Alamogordo Daily New / Jacqueline Devine
Published on January 19, 2017

TULAROSA — Ultra Health, New Mexico’s number one medical cannabis company, recently announced that it will soon start construction on the state’s largest and most sustainable cannabis production and distribution site in Tularosa.

The growth site will sit on 200 acres on Old Tularosa Farm Road. It will include indoor and outdoor medical cannabis cultivation, as well as hemp production.

The cutting-edge medical cannabis cultivation site is expected to open in 2019. It will initially employ 25 people when the facility opens then employ 100 people once it’s at full capacity. The site should be at full capacity by 2020.

Ultra Health’s largest and most advanced cultivation center is currently in Bernalillo, New Mexico. The cannabis cultivation campus sits on 11 acres and is home to a total of 90,000 square feet of greenhouse space and production buildings where the medical cannabis is grown and processed.

The cultivation site in Tularosa will take advantage of natural sunlight and secure water rights to more than 1,000 acre feet of water, the equivalence of 325.9 million gallons of water per year.

Ultra Health Communications Manager Marissa Novel said the Tulie cultivation site is going to be home to a few different types of cannabis products.

“There will be 20 greenhouses which will be growing the cannabis plants. We’re also planning on doing 80 acres of outdoor cannabis fields which will produce a different variety of cannabis. It will also produce hemp, which is a low tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) type of cannabis, higher in cannabidiol (CBD),” Novel said. “CBD is therapeutic and non-psychoactive, which means it doesn’t get the user high but still provides a lot of therapeutic effects.”
The medical cannabis plants will be grown indoors on 20 acres in air-supported, wind-assisted greenhouses. The outdoor medical cannabis fields will stretch across 80 acres of land on the west side of the ultramodern greenhouses. Behind the cannabis fields will be the area where hemp is produced where it will be manufactured into high CBD oils, topicals and concentrates as well as fibers and other products which will be available at the Ultra Health’s Emporio in Albuquerque.

According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), currently there are two main cannabinoids from the marijuana plant that are of medical interest, THC and 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.
“Tularosa was the perfect candidate for this project because the climate is great, the soil is great for growing crops and there’s room for expansion,” said Marissa Novel, Ultra Health Communications Manager.
Novel said the cannabis producing facility in Tularosa will be an exciting addition to southern New Mexico and will have a positive impact on the local economy.

“This is something that people should be really proud of, mainly because Southern New Mexico does have a very prime climate for growing cannabis,” Novel said. “Tularosa was the perfect candidate for this project because the climate is great, the soil is great for growing crops and there’s room for expansion. We have set up meetings with Mayor Ray Cordova to discuss this project to bring representatives up to speed on the opportunity here.”
The Daily News attempted to contact Mayor Cordova seeking comment for this story but telephone calls were never returned as of press time.

She said now that Ultra Health has opened several dispensaries across the state after careful inspections from the New Mexico Department of Health, she hopes that people will be more accepting of the controversial plant.

“From an agricultural standpoint, cannabis is a very unique plant. When it’s planted on pieces of land that have been deteriorated from a bean or corn crop, the cannabis plant can actually restore the soil,” Novel said. “In terms of changing people’s minds, I think if people start seeing more hemp products available in New Mexico they’ll start to recognize the versatility of the cannabis plant as well as the medicinal value that can help a lot of people.”

Ultra Health opened its eighth dispensary in New Mexico right here in Alamogordo, 607 N. White Sands Blvd., in August 2017. 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.

The current limitation on how many plants a producer can grow in New Mexico is at 450 plants.

Anyone interested in applying for the Medical Cannabis Program and obtaining a medical cannabis ID card can download an application on the New Mexico Department of Health’s website.

For more information on Ultra Health and its services, visit their website at ultrahealth.com

The Deming Headlight / Algernon D’Ammassa
Published on January 8, 2017

DEMING – New Mexico’s Medical Cannabis program continues to grow even as the U.S. Department of Justice signaled, on January 4, that it might be cracking down on marijuana use.

On Thursday, the DOJ announced it would rescind a 2013 policy granting federal prosecutors discretion to focus on other priorities in states that have legalized marijuana for medicinal or recreational purposes. Medical use of marijuana has been legal in New Mexico since 2007.

Among the most common conditions treated with marijuana are Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, cancer, and severe chronic pain associated with arthritis, peripheral neuropathy, and other causes.

