The big names have been moving into Nevada at lightning speed. Curaleaf, Green Growth Brands, Green Thumb Industries and Acreage Holdings have all landed mega-deals with dispensary chains in the Silver State during the past year, and were on their way to overtaking its booming recreational industry.<\/p>\n
But last month, the few locally-owned cannabis stores left were offered a glimmer of hope after a Las Vegas judge ruled to pump the breaks on issuing over 60 new dispensary licenses primarily to the major four North American companies. Clark County District Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez on Aug. 23 determined that the state\u2019s cannabis regulating body \u2014 the\u00a0Department of Taxation<\/a>\u00a0\u2014\u00a0acted beyond its legal authority<\/a>\u00a0while scoring over 460 applications for 61 new dispensary licenses last fall. In a 24-page injunction to temporarily stop the licenses from being issued, Gonzalez said the department\u2019s illegal actions were \u201cfatal to the application process.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe Department of Taxation acted beyond its scope of authority with it arbitrarily and capriciously replaced mandatory requirements for (legal marijuana),\u201d the judge wrote.<\/p>\n Among violations, Gonzalez found the taxation department removed a necessary background check for some applicants, changed requirements for location and building codes, improperly trained temporary workers hired to score the applications and let personal relationships between department staff and business executives from the cannabis industry affect scoring.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Silver State<\/a>\u00a0is one of just five recreational marijuana states to limit dispensary licenses, and recent sales of the licenses suggest each is worth at least $10 million, making such a purchase possible mostly for mega-corporations with millions in capital. Ballot Question 2,\u00a0approved by Nevada voters in 2016<\/a>, allows for about 130 total dispensaries to be open by the end of 2020, based on the state\u2019s current population. That means only 64 new stores could be added to the 66 dispensaries already open statewide.<\/p>\n Curaleaf<\/a>, which purchased a vertically-integrated dispensary, production and cultivation facility from Las Vegas-based Acres for $70 million earlier this year, last month also added Grassroots to its portfolio for a whopping $875 million. Operating in Nevada for just two years, Grassroots won seven of the 61 dispensary licenses in last year\u2019s contest.<\/p>\n Curaleaf spokeswoman Megan Bishop said the injunction threatens to slow the company\u2019s \u201caccelerated expansion strategy,\u201d but noted the injunction could be thrown out as early as next month.<\/p>\n A representative from Green Growth Brands,\u00a0which last year bought The Source\u2019s three dispensaries for just over $70 million<\/a>\u00a0and won seven more dispensary licenses in the recent draw, said the company would wait to comment on the litigation.<\/p>\n The few Nevada owned companies still remaining in the business were largely unsuccessful in the dispensary license lottery, but said the newly established injunction gives a light at the end of the tunnel.<\/p>\n Bob Groesbeck, who opened the 16,200 square-foot\u00a0Planet 13 mega-dispensary<\/a>\u00a0last November, is among those holding his breath. Groesbeck, whose dispensary bills itself as the world\u2019s largest legal cannabis store, applied for five licenses, finishing just outside the winner\u2019s circle for all of them. He said he was shocked to come up empty handed.<\/p>\n Since using his only dispensary license to open one of Sin City\u2019s flagship cannabis stores last year, Groesbeck has since made Planet 13 one of the few dispensaries worldwide to add a coffee shop and pizzeria. Unlike his local competitors, nearly all of whom have cashed in their successful marijuana stores by selling them to out-of-state and Canadian corporations, Groesbeck plans to keep Planet 13 Nevada-owned and operated.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s something to be said about being from here,\u201d Groesbeck said. \u201cWe\u2019re Nevadans, we know how a Las Vegas business works and how to meet tourists\u2019 expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n Frank Hawkins, a former NFL running back who owns\u00a0Nevada Wellness Center Dispensary in Las Vegas<\/a>, believes if the results of the recent lottery are upheld, the few remaining locally owned dispensaries will be forced to merge or sell as bigger corporations\u2019 assets multiply. Hawkins, a Las Vegas native who applied for four licenses, but received none, is one of nearly a dozen plaintiffs hoping the injunction leads to an eventual re-scoring.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s compelling evidence the state erred many times,\u201d he said. \u201cThe process should be thrown out and they should have to do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n TELL US,<\/strong>\u00a0do you think the cannabis licensing process in legal markets is fair?<\/p>\n The post Injunction on Nevada Dispensaries Offers Hope for Mom-and-Pop Shops<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The big names have been moving into Nevada at lightning speed. Curaleaf, Green Growth Brands, Green Thumb Industries and Acreage Holdings have all landed mega-deals with dispensary chains in the Silver State during the past year, and were on their way to overtaking its booming recreational industry. But last month,Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11891,50,5833,170,1005,26],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38056"}],"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\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38056"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38056\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38057,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38056\/revisions\/38057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Injunction on Nevada Dispensaries Offers Hope for Mom-and-Pop Shops<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"