Many marijuana stores are popping up across the state of New Mexico but they can’t open just yet. Those approved by the state can open on April 1st.
Over a hundred applications have rolled in, with some already approved. The Cannabis Control Division received the first retail applications on Monday, December 6, 2021. Entrepreneurs can open their doors on April 1, 2022, with an approved license.
“There’s no limit to the amount of licenses that can be issued as long as they’re able to meet the law in the Cannabis Regulation Act and the rules and requirements set forth by the Division and the Department,” explained Victor Reyes, Deputy Superintendent of the Regulation & Licensing Department.
No limit by definition means that the Cannabis Control Division can approve countless retail licenses and New Mexicans could theoretically see pot shops on every street across the state. “We have so much interest in our in, in folks who are applying to be part of this industry,” Reyes said. “And that’s because it’s an industry like none other.”
Using New Mexico’s state website, KRQE plotted every address in Albuquerque where retail license applicants are hoping to open a shop on April 1. So far, there are more than 80 of them.
The Cannabis Regulation Act gives every local government the discretion to choose where a pot shop can be located. Specific to Albuquerque, recreational cannabis can’t be sold within 300 feet of a school or daycare and shops have to be 600 feet apart from each other.
“We don’t want concentrations of certain businesses in certain places,” Albuquerque City Councilor Isaac Benton said.
