CANNABIS SALES ARE BOOMING IN NEW MEXICO WITH STORES SELLING NEARLY $25 MILLION WORTH OF RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA EACH MONTH. BUT A TARGET 7 INVESTIGATION FOUND SOME DISPENSARIES ARE NOT PLAYING BY THE RULES. AND THERE IS A SHORTAGE OF INSPECTORS TO ENFORCE LAWS. HERE’S JOHN CARDINAL. YOU SEE THEM ALL OVER THE STATE FROM CITY STREET CORNERS TO THE OPEN, MESA, NEW MEXICO, IS A HOT NEW MARKET. WE’RE BUILDING OUR WHOLE PROGRAM. IT’S REALLY EXPENSIVE TO BUILD IN YOUR SYSTEM. THERE ARE 580 CANNABIS DISPENSARIES THROUGHOUT THE LAND OF ENCHANTMENT POPPING UP. EVER SINCE THE STATE LEGALIZED RECREATIONAL CANNABIS MORE THAN A YEAR AGO. SOME SAY IT’S BEEN A TOUGH AND COMPETITIVE BUSINESS. IT’S ONLY FASTER. MAYBE THAT’S WHY YOU HAVE TO TOTALLY FIND SOMETHING TO BE A PART OF EVERYONE ELSE. AND THERE ARE LOTS OF RULES TO FOLLOW. IT’S A HIGHLY REGULATED MARKET. ANY STATE THAT WANTS TO GO TO A REGULATED ADULT USE MARKET OR A MEDICAL MARKET, IT HAS TO BE THAT THEY HAVE TO GROW IT WITHIN THE BORDERS OF THE STATE, AND IT CANNOT BE TRANSPORTED OUT OF THE STATE. BUT OUR TARGET SEVEN INVESTIGATION HAS FOUND THAT NOT EVERYONE IS FOLLOWING THE RULES, AND STATE OFFICIALS BELIEVE THAT SOME DISPENSARIES ARE SELLING OUT OF STATE PRODUCTS LIKE THIS, WHICH IN SOME CASES ARE PUTTING CONSUMERS AT RISK. SO WE WENT TO SEVERAL CANNABIS DISPENSARIES IN ALBUQUERQUE AND TOOK OUR FINDING TO THE STATE CANNABIS CONTROL DIRECTOR. THIS ONE IS CLEARLY BEEN IMPORTED FROM OUT OF STATE. WE BOUGHT WHAT IS CALLED JITTER JUICE FROM THIS CANNABIS DISPENSARY. IT’S A LIQUID FORM THC YOU INHALE WITH A VAPE PEN LIKE THIS. IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY, IT SHOWS A CALIFORNIA LABEL. IT’S CLEARLY MARKED THAT IT WAS MADE IN CALIFORNIA WITH A LICENSE COMPANY THAT’S NOT A NEW MEXICO COMPANY, AND THAT’S NOT ALLOWED UNDER NEW MEXICO’S LEGALIZATION LAW. AS CHAIRMAN OF THE GOVERNOR’S MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION GROUP, PAT DAVIS HELPED WRITE THE LAWS THAT WERE APPROVED BY THE LEGISLATURE. HE SAYS SOME NEW MEXICO DISPENSE TREES ARE BUYING MARIJUANA OUT OF STATE AND BRINGING IT TO NEW MEXICO BECAUSE IT’S CHEAPER THAN GETTING IT HERE. CALIFORNIA HAS GOT LOTS OF PRODUCERS AND THE COST OF CANNABIS IS ABOUT HALF. SO A SMART OPERATOR CAN GO TO CALIFORNIA, BUY A CASE OF THESE PRODUCTS FOR HALF OF WHAT THEY CAN BUY IN A ROUGHLY IN NEW MEXICO, SELLING IT IN MEXICO PRICES AND MAKE A LOT BIGGER MARGIN. DURING OUR INVESTIGATION, THE STATE ISSUED THE OWNERS OF THIS