Cannabis businesses in New Mexico’s second largest city can set their own hours after the Las Cruces City Council voted against setting operating hours for adult-use cannabis sales.
City council members heard from the city attorney and the community May 2 before voting 6-1 to not establish operating hours for adult-use cannabis retailers that coincide with liquor sales, according to a KFOX14 report.
Mayor Ken Miyagishima cast the lone vote in favor of setting operating hours for adult-use sales, the news outlet reported.
“I am disappointed that council didn’t pass the law ordinance that will allow operating hours to coincide with liquor sales,” Miyagishima told KFOX14. “I think anytime you have that type of traffic, 24/7, that’s a lot, it’s a lot of stress on both the business owners, the employees, the city.”
Monday’s vote will allow adult-use cannabis retailers within Las Cruces to set their own business hours to meet consumer demand, which has increased since adult-use sales launched April 1.
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“Our busiest times happen to happen at 6:00, 7:30, right when we’re getting ready to start closing,” Derek Fields, a manager at a Las Cruces dispensary, told KFOX14. “If they limit our hours, even more, we’re just going to have a bigger problem.”