Strong demand from out-of-state consumers shopping in border areas as well as tourists pumped New Mexico adult-use marijuana sales to a record $25 million in October.
With another $14.7 million in medical cannabis sold, total sales reached $39.8 million last month, the Rio Rancho Observer reported.
New Mexico cannabis merchants – the state has 507 licensed retailers – reported $161 million in total sales since adult-use sales began in April, according to the latest figures from the Cannabis Control Division.
Two trends appeared in the data:
- With adult-use cannabis available, New Mexicans are buying less medical marijuana. With 10,000 fewer registered patients, MMJ sales declined to $14.7 million in October after a high of $17.5 million in May, according to the data.
- Adult-use retailers in areas within driving distance of population centers in Texas – where marijuana in nearly all forms remains illegal – remain popular, though tourists from far away are also buying cannabis. One-third of all sales occurred in border towns. Three small towns near the West Texas border accounted for nearly $4 million in sales in October, the Observer reported.
Sales in Albuquerque, the state’s largest city, reached $8.1 million in October, when an estimated 750,000 tourists visited the city for the famous International Balloon Fiesta.
