Where can you buy marijuana in Las Cruces this spring?

Scroll to the bottom of this article for a list of businesses that have applied to grow and sell cannabis, provided by the city of Las Cruces.

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico - Recreational marijuana sales have not yet begun, but more than two dozen aspiring businesses have applied to grow or sell in Las Cruces.

From 'Budz Cannabis' to 'Zia Collective Dispensary,' at least 25 have submitted applications since February 2021, according to data obtained by ABC-7. The city has approved two licenses. Five applications are incomplete. The other 18 are in the inspection phase.

The aspiring businesses range from medical cannabis sales to cultivation to transporting cannabis. The would-be locations are spread across the city, from Valley Drive to Amador to Main Street.

In the heart of the city, Kwamé Ponschock and Brett Burke say they are prepared to open Sol Cannabis on April 1st, if everything goes according to plan.

“I came here to join the cannabis industry just to help people," Burke said.

"It’s something that’s calling me to help people and be able to bring a quality medication to the community, Ponschock said.

The two are almost finished revitalizing a century-old building just a block away from El Paseo, a troubled corridor that has an abandoned building on nearly every corner.

“We’ve been joking about it for the last couple of weeks about El Paseo becoming 'the green mile,'" Burke said.

“I love that folks are calling it the green mile already," said Councilwoman Johana Bencomo, who represents that part of town. "I really do want to support entrepreneurs who want to invest back into areas of our community that have been blighted."

"I would like the revitalization," Mayor Ken Miyagishima said. I don’t necessarily think that cannabis sales would revitalize it.”

He told ABC-7 that he would prefer restaurants on the street because he does not believe the city should 'profit off a substance that alters the mind.' Miyagishima, a democrat, has historically not supported marijuana, unlike his colleagues.

"I'm against burning everything," he joked. "Burning natural gas, burning oil, burning dope."

The owners of Sol Cannabis encourage anyone to try cannabis, once recreational sales start on April 1st.

"It's something that's really enriched my life," Ponschock said. "It's helped me further my life as part of the community."

BUSINESSES WHO HAVE APPLIED TO SELL OR GROW CANNABIS:

Cannabis License Applications in Las Cruces by Katie Bieri on Scribd