News & Blog

News & Blog

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.

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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.

 

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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.

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

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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. 

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New Mexico Medical Cannabis Program Enters 2021 with Strong Patient Enrollment

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Enrollment climbs and personal production licenses shrink as patients are unable to access adequate supply

(Albuquerque) – Active patient enrollment in New Mexico’s Medical Cannabis Program reached 107,371 patients as of January 31, 2021, according to data released by the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH). This represents an increase of 25,600 patients or 31% over January 2020 enrollment. 

As patient enrollment grew substantially over the last 12 months, patients are choosing established licensed cannabis providers for their cannabis needs rather than seeking personal production licenses. The total number of personal production licenses shrank by 5% from January 31, 2020, to January 31, 2021. 

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New Mexico Medical Cannabis Industry Surpasses $200 million in Patient Sales in 2020

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Consolidation effect shows patients increasingly navigate to larger, established operators as industry matures

(Albuquerque) – Combined patient sales from the 34 licensed producers in New Mexico’s Medical Cannabis Program totaled $203 million in 2020, an increase of $74 million or 57% over reported patient sales in 2019. Ultra Health, New Mexico’s #1 Cannabis Company, led all operators with nearly $40 million in patient sales, 71% greater than its nearest competitor.

Patient enrollment grew by 30% during the same period, from 80,257 patients as of December 31, 2019, to 104,655 patients as of December 31, 2020, according to data published by the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH). The 24,398 patient enrollment gain in 2020 was the single largest jump since the inception of the program.

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Ultra Health Wins Favorable Ruling, Judge Invalidates New Cannabis Regulations

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ULTRA HEALTH WINS FAVORABLE RULING, JUDGE INVALIDATES NEW CANNABIS REGULATIONS

Judge invalidates Department of Health rules on license revocation, hemp, and testing due to lack of evidence

(Santa Fe) – Ultra Health, New Mexico’s #1 Cannabis Company, won a favorable ruling on regulations promulgated by the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) in June 2020. The regulations – including the strictest testing requirements in the United States, arbitrary restrictions on hemp activities, and suspension or revocation of a license without notice – were all invalidated by Santa Fe District Court Judge Bryan Biedscheid. 

Judge Biedscheid invalidated the rules after NMDOH failed to consult the Medical Cannabis Advisory Board regarding the new regulations and failed to provide substantial evidence to support the changes. 

Ultra Health and several other medical cannabis industry operators filed a petition under Rule 1-075 NMRA, which authorizes appeals from administrative decisions. Rule 1-075(R) NMRA requires that the Court analyze whether the decision of the agency is supported by substantial evidence, or evidence that is relevant and that a reasonable person may accept as adequate to support a conclusion.

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New Mexico medical cannabis operator ups pressure to boost plant-count limits

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News Brief / MJ Biz Daily
Published on January 15, 2021

New Mexico’s leading medical cannabis company is trying to compel a court to force state regulators to increase the marijuana plant-count limit, claiming the restriction has resulted in a crisis of insufficient supply and high prices in the rapidly growing market.

The lawsuit was brought by Ultra Health, which has ongoing litigation with the New Mexico Department of Health over the issue.

The latest filing, according to Law360, is that the state is violating a 2019 court order to ensure the plant-count limit is adequate and reasonable. The argument also comes as New Mexico’s Legislature is seen as increasingly likely to legalize adult-use marijuana after neighboring Arizona did so by a ballot initiative in November.

State regulators did boost the plant-count limit from 450 plants per cultivator to 1,750 in 2019, but Ultra Health argues that the amount per patient has been mostly offset by the growth of the MMJ program.

New Mexico ended 2020 with 104,655 registered patients, a 30% increase year-over-year.

The state had 34 vertical medical marijuana operators as of late 2020, and the plant-count limit is roughly equivalent to 0.5 plants per patient, sufficient for only 75,000 patients, Ultra Health says.

Ultra Health CEO Duke Rodriguez noted to Marijuana Business Daily in December that neighboring Arizona and Oklahoma don’t have plant limits and Colorado’s is equivalent to roughly nine plants per patient cardholder. Ultra Health also claims the plant count has been intentionally kept low to control the company’s expansion in the state.

Not everyone agrees plant-count limits are an issue.

William Ford, founder and chair of R. Greenleaf Organics, which has eight MMJ dispensaries in New Mexico, told MJBizDaily in December that current operators would have “no problems meeting the needs of the market” if they were using the latest technology.

New Mexico Patient Caregiver and Provider File Motion To Enforce Plant Count Lawsuit

Posted on by Marissa

New Mexico Department of Health Secretary admits to arbitrary, retaliatory motivation for new plant limit

(Santa Fe) – Nicole Sena, a medical cannabis caregiver to her young daughter with a rare form of epilepsy, and Ultra Health have reopened their lawsuit against the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) to ensure an adequate supply of medicine. 

The original lawsuit, filed in August 2016, contended the plant cap regulation promulgated by NMDOH was not in accordance with the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act, the enabling legislation for New Mexico’s Medical Cannabis Program.

In November 2018, then-District Judge David K. Thomson ruled the department’s plant cap was arbitrary, capricious, and frustrated the purpose of the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act. Sena and Ultra Health have reopened the case due to the department’s new regulation limiting adequate supply in the program.

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NEW MEXICO MEDICAL CANNABIS PROGRAM ENDS 2020 WITH RECORD 105,000 ENROLLEES

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Patient enrollment upward momentum continues while arbitrary regulations block access to medicine

(Albuquerque) – Active patient enrollment in New Mexico’s Medical Cannabis Program reached 104,655 patients as of December 31, 2020, according to data released by the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH). This represents an increase of 24,398 patients or 30% over December 2019 enrollment. 

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