ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —

Indy White is with Purlife, an Albuquerque-based medical marijuana dispensary now gearing up to serve the recreational market.

“What we’re trying to do is be able to grow on a larger scale to be able to serve more of New Mexicans, not just the medical cannabis patients,” White said.

Commercial recreational applications opened last Wednesday and, already, the New Mexico Licensing and Regulation Department is seeing big demand.

“So far, we have a total of 897 initial applications,” said Linda Trujillo, superintendent of the Licensing and Regulation Department.

Trujillo said they plan on approving as many applications as possible.

“There is no limit on the applications for licensure are not going to close and the number of licenses is not limited,” Trujillo said.

But Trujillo said those who apply need to be prepared.

“You must prove that you’ve got access to water rights or that you have access to a water municipality. You’re going to have to prove that,” Trujillo said.

Those who have been in the business for a while agree.

“The more you have, the better it’s going to make for a much stronger application. Absolutely. Another thing is to focus on some of the zoning restrictions, especially when it comes to growing, [Read More @ KOAT News]