'Ending reefer madness'

TAOS - Bernie Ellis, who made national headlines in the early part of the century after the notorious federal bust of his Tennessee pot farm in 2002, gave away 25 pounds of high-grade cannabis in the parking lot of the Carnelian Center in Dixon early this month.

Ellis is a career state and federal epidemiologist best known through his work providing medical cannabis free to AIDS patients beginning in the 1980s. His unofficially sanctioned grow operation in Tennessee, and the hot water it landed him in - in federal court - is chronicled in a documentary called "The Blueberry Farmer."

"Last year, I fulfilled an almost lifelong dream by becoming a licensed cannabis micro-producer here," Ellis said in a statement. "This is the best place in the United States to grow cannabis.

"I invested heavily in building a latilla fence around my 1/4-acre grow patch and amending the soil with all the high-end amendments that are recommended. At harvest, I hired four very experienced trimmers who did an excellent job preparing my flowers for market.

"When I took samples of my 10 varieties to be tested for potency and cleanliness, the lab techs said that, at first glance, they thought that mine was an indoor grow operation because of the quality of the flowers," Ellis said in the statement. "All in all, I was quite pleased with the quality and quantity of the crop and the fact that my smiles were finally going to be legal."

Ellis soon discovered, however, that his passion for the flower was unmatched by the power of retail. In his words, "That's where the fun ended."

Several dispensaries offered Ellis well below market value for his product, belying an intense saturation of the cannabis market in New Mexico. Ellis said in an interview that competition is hindered mostly by federal prohibitions on cannabis that restrict interstate trade.

Standing at the tailgate to his bud-filled pickup truck in Dixon on Nov. 1, Ellis told the Taos News he would not grow another commercial crop. He recommended individuals who require medicinal cannabis - or those who use cannabis recreationally - learn to grow their own. 

"The first dispensary offered me $700 per pound for the three most potent strains (23-27 percent THC), $600 per pound for the next two, and nothing for the other five," Ellis said. "That dispensary owner was foolish and arrogant enough to tell me that my flowers would be sold for $4,500 per pound in his dispensaries.

"Needless to say, I did not sell to him," Ellis said. "My experience with other dispensaries has mirrored that first one, with all of the dispensaries planning a 300-600 percent-or-more markup when all they would have done is put my flowers in baggies and then carry bags of money to the bank.

"I have no desire to participate in this very unequal and unfair market," Ellis said.

In Dixon, about 50 people came out for Ellis' ganja giveaway. Two-thirds of the crowd raised their hands to indicate they were medical marijuana patients.

The crowd was older, with a decidedly antiestablishment point of view.

"It's beautiful, it's anti-capitalist - that's the real demon," said Drew Ridge of Peñasco. "I am cannabis. I been smokin' since I was aged 12."

Michael Paynter, an artist and self-described Texas ex-pat who lives near Peñasco said it was heartening to see his community gathered in an environment where cannabis use is normalized.

"It blows my mind. This is why I moved to New Mexico," he said. "In Texas, this would be totally incomprehensible."

Ellis encouraged the crowd in Dixon to grow their own cannabis. One cannabis plant grown with modern seed can easily produce a pound of flower. In New Mexico, a couple living together can legally grow 12 plants - six plants each. As Ellis noted, "That's a helluva lot of plants."

"Pot laws have disenfranchised more people than anything else," Ellis said. "Do this yourself if you can."