A New Mexico medical marijuana patient is challenging rules regarding purchase restrictions for consumers and plant-count limits for producers, an action that could bolster MMJ businesses.
The request for court intervention was filed on behalf of medical marijuana patient and cannabis advocate Jason Barker, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican.
New Mexico’s new adult-use cannabis law permits consumers to buy up to 2 ounces of cannabis at a time, and the legal challenge argues that those purchase limits should override current purchase restrictions for medical marijuana patients, according to the newspaper and NM Political Report.
MMJ patients in New Mexico currently may purchase only 8 ounces every 90 days.
“The law is clear, all medical cannabis patients may purchase at least two-ounces of medical cannabis at any one time, tax free, beginning on June 29, 2021,” Barker’s lawyer and Democratic state Sen. Jacob Candelaria, noted in a news release.
However, New Mexico regulators reportedly contend that the medical marijuana purchase limits won’t change until adult-use sales begin, which is expected next year.
Candelaria also told the New Mexican that a 1,750-plant cap on medical marijuana producers infringes on patients’ rights by increasing prices and reducing supply.
However, New Mexico regulators recently told licensed MMJ businesses that the plant-count limit would be increased on June 29.
