New Mexico has approved 1,000 cannabis licenses in about a year, 40% to minorities

New Mexico has approved more than 1,000 licenses for businesses to manufacture, produce, test and sell cannabis in the first year-plus of the new industry.

The vast majority of those who hold a controlling interest in those businesses — 70 percent — are men, and 67 percent report they are white, according to a presentation Tuesday before lawmakers on the Legislature’s interim Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee.

Thirty-eight percent of those who identified as white also cited some Latino, Hispanic or Spanish origin, according to the report.