Marijuana Masquerade: Disguised cannabis illegally peddled at New Mexico convenience stores

From the day recreational marijuana was legalized, someone was out there trying to cheat the system. That’s why lawmakers imposed stringent safeguards to regulate all aspects of the new industry including licensing, lab testing, labeling requirements, and a ban on sales to children. That’s the way it’s supposed to work. But the reality today is a nightmare that has state officials scrambling. If you want to buy marijuana today, you don’t have to go to a licensed dispensary. Visit any number of gas stations or convenience stores across New Mexico and you’ll find racks of candy, chips, cokes and cannabis.

“It’s illegal. It’s illicit. Whatever words you want to use, it’s black market cannabis,” Duke Rodriguez says. Rodriguez is CEO for Ultra Health, the largest licensed cannabis producer in the state.

They get away with it by disguising bootleg marijuana in packaging that falsely identifies the contents as hemp. Cannabis and hemp look alike, but chemically they are vastly different. The only way to tell the difference is by having the product tested in a laboratory. Because hemp is not psycho active and won’t get you high, it can be sold anywhere including gas stations.A KRQE News 13 investigation finds New Mexico being flooded with millions of dollars worth of illicit weed masquerading as hemp. For example KRQE News 13 purchased a pre-rolled hemp cigarette called “Permanent Marker” at the Quick Track convenience store on Wyoming. We took it to Rio Grande Analytics for lab testing. Lab Director Barry Dungan says test results show the product is “not” properly labeled.  “That is 25% THC. It’s labeled as hemp. And that is absolutely not a hemp product. That is a marijuana product,” Dungan says. If a child gets his hand on that product, “they will absolutely get high from that,” Dungan said.

The Grass Station’s Smoke Shop sells a hemp labeled product called Cheech and Chong’s 8-Gelato Flower. Rio Grande Analytics’ lab tests show the product contains 26.5% THC which is potent, high grade marijuana in disguise. “That is pure and simple cannabis. Disregard anything that’s printed on the package. It’s not accurate. They know it. It’s being sold as hemp to skirt the entire system, avoid any kind of supervision, any kind of regulation,” Ultra Health’s Duke Rodriguez says.

Allsup’s on Indian School sells a hemp labeled e-cigarette (vape) called ‘SkyWalker’. Lab tests show the product contains not only marijuana but also a substantial amount of a chemical called HHC (hexahydrocannabinol).  HHC is a Schedule I substance under the DEA’s Controlled Substances Act. “I am shocked to find that there. That is a Schedule I substance and the fact that it’s sold in gas stations or can be bought in stores online is a huge red flag,” Rio Grande Analytics Lab Director Barry Dungan says.