City staff report cannabis industry is up and running in Las Cruces; recreational sales became legal April 1

The Las Cruces City Council was updated at its March 28 work session on the start of the adult-use cannabis industry, which began April 1 in Las Cruces and statewide.

New Mexico is the 17th state to legally allow recreational marijuana to be produced, sold and used by adults 21 years old and older.

Council members were told by city staff that 72 applications for cannabis licenses have been initiated by the city with the state Cannabis Control Division of the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department.

“The state has been doing rule making for the past year,” Timothy Pitts, Ph.D., deputy director of city building development, told councilors at the work session. That has included a lot of rewriting, he said.

In dealing with evolving state regulations of recreational cannabis sales, city staff has “done an excellent job,” City Councilor Yvonne Flores told Pitts.

“We have one of the most progressive ordinances across the state,” Mayor Pro Tempore Kasandra Gandara said.

In Las Cruces, current registrations include 13 producers, four microbusinesses, one manufacturer, one courier, three for medical sales and 18 for recreational sales.

City staff also said there has not been any concentration of cannabis business registration applications for any area of the city. Zoning conditions for adult-use cannabis will include that sales and use will not be allowed within 300 feet of any school or daycare center, consumption will be restricted to indoor use only, a cannabis retailer or microbusiness must operate at least 300 feet from any single-family residential zone and can be no closer than 300 feet from each other and cannabis microbusinesses in the city’s Equestrian Estate (EE) and Single-Family Residential Estate Mobile (REM) zoning districts will be required to apply for special use permits to operate. Further, microbusinesses in the EE and REM districts are limited to 200 or fewer mature cannabis plants, must grow them on site where permitted, and all plants must be in a fully enclosed accessory building that is at least 100 feet from any residences.

Any business applications that deviate from these distance regulations will require a special use permit or variance depending upon the type of deviation.

Las Cruces police emphasized that motorists driving under the influence of cannabis will continue to be illegal; smoking cannabis in public will be punishable by a $50 fine; and any possession on school property or at a daycare will be a misdemeanor, regardless of the age of the offender. Public possession of two to eight ounces of cannabis will be a misdemeanor, and possession of more than eight ounces will continue to be a felony. Underage possession of cannabis will carry a penalty of four hours of community service or drug education.

City staff said city revenue from recreational cannabis sales could reach almost $200,000 in 2022, growing to a little more than $1 million by 2027.

“The city has been extremely supportive of cannabis businesses,” said Nicole Fuchs, a technical writer and consultant in the cannabis industry and one of the founders of the Southwest Cannabis Trade Association based in southern New Mexico. “They’ve been very helpful, and I feel the city is invested in the success of the industry here in southern New Mexico.”