Recreational marijuana sales in New Mexico totaled more than $300 million in the first year of regulated adult-use cannabis sales, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced on April 3.

Lujan Grisham signed the Cannabis Regulation Act into law in April 2021, legalizing the use of marijuana for adults and creating a framework for regulated sales of adult-use cannabis. Only one year later, in April 2022, licensed sales of recreational marijuana began at regulated dispensaries in the state. Since then, New Mexico regulators have issued around 2,000 cannabis licenses across New Mexico, including 633 cannabis retailers, 351 producers, 415 micro producers, and 507 manufacturers, the governor’s office reported.

“In just one year, hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity has been generated in communities across the state, the number of businesses continues to increase, and thousands of New Mexicans are employed by this new industry,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement on April 3. “I’m excited to see what the future holds as we continue to develop an innovative and safe adult-use cannabis industry.”

$27 Million In Cannabis Taxes

Monthly sales of recreational cannabis have remained steady in the first year of legalization, with last month showing the highest monthly total at $32.3 million. More than 10 million recreational cannabis sales transactions have been made over the last year, generating more than $27 million in cannabis excise taxes for the state general fund and local communities.

The large cities of Albuquerque, Las Cruces, and Santa Fe saw the strongest recreational cannabis sales, while the smaller communities of Clovis, Farmington and Ruidoso each saw more than $7 million in adult-use sales. Retailers in towns along the border with Texas, where recreational marijuana is still illegal, also recorded strong sales of adult-use cannabis.

“I’m beyond thrilled that the industry has gotten off to such a strong start,” Javier Martínez, a Democratic legislator who advocated for legalization for years, told the Albuquerque Journal. “We [legalized] it the right way.”

Last week, Linda M. Trujillo, the superintendent of the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department, noted the strong growth of New Mexico’s adult-use cannabis industry in the first year of sales, adding that the agency would begin expanding regulatory enforcement in the coming months.

“There’s over 2,500 individuals that have a controlling share in a cannabis business,” said Trujillo, who is currently overseeing the Cannabis Control Division (CCD) after the recent departure of its acting director. “Now, we know that the next step is compliance, and we’ve been building the compliance aspect over the course of the last year.”

Reilly White, an associate professor of finance at the University of New Mexico’s Anderson School of Management, cited several factors that led to a strong first year for the state’s adult-use cannabis industry.

“Strong consumer spending and historically low unemployment in New Mexico…encouraged the growth of recreational marijuana, and cannabis taxes have provided an additional state and municipal revenue source,” White said.

Market analysts believe that New Mexico’s cannabis industry may undergo some correction during the second year, which could lead some dispensaries across the state to cease operations. But many are still confident in the potential for the long-term growth of the state’s industry.

“Cannabis in New Mexico has a clear pathway to grow to more than a half billion dollars per year, especially as we compare the sales to states that legalized years ago,” White said. “But the road will get rocky ahead—many businesses may find their operations unsustainable as market saturation limits their growth. Uncertainty in the economic outlook is also a factor, particularly since it’s not clear how much consumers would cut back on recreational sales during times of economic stress. As the market matures, the industry will consolidate around the most successful companies with the greatest success in New Mexico.”

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