What Should We Expect From New Mexico’s Legal Cannabis Market?

Since New Mexico legalized recreational cannabis back in June, the state is now preparing its next moves to get its foot in the door of the evolving cannabis industry. New Mexico plans to open more cannabis businesses in the next five months, and KRQE News 13 gave us the complete rundown of who is applying to produce the plant. 

To date, there are more than 2,000 applications submitted to the state, and KRQE News 13 Digital Anchor Chris Mckee and Investigative Data Reporter Curtis Segarra helped us understand what the next steps are in an exclusive live stream interview. 

During their discussion, Mckee and Segarra broke down the types of licenses, the demographics of those applying, and how New Mexico’s licensees compare to Colorado’s. Of course, the first question on everyone’s mind was who is applying to be the first cannabis producers in New Mexico, and Segarra added that this is a question he gets quite frequently.

“Unfortunately, we don’t want to give out those personal details,” said Segarra, but he added that you can request that information yourself from the New Mexico Regulations and Licensing Department through a process known as IPRA. This will allow any individual to get the complete list of those applying while keeping news stations out of the picture.

It’s also important to note that the retail sale of commercial cannabis will begin April 1st, 2022, and it’s the absolute latest deadline. The state also wants to give smaller operations the opportunity to thrive through their micro-producing licenses that allow producers to grow no more than 200 plants.

In terms of the “divide” between the medical cannabis program and recreational cannabis initiatives, Mckee noted that we’d expect to see more plants grown under the recreational umbrella rather than the medical one. Interestingly, Segarra mentioned that both medical and retail cannabis are more or less “combined” into one overarching body under the Cannabis Control Division.

When comparing New Mexico’s burgeoning cannabis market to Colorado’s, Segarra mentioned that Colorado separates adult-use cannabis and medical cannabis. The state also saw a considerable decrease in price points since legalizing cannabis in 2014, which is expected to happen in New Mexico down the road of legalization.

Lastly, when speaking upon the applicants’ genders and ethnicities, Segarra added that 66% of applicants identify as white, and around 86% of New Mexican residents identify as white. Therefore, this is a clear indicator that the cannabis industry in New Mexico is slightly more “diverse” than the overall state demographics.