New Mexico Cannabis Market Enters Blackout Period as Tracking System Switch Begins

New Mexico’s cannabis industry enters a high-stakes transition today as the state begins replacing its longtime track-and-trace system, despite a lawsuit seeking to pause the change until the replacement is proven ready.

Beginning after 5 p.m. on Tuesday, the Cannabis Control Division will shut down BioTrack for growers, manufacturers, and laboratories so the agency can complete a full data backup. Retailers will still be able to sell existing stock through BioTrack, but they cannot receive new product. Testing labs will be blocked from accepting samples until around Aug. 31. The full cutover to the New Mexico Seed-to-Sale System, or NMS2S, is scheduled to unfold over the following days, with BioTrack permanently offline on Sept. 4.

State officials describe the interruption as lasting no more than six days. Industry leaders say those six days will freeze the legal supply chain at the worst possible moment, the start of outdoor harvest season.

On Aug. 21, Oasis Cannabis Co., The Grow NM, and the Cannabis Association of New Mexico filed suit in the Second Judicial District Court. They are asking a judge for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to keep BioTrack operating until the division demonstrates that NMS2S has been fully tested and is ready for statewide use. Plaintiffs argue that training materials arrived late, support systems remain incomplete, and forcing the switch now risks widespread compliance violations.

“There’s one company that I spoke with. They’ll lose over $100,000 being shut down for six days and have to lay off 11 employees,” Matt Kennicott, executive director of the Cannabis Association of New Mexico, told KOAT. Smaller operators across the state have reported plans to cut one to six workers, he said.

The Cannabis Control Division maintains the timeline is driven by necessity. The BioTrack contract expires in mid-September, and the agency has been preparing a replacement since 2024. Director Todd Stevens has said NMS2S, developed by Albuquerque-based Real Time Solutions, offers a cleaner interface, better inventory tracking, and clearer separation of medical and adult-use products at no added cost to licensees. Officials have stressed that retailers can continue sales during the migration window and that they do not expect a drop in tax revenue.

CANM had earlier asked the division to delay the switch until next spring so the industry could help test the new system. The division replied that state procurement rules made a longer extension impossible.

As of Tuesday morning, the transition remained on schedule, and the lawsuit was still pending. For the next several days, New Mexico’s regulated cannabis market will operate under severe limits while operators, regulators, and the courts sort out whether the new system is truly ready for the job.