The tiny town of Sunland Park New Mexico is raking in the dough thanks to its booming cannabis industry.

Photo by Wesley Gibbs on Unsplash
Photo by Wesley Gibbs on Unsplash
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But what does that mean for all of the other fun vices that can be found in this sunny little town of sin?

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If you have ever been to the real sin city you can imagine the feeling you get when you step off the plane at McCarran airport and into the weird wide world of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Just picture it, the bright lights of the strip at night, the bustling restaurants and especially bars, the pungent aroma of tobacco smoke wafting all around you, and now the sickly sweet musk of marijuana that is now legal to sell and smoke for recreational use.

Photo by David Vives on Unsplash
Photo by David Vives on Unsplash
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Not what you just imagined is the picture of Las Vegas as it is right now, but that exact same image could be the future of Sunland Park, New Mexico.

NM Cannabis Control Division
NM Cannabis Control Division
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According to a report from the Albuquerque Journal, in just the past 8 months that adult recreational use of cannabis has been approved, more than 1,000 licenses to sell cannabis products have been approved, and many of those licenses have gone to the plethora of dispensaries that have popped up in Sunland Park, which is a city of just 17,000 people.

"In Sunland Park, adult-use sales have also increased steadily since April, right along with the state’s overall sales numbers, according to Cannabis Control Division data. In April, for instance, adult-use sales in Sunland Park stood at nearly $1.2 million. And, in October, the most recent month with sales data, recreational cannabis sales in the border town stood at more than $1.5 million."

Photo by Elsa Olofsson on Unsplash
Photo by Elsa Olofsson on Unsplash
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Sunland Park already has a casino, it's already got plenty of places to buy alcohol, and now it has the Mary Jane. It looks like Sunland Park, New Mexico has the potential to become our own mini Las Vegas next door.

Let me know what you think at nico@klaq.com

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