Couple opens dispensary

FORT SUMNER — Fort Sumner’s first legal cannabis dispensary opened Saturday.

“Smokin’ Mike’s,” a recreational and medical dispensary, is owned and operated by local couple Fernando and Ashley Lopez.

The business is named for the Lopezes’ nephew, the late Michael Gutierrez, who died from injuries sustained in an attack by two suspects. Two Fort Sumner men remain in jail awaiting trial in the incident.

The Lopezes said they have sunk their hearts, souls and their own money into creating the dispensary. The business is the culmination of more than a year of work.

With 28 years in construction since graduating from Fort Sumner High School in 1997 — most of it out of town — Fernando said he saw the need for a cannabis dispensary in Fort Sumner and the chance to transition to a business in town, as well as the opportunity for him and his wife to become their own bosses.

Ashley is a 2007 FSHS grad who has worked in the restaurant business for 20 years. She said she was hesitant at first, but her husband’s passion for owning their own business helped convince her.