The governor of New Mexico is marking the one-year anniversary of the state’s adult-use marijuana market, touting its more than $300 million in sales since last April as well as the thousands of jobs the cannabis industry has created.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) said on Monday that sales have been steady throughout the past year, with March’s haul setting the monthly record at $32.3 million in recreational marijuana purchases.
In addition to the $300.1 million year-end sales total for the adult-use market, New Mexico sold about $187.4 million in medical cannabis in the past year for a combined $488.3 million.
“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,” the governor said in a press release. “I’m excited to see what the future holds as we continue to develop an innovative and safe adult-use cannabis industry.”
New Mexico has generated more than $27 million in adult-use marijuana tax revenue since shops opened up, with those dollars supporting the state general fund and localities. The governor also pointed out that sales came from more than 10 million transactions over the year.
“From the governor’s signing of the legislation, to standing up the Cannabis Control Division and rolling out this new industry, the New Mexico cannabis industry has shown great promise,” Regulation and Licensing Department Superintendent Linda Trujillo said. “We’re looking forward to even more growth in year two.”
Lujan Grisham didn’t say whether she participated in the market in its first year by making any purchases, but she didn’t rule it out last year during a visit to a cannabis retailer on opening day.
Officials in other states have also been talking up marijuana sales in recent months, including neighboring Arizona, where the year-end total for 2022 adult-use cannabis purchases reached $1.4 billion.
In Massachusetts, the state’s recreational market officially exceeded $4 billion in sales in January after launching in 2018.
Conversely, a top Wisconsin senator recently released a legislative analysis that showed just how much money her state lost out to Illinois last year, with Wisconsin residents who lack a regulated market going across the border and spending more than $121 million on marijuana.
Back in New Mexico, lawmakers recently advanced a bill to create a state body that would study the possibility of launching a psilocybin therapy program for patients with certain mental health conditions who could benefit from using the psychedelic. (Full Story)