SHOP A NOTICE THAT THEY SUSPECTED FIVE DIFFERENT VIOLATIONS AFTER AGENTS PAID THE BUSINESS A VISIT, ALONG WITH SELLING OUT A STATE PRODUCT. RECORDS SHOW THE BUSINESS WAS NOT CORRECTLY LABELING ITS PRODUCT, NOR WAS IT KEEPING ACCURATE RECORDS. THEY FOUND A $33,000 DISCREPANCY OVER WHAT THEY SOLD AND WHAT WAS REPORTED TO THE STATE. NO CRIMINAL CHARGES HAVE BEEN FILED. THE BUSINESS HAS UNTIL NEXT WEEK TO REQUEST A HEARING TO CHALLENGE THE CHARGE AS THEY COULD FACE A SUSPENSION OF THEIR LICENSE. I WON’T DENY IT WAS THAT IT WAS THE BEST. WE CAUGHT UP WITH ONE OF THE STORES REPRESEN ADDITIVES OVER THE PHONE. SHE TOLD US THE PRODUCT WAS SOLD BY MISTAKE AND SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN AVAILABLE TO BUY. SHE SAID SHE IS ALSO WORKING WITH THE STATE TO MAKE SURE SHE’S IN COMPLIANCE. WHEN YOU JUST JUMP INTO SOMETHING AND YOU’RE OVERLY EXCITED ABOUT WHAT YOU’RE DOING, YOU’LL START TO THINK ABOUT, HEY, LET ME DO THIS. WE ALSO WENT TO THIS STORE AND PURCHASED THIS PACKAGE OF WHAT IS CALLED CRITICAL MASS. IT SAYS, WHAT’S IN HERE CONTAINS THC. IT DOESN’T INDICATE WHO THE MANUFACTURER WAS. IT DOESN’T GIVE AN EXPIRATION DATE. IT DOESN’T GIVE IT GIVES A POTENCY TEST. BUT IT DIDN’T SAY WHO DID THE POTENCY TEST OR WHO LAB DID THE POTENCY POTENCY TEST. AND SO THIS ONE IS VERY HIGHLY SUSPECT. WHAT SORT OF ISSUES COME IF YOU WERE TO CONSUME THESE PRODUCTS? THE PROBLEM IS YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT’S IN IT OR WHAT’S NOT WHAT’S IN IT OR NOT IN IT. THE DISPENSARY THAT SOLD US THIS PACKAGE HAS NOT BEEN CITED BY THE STATE. WE REACHED OUT TO THEM OVER THE PHONE. THEY WERE UNAVAILABLE FOR AN ON CAMERA INTERVIEW. THEY SAID THE PRODUCT WAS MADE HERE IN NEW MEXICO AND THEY WERE NOT AWARE OF THE LABELING ISSUES. WHAT YOU WANT TO LOOK FOR IS THE NEW MEXICO THC SYMBOL. IT’S RED. IT HAS NEW MEXICO ON IT. AND WHEN YOU READ THE LABEL, IT GIVES YOU THE NAME OF THE NEW MEXICO COMPANY THAT MADE IT AND A NEW MEXICO LICENSE NUMBER. DAVIS SAYS THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH PEOPLE TO ENFORCE THE STATE’S CANNABIS LAWS. THERE ARE ONLY EIGHT INSPECT ERS TO COVER THE ENTIRE STATE. IT’S MOSTLY A COMPLAINT DRIVEN PROCESS. SO IF YOU CALL THE CANNABIS DIVISION, YOU THINK YOU GOT SICK FROM A PRODUCT THAT THAT MADE YOU SICK. IF YOU FIND A PRODUCT LIKE THIS THAT CLEARLY IS FROM ANOTHER STATE, IF YOU REPORTED, THEY HAVE STAFF TO FOLLOW UP ON IT FOR TARGET SEVEN, I’M JOHN CARD KNOWING THE STATE CANNABIS CONTROL DIRECTOR TELLS US HE IS SEEKING TO GET FUNDI