Per data from the New Mexico Department of Health, the number of patients enrolled in the Medical Cannabis program reached 46,645 at the end of 2017, an increase of 61 percent over the calendar year. There were 256 patients from Luna County, while neighboring Doña Ana and Grant counties have seen more than 80 percent growth in the number of card-holding cannabis patients.

Despite rapid patient growth around the state, 60 percent of New Mexico’s 68 dispensaries are located in Bernalillo, Santa Fe, and Sandoval counties. Ultra Health was granted a special use permit by the Deming City Council in 2016 to operate a dispensary in downtown Deming, but 2018 arrived with the storefront still awaiting approval by the Department of Health.

That approval was refused at the end of 2016, with the Department of Health citing regulations that restrict the number of marijuana plants that may be cultivated by providers. Ultra Health has since resubmitted an amendment to its agreement with the state that allow them to open for business on Spruce Street. It has also sued DOH in district court, calling the plant count “arbitrary and capricious.” The dispensary said a ruling on that suit is expected on January 9.

Ultra Health Spokeswoman Marissa Novel told the Headlight on Friday that the company remains committed to opening their Deming dispensary “regardless of the plant count ruling.” She called the January 4 announcement by the U.S. Department of Justice “troubling,” saying, “In the absence of federal laws that could and should be passed to resolve this industry’s legitimacy, nothing is guaranteed.”

For now, she said Ultra Health’s response to the DOJ action was, “Business as usual.”

The Eastern New Mexico News / Jamie Cushman
Published on January 9, 2017

KOAT Action News / Justin Matthews
Published on January 8, 2017

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Attorney General Jeff Sessions is rescinding a policy where the federal government took a “hands-off” approach in enforcing marijuana laws in recreational and medical states.

Journal Washington Bureau / Michael Coleman

Published on January 6, 2017

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Justice Department’s decision last week to clamp down on legal marijuana use is unlikely to cause trouble for those involved in New Mexico’s medical marijuana industry, according to experts.
Meanwhile, all four Democrats in the state’s congressional delegation said they support keeping marijuana lawful for medicinal purposes.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday rescinded an Obama-era policy that kept federal authorities from cracking down on the pot trade in states where the drug is legal. The Justice Department will now leave it up to federal prosecutors to decide what to do when state rules clash with federal drug law.

“It is the mission of the Department of Justice to enforce the laws of the United States,” Sessions said in a statement.

But experts told the Journal on Friday that the decision appeared to be aimed more at the eight states that have moved to legalize recreational marijuana and not those, such as New Mexico, that have legalized marijuana only for medical purposes.

Current federal law prohibits the U.S. government from using tax dollars to interfere with medical marijuana programs in states such as New Mexico that have legalized it.

But that provision, which was sponsored by Republican California Rep. Dana Rohrabacher and approved in 2014, expires Jan. 19, along with legislation to fund the government.

The law protecting medical marijuana in the states will become void unless Congress renews it as part of a new spending bill. It’s not certain that will happen, but several Capitol Hill sources told the Journal on Friday that the medical marijuana issue is unlikely to trigger a fight in the upcoming showdown over keeping the government operating.

A Justice Department spokesman told the Journal on Friday that the department won’t interfere with medical marijuana operations as long as Congress keeps it lawful.

“The Justice Department will not violate any federal laws in order to pursue marijuana related prosecutions, including in the context of the Rohrabacher amendment (medical marijuana),” the Justice Department spokesman said in an email.

Unlike with medical marijuana, Congress has not passed a law protecting recreational marijuana.

Last week, Sessions rescinded the Cole Memorandum, a 2013 directive from the Obama administration stipulating that the Justice Department place a “low priority” on enforcing marijuana laws against businesses and organizations that comply with state law.

The memo stipulates that the federal government would not stand in the way of states that legalize marijuana, so long as officials acted to keep it from migrating to places where it remained outlawed, and out of the hands of criminal gangs and children.

New Mexico launched its medical marijuana program in 2007 – the law is officially called the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act – and the number of people enrolled in the program has skyrocketed in recent years. There were 46,645 active patients around the state as of last month, up from 9,950 in September 2013, according to the New Mexico Department of Health.

Marissa Novel, a spokeswoman for Ultra Health, a leading medical marijuana dispenser in New Mexico, said Friday that her company is not overly concerned by the Justice Department action because providers are protected under state law.

