New Mexico Issues First Adult-Use Cannabis Cultivation License
The New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department issued its first adult-use cannabis cultivation license to Mother’s Meds.
Efforts to implement the legalization of adult-use cannabis in New Mexico made new progress this month as regulators issued the first license to cultivate recreational marijuana in the state. Tony Martinez, the CEO of Mother’s Meds, announced in a statement last week that the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department had issued a license to the company to operate as a cannabis cultivator on November 1.
The company will join 34 other cannabis producers previously licensed by the Department of Health to cultivate medical marijuana, many of which will also grow adult-use cannabis. On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the state’s Cannabis Control Division (CCD), which is overseen by the department, confirmed that the license had been awarded pending a background check of the applicants.
“Mother’s Meds has been issued a cannabis producer’s license and that license will go into effect as soon as all background check requirements are met,” division spokesperson Heather Brewer said in a statement quoted by the New Mexico Political Report. “The Cannabis Control Division is excited to start issuing licenses and looks forward to public announcements and celebrations of new businesses as the Division works to stand up a thriving adult-use cannabis industry in New Mexico.”
Martinez credited the “hard work, due diligence and adaptability” of the company’s staff and San Juan County’s “business friendly attitude” for the first cultivation license being issued to Mother’s Meds, which is doing business as Lava Leaf Organics. He added that the company “will continue to comply with all CCD rules and regulations” as it gets cannabis production up and running.
Rather than hiring a substantial number of employees, Martinez said the company will operate by contracting with cannabis industry professionals.
“My least favorite part of business is placing a value on another person’s efforts and talents; this model allows people more control over their destiny and to work with us, not for us,” Martinez wrote in a statement. “I believe this will allow our community to attract and retain more talented professionals than our competitors.”
More Than 1,500 More Cultivation License Applications Still Pending in New Mexico
Since the CCD begin accepting applications for adult-use cannabis producers in August, more than 1,500 potential applicants have initiated the detailed and time-consuming process. More than 1,000 applications were started for licenses to operate microbusinesses, which are limited to growing no more than 200 cannabis plants at a time.
“We’re off to a great start,” John Blair, the deputy superintendent for the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department, told local media earlier this month. “I don’t know that we could have anticipated what the demand was going to be other than knowing there really seems to be a great excitement across the state.”
State regulators continue to accept applications, and Blair noted that regulators have not established a cap on the number of licenses issued, a practice common in many jurisdictions with legal marijuana production.