It has been a year since Nevada launched its recreational cannabis market on July 1, 2017 \u2014 giving way to strong retail pot sales and tax revenue that have surpassed what analysts originally predicted. Some of the latest figures show that the state raked in around $340 million in sales within the first 10 months of operation \u2014 $55 million of which has been deposited into the state\u2019s coffers. What\u2019s more is thousands of new jobs have been created since adults 21 and over were officially cut loose from their black market ties. All of this has happened with \u201clittle change\u201d and \u201cno issues,\u201d according to State Senator Tick Segerblom, the lawmaker largely credited for supporting the cannabis debate at the State Capitol. Segerblom recently told the Las Vegas Journal that, \u201cthere\u2019s been virtually no issues\u201d and everything has gone \u201camazingly smooth.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the market did not start out that way. Last year, just eight months after the voters passed an initiative to fully legalize the leaf, there were some heated times brought about by the state\u2019s liquor wholesalers. The beef asserted that the alcohol trade had first dibs on the distribution of recreational marijuana, as per the language of Question 2. The initiative gives the alcohol industry exclusive distribution rights for the first 18 months.<\/p>\n
The situation caused the state to run out of weed within the first two weeks of legal sales. This ultimately led Governor Brian Sandoval to issue a \u201cstatement of emergency<\/a>\u201d (not to be confused with a state\u00a0of emergency) that allowed more distributors than just the alcohol trade to put pot products on dispensary shelves. The Nevada Supreme Court was eventually brought in to settle the issue.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s probably the most significant hiccup,\u201d Stephanie Klapstein, spokeswoman for the Department of Taxation,\u00a0told<\/a>\u00a0Watchdog.org. Other than that, \u201cwe haven\u2019t had any significant issues come up.\u201d<\/p>\n There have been some ridiculous developments emerge since the dawning of legal sales. For instance, the Nevada Gaming Commission, back in April, amended its policy on\u00a0gambling-while-intoxicated<\/a>\u00a0to include players under the influence of marijuana.<\/p>\n The new rule prohibits casinos from allowing patrons who appear \u201cvisibly intoxicated\u201d on cannabis from placing bets. The commission said it wanted to make it crystal-clear across the board under all regulations that \u2018impairment\u2019 is not just alcohol; it\u2019s being impaired by drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n Following the ruling,\u00a0Caesar\u2019s Entertainment<\/a>\u00a0made the decision to eliminate marijuana from its pre-employment drug screen.\u00a0 The company said back in May that, \u201cWe just felt that given the changes in laws that were happening across the country, it was prudent for us to take a different point of view on marijuana.\u201d Still, while it seemed the casino was becoming more pot-friendly when it comes to its potential employees, the rub on this policy change is \u201cIf you\u2019re high at work, we will test. And if you have the presence of drugs in your bloodstream, it can be cause for dismissal.\u201d<\/p>\n At best, Nevada\u2019s recreational marijuana market is a work in progress. Although the herb is legal to possess, it still cannot be consumed anywhere other than a private residence. Cannabis advocates have been pushing to establish some sort of social use system that would allow marijuana consumers to partake in certain public facilities. But so far, nothing has been agreed upon.<\/p>\n Senator Segerblom argues that it is unfair to lure tourists in and not give them anywhere they can legally consume. \u201cIf we\u2019re really going to advertise and bring people from around the world to raise our sales, we have to have places where (resorts) can say \u2018Go over there and use it,\u2019 \u201d he\u00a0said<\/a>.<\/p>\n Overall, Nevada experienced a much better first year with its recreational cannabis market than any other legal state. But that hasn\u2019t stopped the naysayers from discounting its success.<\/p>\n \u201cOne year is simply not enough time to truly grasp the damaging effects legalization has on a state,\u201d Kevin Sabet, co-founder of Smart Approaches to Marijuana told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. \u201cIt will take decades for a full assessment.\u201d<\/p>\n TELL US<\/strong>, have you experienced cannabis in Nevada yet?<\/p>\n The post Nevada Hits 1-Year Anniversary for Recreational Marijuana<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
It has been a year since Nevada launched its recreational cannabis market on July 1, 2017 \u2014 giving way to strong retail pot sales and tax revenue that have surpassed what analysts originally predicted. Some of the latest figures show that the state raked in around $340 million in salesContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[50,170,228,687,26,4835],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27550"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27550"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27550\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27551,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27550\/revisions\/27551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Nevada Hits 1-Year Anniversary for Recreational Marijuana<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"