“We don’t see that there is a whole lot to worry about,” she said. “We abide by the state law. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ actions are troubling, indeed, and the reality remains that in the absence of federal laws that could and should be passed to resolve this industry’s legitimacy, nothing is really guaranteed.”

Morgan Fox, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, told the Journal on Friday that federal prosecutors are unlikely to target medical marijuana.

“I don’t think that will happen, at least not for medical (marijuana), and particularly not for patients because state and local law enforcement aren’t going to do the job and the feds don’t have the resources to start going after patients,” Fox said. “It’s also a PR nightmare” for the Justice Department, he said.

A Pew poll released Friday showed that 61 percent of Americans believe marijuana use should be legal for both recreational and medicinal purposes. That number mirrored a 2016 Journal poll, which found 61 percent of New Mexicans also thought the drug should be legalized.

Fox predicted the Justice Department’s move to crack down on the legal pot industry could backfire on Sessions, a longtime drug warrior who has characterized marijuana as being as “only slightly less awful” than heroin.

After Sessions’ announcement Thursday, some Republicans who champion states’ rights – most notably Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado – harshly criticized the policy shift.

“What this could result in is Congress taking a renewed interest in passing really comprehensive legislation that would allow states to determine their own marijuana polices without federal interference,” Fox said.

All four Democrats in New Mexico’s congressional delegation said Friday that they support states’ rights to legalize medical marijuana. A spokeswoman for Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat running for governor of New Mexico, said the congresswoman “supports the inclusion of the (Rohrabacher) amendment into any new spending bill and is supportive of the (medical marijuana) industry.”

Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., supports “states’ rights on these issues,” his spokeswoman told the Journal on Friday.

Rep. Ben Ray Luján and Sen. Martin Heinrich, both New Mexico Democrats, said they have both voted to prohibit federal crackdowns on medical marijuana and supported allowing Veteran Affairs providers in states where medical marijuana is legal to recommend the plant as a potential treatment.

“I’ve looked closely at this position and met with cancer patients who told me how medical marijuana helped them cope with the pain and allowed them to eat,” Luján said.

A spokeswoman for Rep. Steve Pearce, the delegation’s only Republican and also a candidate for governor, said: “The congressman has heard many stories of the positive value for some patients in medically prescribed marijuana – often called medical marijuana. It is the job of Congress to fund the government, and tacking on legislation like this (the Rohrabacher amendment) to make or break an important spending bill is a complicating factor.”

MyHighPlains.com /  Audrey Roberson

Published on January 5, 2017

Dispensaries Not Expecting Federal Scrutiny

CLOVIS – Attorney General, Jeff Sessions decided to rescind a marijuana enforcement policy from the Obama administration. Federal prosecutors will have the go-ahead to enforce these federal laws.

This changes the hands-off approach the federal government has had toward marijuana laws. Now prosecutors could target legal growers or dispensaries.

With the 2013 Cole Memo, states could decide whether or not to legalize medicinal and recreational marijuana.

New Mexico is one of 29 states to legalize medicinal marijuana.

Anna Mitchell of Ultra Health in Clovis, said they are not worried about of the new legislation because their patients are protected under the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act.

This was passed to ensure patients who needed the medicine still had access.

“The awareness of the effectiveness of this medicine is spreading,” Mitchell said. “It’s important. I don’t think it’s going to go anywhere. It’s too big to go anywhere. There are too many people who need it, who use it, who believe in it. I don’t think any of the medical programs are under any fire.”

Medical marijuana is used to treat cancerous tumors, ALS, epilepsy, and opioid addiction.

Manager of Ultra Health in Clovis, Anthony Salez said there has been a 77% increase of Cannabis registration in New Mexico within the past year. He said the increase is because of the opioid crisis.

According to state law, patients must have a medicinal card and be a New Mexico resident in order to purchase in a dispensary.

Rick Nathanson / The Albuquerque Journal
Published on December 16, 2017

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The medical cannabis industry in New Mexico grew by about 77 percent from November 2016 through November 2017, an indication that the industry is strong and expanding, according to updated numbers released earlier this week.

The New Mexico Department of Health’s Medical Cannabis Program Patient Statistics report shows there were 45,374 active patients in the program at the end of November 2017, an increase of more than 19,600 over November 2016, when there were 25,697 patients in the program. Continue reading “Medical pot enrollment jumps 77 percent”