Sales skyrocketed at New Mexico dispensaries during the first week the state made recreational marijuana legal, according to a report by the El Paso NPR affiliate KTEP. Not surprisingly, those at the Texas state line raked in some of the most substantial revenues.
Starting April 1, it became legal for adults in El Paso to buy up to two ounces of marijuana or other THC-containing products. Meanwhile, Texas still has one of the nation's most restrictive medical marijuana programs, and the GOP-controlled legislature seems to have little appetite for legalizing recreational use.
From April 1-7, New Mexico dispensaries sold more than $9.9 million in cannabis, KTEP reports, citing figures from the state's Cannabis Control Division. Some of the heftiest sales were in communities bordering Texas, even those that aren't major population centers, according to the station's number crunching.
Among its findings:
- Las Cruces, a half a mile from El Paso, raked in more than $530,410 in recreational weed sales the first week cannabis was legal.
- The southeast Mexico town of Hobbs, four miles from the border, made $338,992 during that period.
- Sunland Park, also near El Paso, pulled in $259,332 despite its tiny size.
