Ultra Health crosses $1M NM cannabis threshold

Through its eight dispensaries New Mexico producer Ultra Health has announced it crossed the million dollar threshold providing $1.1 million in therapeutic cannabis last month to some of the state's 47,000 patients.

Ultra Health CEO Duke Rodriguez has praised the state for blooming sales.

"You know, even in the short time that we've advocated for medical cannabis, the program has rocketed from nonexistent to – next year we should, 2018, we should probably be at $150 million," he points out. Rodriguez notes that New Mexico's heavy reliance on the oil and gas industry benefits only some parts of the state, primarily counties in the northwestern and southeastern corners. He maintains total legalization would level the playing field. [Public News Service]

Ultra Health is part of an agreement with the Paiute Tribe in Las Vegas, Nevada and with New Mexico tribes to provide equipment for their facilities.

U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham of Albuquerque, the leading fund raiser in the New Mexico gubernatorial Democratic primary, sees a green future for the state.

So, legalization initiatives have a clear Democratic benefit. Democratic-leaning voters, who otherwise might have stayed home, could turn out to vote on marijuana reform. Some may leave other parts of the ballot blank, but Democrats could see a meaningful benefit overall. In a race that is close, a few thousand votes here or there could force an incumbent Republican Senator to pack up his office or shift a state’s electoral votes from red to blue. [Brookings Institution]

New Mexico's Republican governor is appealing a state court's ruling that overturned some of her vetoes of legislative bills one of which legalizes industrial cannabis.

This blog sees little value in the widespread cultivation of hemp especially on tribal lands: it is an invasive species capable of overgrowing native grasses and easily migrates into adjacent lands. Why anyone would want to buy genetically engineered seed from Monsanto or some other earth hater every year remains a mystery.

It's also the view of this blog that Colorado shafted her medical growers to expand the industry there and that local control is essential to keeping profits from legal cannabis out of the hands of Big Dope while working for the states' stakeholders. Tight control of the industry is the only way most state legislatures will legalize for all adults.