Seth Oxhandler
Chief Science Officer
High Five Edibles
Santa Fe, NM
April 1 may have been April Fool’s Day, but here in New Mexico it was the first day of recreational cannabis and let me tell you; it was no joke.
High 5 Edibles, owned and operated by me and my wife, Brianna Oxhandler, is what the state refers to as a legacy license holder. That clearly makes us “OGs.” Having been granted a license to participate in the medical vertical seven years ago, the team at High 5 has been honing our craft ever since. Brianna’s accomplishments — including about seven different varieties of confectionary perfection — have earned her referrals from the company that makes some of their chocolate-making equipment.
Over the last half-decade, High 5 Edibles has achieved several “firsts” for the industry. We have been able to enjoy the process of continually enhancing our offerings that, until now, have only been available in about three dozen stores. All that building and tweaking seems to have been a dress rehearsal for the opening of the recreational market.
Where High 5 has traditionally worked to fill orders as they come in, we are now working to keep up with orders. Previously, we were pigeonholed in a one-to-one relationship with dispensaries where they gave us material and we were only allowed to use it for product specifically for them. Now that we have our own stock of oil and can use that in products for a variety of companies, it’s a whole new business.
The New Mexico Department of Licensing is also still issuing licenses. As new licensees are coming online, it is exacerbating the current, difficult situation. No new stores that are opening have material to turn into our key ingredient. And although High 5 does have some inventory, it is not without limits. We are well positioned to work biomass into highly refined oil — but that biomass we will be looking for has not yet been produced.
We are trusting that in short time the current crop of licensees will be able to help us backfill the current needs of both medical patients and the recreational market.