ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Many New Mexicans have been celebrating cannabis, and the pop culture holiday, 4/20. A lot of local cannabis shops held events with food trucks and special sales. 

As the years have gone on, there have been more shops to choose from, and total sales in New Mexico topped a billion dollars last month.

“I’m from Taos. So you go to Taos, there’s probably like, about 10 that opened. It’s crazy,” said Brittany Struck, store manager of Dreamz Dispensary. 

Struck is talking about cannabis shops in New Mexico. It seems like they’re a dime a dozen these days, on every street corner and shopping center.

On Saturday, the Dreamz Dispensary on Lomas hosted a 4/20 celebration.  Struck says the party is a like a celebration of all the good she’s seen medical cannabis do over the years. 

“I heard all these awesome stories, you know about cancer, you know, medical helping cancer patients. People have anxiety, ADHD, OCD. My brother, he has Tourette’s, and he uses cannabis, and it helps him,” said Struck. 

Recreational marijuana was legalized in our state back in 2021. Dreamz Dispensary opened last September, joining the dozens of shops in the metro. 

Mary Galaviz specializes in finding the right type of cannabis for your needs. She says one thing she’s noticing about many cannabis shops is that some are not as well-versed in all the products as others. 

“Other things I’ve heard are that they’re not providing information on how it benefits your body. How it benefits your body, your mind the organs and like what it can do for you as far as healing and becoming more receptive to your body,” said Galaviz. 

According to the Cannabis Reporting Online Portal, cannabis sales in New Mexico for March of this year totaled over $52,507,206.07. Adult-use sales accounted for most of that $39,464,523.16. 

Struck says even with all the new shops, she feels like there’s enough business to go around, especially on 4/20.

“If you know what you’re doing in the business, and you know the laws, regulations, you have a good chance of being successful. I feel like a lot of people got legalized, and they have money, and they’re just like, ‘Let’s open one,’” said Struck. 

The Cannabis Reporting Online Portal shows in March 2023 medical sales that month totaled just over $15 million. Nonmedical adult-use sales totaled close to $32.5 million dollars. 

In April 2022, the data shows the adult-use sales were barely over $22 million. Medical sales were a lot higher, closer to $17 million. 

The Cannabis Reporting Online Portal also shows there’s a total of 1,027 dispensaries across New Mexico right now.