Locally-owned dispensaries in Sunland Park struggle to keep up with the cannabis industry’s economic boom

SUNLAND PARK, New Mexico (KVIA) -- Dispensaries in Sunland Park have made over $57 million for the municipality, since cannabis was legalized in New Mexico nearly two years ago. Now, locally-owned retailers are having trouble keeping up with that economic boom.

"Once cannabis was legalized and the money started rolling in immediately, we started to see tons of development. So now there's a lot of plans in the works for a lot of big, big businesses," said Steven Bruck, partial owner of YerbaViva. "There's a lot of competition up the street and it's been kind of difficult to get the ball rolling."

When cannabis was legalized state-wide in April 2022, large corporations almost immediately began recreational sales in Sunland Park. Bruck said that makes it difficult for locally-owned dispensaries to keep up.

"We're just three local guys and we really, really want to get in touch with the local cannabis community and help build the cannabis culture around here and uplift a lot of the local business owners here," Bruck said. "To encourage other people to shop local is to is to help your neighbors, to help people around you. You don't always know how many steps removed away you are from the person that you're helping when you're shopping locally."