I was really ecstatic to buy weed in Albuquerque after it was legalized in New Mexico in 2007.
The state needed time for the marijuana program to reach full incubation, but once we saw an increase in licenses being sold the weed industry started to explode in New Mexico.
However, we all complained about the money paid to cannabis doctors to receive recommendations for medical marijuana, along with the fees paid to the state once a year to renew our medical marijuana cards. Even after decades of struggling with black market cannabis, you’d think that medical marijuana patients would be more thankful for the safe and legal access they now have to the plant. And as long as one keeps their medical marijuana card and recommendation updated, cannabis can be bought from any dispensary in the state at any moment. For 10 years I bought my cannabis from medical dispensaries in Old Town, Quigley Park, Nob Hill, North Valley, Loma Del Rey, Sandia Heights, West Mesa, and other neighborhoods and suburbs of the Albuquerque metropolitan area. But now that recreational cannabis is legal in New Mexico, you no longer need a medical marijuana card to obtain legal weed in Albuquerque or any other city in the state. You simply pay a 12% tax on all recreational cannabis products, which isn’t too bad compared to some municipalities like Denver and Los Angeles where combined city and state taxes on cannabis are getting closer to 30% every year. Not to mention, the temperate and dry climate of Albuquerque is perfect for growing cannabis, provided the plants get ample water.