Portales, New Mexico – New Mexico made over $300 million in sales a year after legalizing marijuana while the state collected over $27 million in excise taxes.

Southwest Organic Produce, a marijuana dispensary in Portales brought in over a $1 million in sales within that year. 

One man from Littlefield said he travels over 70 miles every few months to get his hands on marijuana and in his most recent trip and he spent over $200. 

“I mean, I’ll get thrown in jail for having this, you know, for a long time. So I mean it’s a risk to come over here but I mean to me, it’s worth it because I don’t have to deal with drug dealers and shady people,” said Rusty, who chose to stay anonymous on camera. 

As his tax dollars in sales go to New Mexico, the dispensary said customers from the Lone Star State are pretty common. In three months, SWOP in Portales has already made over a quarter million dollars in sales. 

“I see a lot of those IDs and a lot of them are from Texas. I mean we’re more accessible, we’re right next door and it’s a medicine, it helps, it’s not just for what other people think it’s for,” said Alexandrea Casaus, general manager of SWOP in Portales.

SWOP’s most popular location in Roswell brought in over $2 million in sales within the first year of legalization. It’s economic growth that Rusty said he wishes Texas would look into.

“When it comes to something like this, you’ve got to throw politics and you know, personal feelings and everything out. I mean, they could put that toward education or, you know, helping the homeless…There are a lot of different things they could do with this tax money,” said Rusty. 

Individuals who travel across state lines with marijuana are at risk of facing jail time.