New Mexico Issues First Adult-Use Cannabis Licenses

New Mexico last week issued their first three adult-use cannabis licenses, KOB4 reports. The three licenses went to a producer and two micro-business licensees. Regulation and Licensing Department’s Cannabis Control Office Superintendent Linda M. Trujillo said the state’s adult-use cannabis system is now “officially up and running.”

“In the coming days and weeks, we look forward to licensing more cannabis businesses and micro businesses so that entrepreneurs, communities and the state can maximize the economic opportunities created by a thriving cannabis industry.” — Trujillo via KOB4

“We got our license, like, we were screaming at the top of our lungs in here,” said Matthew Muñoz, a co-licensee from Carver Family Farm, one of the micro-business awardees.  “It was a big, big deal for us.”

Muñoz shared he was arrested as a youth for possessing five grams of cannabis. He spent ten days in jail and served one-year probation but said the arrest changed the course of his life. The new licensee believes in many states he would not be issued a cannabis license due to the arrest.

“Small amount of marijuana, but it’s enough for you to lose scholarships,” he said.

New Mexico passed its adult-use cannabis bill this year in a special legislative session. The law included an expungement provision and later, the state announced a special loan program for cannabis micro-businesses.