said commercial cannabis cultivations occupied 4.2 million square feet of real estate in Denver after it was legalized. It was lawyers, bankers and real estate professionals that spearheaded the initiative for legalization, according to Rodriguez.

The Israeli company Panaxia already launched a production facility in Bernalillo, now it will offer smokeless proprietary cannabinoids in New Mexico.

By Sharon Udasin / The Jerusalem Post
Published on July 18, 2017

An Israeli company responsible for the first-ever pharmaceutical cannabis production lab in the United States has now begun selling its smokeless, precisely dosed products in New Mexico.

Together with the Albuquerque- based distributor Ultra Health, the Lod-based Panaxia Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. first launched its production facility in Bernalillo, New Mexico, in March. At the lab, Panaxia has been providing the smokeless proprietary cannabinoid dosage and treatment protocols, which are not readily available in the US, in order to produce a variety of medications for different illnesses.

“We are excited to be the bearers of good news and to offer medical cannabis- based drugs to patients in the state of New Mexico,” said Panaxia CEO Dadi Segal. “In a state inhabited by only 2 million people, about 60,000 of them – about twice as many as in Israel – have a license from the Department of Health to use medical cannabis. We are planning to open more factories in the US, and we are currently in advanced negotiations on the matter.”

Because the US government includes cannabis in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, federal law prohibits producing pharmaceuticals out of the plant on a nationwide scale, Segal told The Jerusalem Post in a March interview. To overcome this hurdle, Panaxia is aiming to establish small production facilities on a state-by-state basis, he explained.

Among the products offered by the partners are sublingual (under the tongue) and oral tablets, rectal and vaginal suppositories, cannabis oil, pastilles, transdermal (through the skin) pain relief patches and topical creams. The medicines are intended for patients with conditions such as PTSD, chronic pain, cancer, neuropathy, epilepsy, anorexia and HIV/AIDS, according to the companies.

The products, Segal explained, are manufactured according to strict pharmacological and therapeutic protocols, and contain a known amount of active ingredients from cannabis extract.

As Panaxia continues to grow in the US, Segal also expressed optimism that the Lod-based company would also soon be able to begin to market products at home.

“We hope that as a result of the completion of the Health Ministry’s regulatory process, we will also be able to sell smokeless, medical cannabis-based products in Israel,” he said.