It was something once relegated to the shadows in back alleys and dimly lit street corners. But all that changed two years ago after lawmakers legalized recreational marijuana. In New Mexico today there are 13 times more cannabis stores than Starbucks. However, despite stringent laws and regulations a dark cloud hangs over the cannabis industry plagued by a thriving black market, flagrant criminal activity, and hundreds of millions of dollars.
It’s a throwback right out of the Old West where brazen desperados once roamed the territory with little fear of retribution. “It sounds like complete lawlessness but the reality is, it’s more true than not,” said Duke Rodriguez, CEO of Ultra Health, the largest licensed cannabis operation in New Mexico. “The industry is running amok,” said Will Glaspy, Executive Director of New Mexico HIDTA (High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas). “We gave a storefront to the drug cartel when we passed recreational marijuana,” State Rep. Bill Rehm said.
Consider the evidence, from Clovis to Santa Fe, Albuquerque to Torrance County. There are so many cannabis-related violations, that regulators at New Mexico’s Cannabis Control Division are powerless to curb the illicit activity. “It’s horrible. It’s not the idea that I have for New Mexico,” State Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Joseph Cervantes said. “We know there’s crime, massive crime worth millions of dollars right under our nose and we’re not willing to do anything about it,” Senator Cervantes said. [Read More @ KRQE]