House Bill 12 of New Mexico, otherwise known as the New Mexico Cannabis Control Act, defines cannabis establishments that grow small quantities of cannabis plants as cannabis microbusinesses. Section 2 (K) 1 of the Cannabis Control Act specifies that a cannabis microbusiness shall not possess more than 99 matured plants of cannabis at a time. However, cannabis microbusinesses are allowed to grow up to two hundred plants of cannabis.
Section 6 (D) subsection 6 and 7 of the New Mexico Cannabis Control Act authorizes the Cannabis Control Division to license the two types of marijuana microbusiness licenses in New Mexico. These licenses include:
New Mexico started issuing licenses for the New Mexico Medical Cannabis Program on October 1, 2021. Therefore it is illegal for any cannabis cultivator, manufacturer, distributor, or retailer to operate a microbusiness without obtaining a license. The Cannabis Producer Microbusiness License may be obtained by marijuana business establishments that cultivate 200 plants of marijuana or less. Cannabis establishments that engage in two to five marijuana activities may obtain the Integrated Cannabis Microbusiness License.
The New Mexico Cannabis Control Division provides a checklist of documents that applicants for commercial marijuana producer licenses must supply before being granted a license. The applicants must upload these documents on the online license application portal of the New Mexico Regulation & Licensing Department. Applicants are required to upload documents containing the following details for the cannabis microbusiness licenses they seek to obtain:
The applicant must also upload the following documents for each business premises they intend to use for the cannabis microbusiness:
The diagram is also required to include the following:
The diagram is required to be in black-and-white print and must be drawn to scale. If the proposed premises for cannabis establishment is only a portion of the property, the diagram should indicate which areas of the property will be used for the marijuana business. The diagram should also show the activities performed in the remaining areas of the property. If a single portion of the property is planned to accommodate two or more licensed facilities, the applicant must explain in detail how they plan to manage the operations of the two or more licensed facilities on the property. For clarity, the explanation should be provided using the aid of the diagram. There may also be a case where the proposed premises is located on a residential property. The diagram should show the designated buildings for the residence and the premises.
The New Mexico Cannabis Control Department also requires applicants to upload documents certifying that:
Applicants for cannabis microbusiness licenses will be required to pay licensing fees and premises fees when submitting their completed applications. The licensing and premises fees are non-refundable.
Applicants may also visit the Regulation and Licensing Department of the New Mexico Cannabis Control Division at their physical office at:
New Mexico Cannabis Control Division
Regulation & Licensing Department
2550 Cerrillos Road
Santa Fe, NM 87505
Phone number: (505) 476-4500
Applicants can also mail inquiries to the Regulation and Licensing Department at RLD.CannabisControl@state.nm.us.
The Cannabis Control Division determines the annual license fees payable by Cannabis Producer Microbusinesses based on the number of marijuana plants they cultivate. The different annual license fees payable under the two categories of cannabis microbusiness licenses are stated below:
Cannabis Producer Microbusiness license:
Integrated Cannabis Microbusiness License:
Marijuana microbusinesses in New Mexico do not need to hold multiple cannabis licenses to engage in different marijuana business activities. Cannabis microbusiness license applicants who wish to run different cannabis businesses simultaneously may apply for the Integrated Cannabis Microbusiness License. The Integrated Cannabis Microbusiness License authorizes licensees to engage in any or all the cannabis activities stated below:
However, a cannabis microbusiness license applicant must state all the cannabis activities they want to engage in while applying for the license. The number of activities indicated by the applicant will determine the annual license fees that they will be required to pay to the New Mexico Cannabis Control Division.