New Mexico Cannabis License

How to Apply for an Adult-Use New Mexico Cannabis License

Updated: September 2021

The New Mexico Legislature recently started accepting applications for cannabis business licenses. A day after the state released finalized rules for cannabis producers, the Cannabis Control Division announced that interested parties can now use an online application portal to get the process started.

Regulators touted the modernization of the application process for cannabis business licenses, as prospective producers in the state’s existing medical cannabis program previously needed to fill out multiple paper forms to apply.

Rules for retailers, testing facilities and other cannabis sectors are still being developed and need to be finalized by January 1, 2022 in advance of the launch of sales by April.

Lawmakers say legalization could inject $318 million into the economy in its first year and create 11,000 jobs.

What are the types of New Mexico Cannabis Licenses?

There are 10 types of licenses available in New Mexico:

1. Cannabis consumption areas;
2. Cannabis couriers;
3. Cannabis manufacturers;
4. Cannabis producer microbusinesses;
5. Cannabis producers;
6. Cannabis research laboratories;
7. Cannabis retailers;
8. Cannabis testing laboratories;
9. Integrated cannabis microbusinesses; and
10. Vertically integrated cannabis establishments.

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Social Equity Program in New Mexico Cannabis

Pursuant to the Cannabis Regulation Act, Paragraphs (7) and (8) of Subsection B of Section 26-2C-3 NMSA 1978, the division must adopt procedures to promote and encourage full participation in the cannabis industry of representatives of communities that have disproportionately been harmed by rates of arrest through the enforcement of cannabis prohibitions and encourage racial, ethnic, gender, geographic diversity, and New Mexico residency among license applicants, licensees and cannabis industry employees. Policies must also encourage representatives from rural communities that are likely to be impacted by cannabis production, including agricultural producers from economically disadvantaged communities.

To accomplish these mandates, the division establishes a goal that at least fifty percent of applicants for licensure, licensees, and cannabis industry employees will represent these groups.

The division, with the advice of the cannabis regulatory advisory committee, shall solicit public input to create and implement a social and economic equity plan. A plan shall be created no later than October 15, 2021, and will include guidelines to determine how to assess which communities have been disproportionately impacted, how to assess if a person is a member of a community disproportionately impacted, and proposed incentives to promote social and economic equity for applicants, licensees, and cannabis industry employees

How to Apply for a License in New Mexico

New Mexico has an online application portal. There’s a streamlined online system for people to submit their application. Currently, only cannabis producers are able to apply.

After an application is submitted to the system, regulators have 90 days to issue a determination.

Licensing Requirements

There are a lot of requirements applicants will have to comply with. You can find all the licensing requirements in the new rules adopted by New Mexico.

The main things you would need to be aware of is state and local laws. You must comply with state and local law and assure the Division that you have a plan to comply with all the pertinent regulations.

After that, your team needs to undergo a criminal history screening, and you will need to prepare a wide array of plans such as:

• Security plan
• Plan for the recall of cannabis
• Plan for the chain of custody
• Plan for the wastage of cannabis and cannabis products
• Plan for the transportation of cannabis.
• Fire safety plan
• Construction plan

Further, as of September 2021, any applicant looking to apply for a producer license will need to include their contact information which must include:

• Applicant’s full legal name;
• Applicant’s date of birth, if applicable;
• Applicant’s mailing address;
• Applicant’s contact telephone number;
• Applicant’s contact email address;
• Applicant’s business physical address and mailing address, if different;
• Applicant’s business legal name, including a DBA name if applicable;
• Applicant’s business web address, if applicable;
• Applicant’s business hours of operation;
• Name and contact information for each controlling person; and
• Demographic data pursuant to the Cannabis Regulation Act;
• Proof the applicant or each controlling person is at least 21 years of age, which shall include identification issued by a federal or state government that includes the name, date of birth, and picture of the applicant or controlling person;

NEW MEXICO CANNABIS LICENSE INFORMATION

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Licensing Fees

Every application for the issuance or renewal of the following licenses shall be accompanied by an annual licensing fee in the following specified amounts:

• Cannabis courier license: $250 annually; Each additional licensed premises of the licensee: $100 annually
• Cannabis testing laboratory license: $2,500 annually; Each additional licensed premises of the licensee: $1,000 annually
• Cannabis manufacturer license: $2,500 annually; Each additional licensed premises of the licensee: $1,000 annually
• Cannabis producer license: $2,500 annually; Each additional licensed premises of the licensee: $1,000 annually
• Cannabis retailer license: $2,500 annually; Each additional licensed premises of the licensee: $1,000 annually
• Cannabis research laboratory license: $2,500 annually; Each additional licensed premises of the licensee: $1,000 annually
• Vertically integrated cannabis establishment license: $7,500 annually; Each additional licensed premises of the licensee: $1,000 annually
• Cannabis producer microbusiness license: License fees for cannabis producer microbusinesses shall be determined by the number of plants growing under each license.
  1. Licensees growing 100 plants or less: $500 annually
  2. Licensees growing 101 to 200 plants: $1,000 annually
• Integrated cannabis microbusiness license: License fees for integrated cannabis microbusinesses shall be determined by the number of activities conducted under each license. Activities considered are defined by the Cannabis Regulation Act and entail:

1. 1. 1. Production of cannabis at a single licensed premises, provided that the person shall not possess more than two hundred total mature cannabis plants at any one time;
      2. Manufacture of cannabis products at a single licensed premises;
      3. Sale and transportation of only cannabis products produced or manufactured by that person;
      4. Operation of only one retail establishment; or
      5. Couriering of cannabis products to qualified patients, primary caregivers or reciprocal participants or directly to consumers.
         1. Two activities: $1,000 annually
         2. Three activities: $1,500 annually
         3. Four activities: $2,000 annually
         4. Five activities $2,500 annually

• Cannabis consumption area: $2,500 annually

License Duration

The licensure period of a license from the date of approval is of 12 months. Unless otherwise renewed, suspended or revoked, a license expires at 11:59 p.m. on the day indicated on the license as the expiration date or other written notification by the division.

To timely renew a license, a completed license renewal application and annual license fee set forth in 16.8.11 NMAC shall be received by the division from the licensee no earlier than 60 calendar days before the expiration of the license and no later than 30 days before the expiration of the license through the division’s electronic licensing portal. Failure to receive a notice for license renewal from the division does not relieve a licensee of the obligation to renew all licenses as required. In the event a license renewal application is not submitted and approved prior to the license expiration date, the licensee must not sell, transfer, transport, manufacture, test, or distribute any medical or commercial cannabis or cannabis products until the license is renewed. Upon the nonrenewal of a license, the division may initiate disciplinary action pursuant to the Uniform Licensing Act, Section 61-1-1 et seq., NMSA 1978.

If you need counseling on the cannabis industry, do not hesitate to take our survey, and also don’t miss out on our Marijuana Legalization Map where you can browse the current status of laws in every state in the United States and see all our posts on each of them.

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