New Mexico cannabis industry divided over market saturation fearsPosted by On

Budtenders Sebastian Torrez, left, and Hannah Renick sell products to customers at the Ultra Health cannabis dispensary at 7401 Menaul NE. (Roberto E. Rosales/Journal)

Arizona had about 73 adult-use dispensaries licensed when recreational sales began at the start of 2021.

Colorado had 156 licensed retail stores in 2014 when their sales began, according to data from the state’s Marijuana Enforcement Division.

New Mexico, meanwhile, has more than 200 retail premises across the state, Cannabis Control Division spokeswoman Heather Brewer told the Journal – and counting.

That includes retail stores for newly licensed mom and pop shops, as well as locations from New Mexico’s more than 30 legacy operators previously operating under the state’s medical program who are now gearing up to serve a larger population when adult-use sales start.

But the question is: Will New Mexico’s adult-use retail market become oversaturated?

That depends on who you ask.

Ben Lewinger, executive director of the New Mexico Cannabis Chamber of Commerce, said he isn’t concerned about the state’s adult-use retail market becoming oversaturated.

“New operators are going to bring healthy competition,” Lewinger said, adding that people entering the cannabis industry for the first time are living the “American dream.”

But ask Duke Rodriguez, CEO and founder of Ultra Health – the state’s largest vertically integrated cannabis company in the state – and he’ll give you a…

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Budtenders Sebastian Torrez, left, and Hannah Renick sell products to customers at the Ultra Health cannabis dispensary at 7401 Menaul NE. (Roberto E. Rosales/Journal)

Arizona had about 73 adult-use dispensaries licensed when recreational sales began at the start of 2021.

Colorado had 156 licensed retail stores in 2014 when their sales began, according to data from the state’s Marijuana Enforcement Division.

New Mexico, meanwhile, has more than 200 retail premises across the state, Cannabis Control Division spokeswoman Heather Brewer told the Journal – and counting.

That includes retail stores for newly licensed mom and pop shops, as well as locations from New Mexico’s more than 30 legacy operators previously operating under the state’s medical program who are now gearing up to serve a larger population when adult-use sales start.

But the question is: Will New Mexico’s adult-use retail market become oversaturated?

That depends on who you ask.

Ben Lewinger, executive director of the New Mexico Cannabis Chamber of Commerce, said he isn’t concerned about the state’s adult-use retail market becoming oversaturated.

“New operators are going to bring healthy competition,” Lewinger said, adding that people entering the cannabis industry for the first time are living the “American dream.”

But ask Duke Rodriguez, CEO and founder of Ultra Health – the state’s largest vertically integrated cannabis company in the state – and he’ll give you a…



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