Less Than A Week After Legalizing Marijuana In Nevada, They’re Already Running Out Of Weed

This whole legalization of marijuana in the great state of Nevada seems to be going swimmingly. A little too swimmingly actually. Nevada legalized marijuana on July 1, 2017, but they are reports that they are already running out of weed. In less than a week. Shocking, but not that shocking because of important factors such as Las Vegas is in Nevada. Since the dispensaries opened near Las Vegas, they’ve been welcomed with lines out the door and even around the buildings.

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The depletion of marijuana is such a big deal that Governor Brian Sandoval has endorsed a “statement of emergency” that will allow a “fast track approval process” for distributors. Imagine a state of emergency because you’re low on weed?

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“Based on reports of adult-use marijuana sales already far exceeding the industry’s expectations at the state’s 47 licensed retail marijuana stores, and the reality that many stores are running out of inventory, the Department must address the lack of distributors immediately. Some establishments report the need for delivery within the next several days,” said department spokeswoman Stephanie Klapstein in an email. On Thursday, the Nevada Tax Commission will vote on easing and speeding up the current regulations to get chronic into the hands of weed-starving Nevadians.

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The state has millions of reasons to allow more dispensaries. By selling copious amounts of ganja in such a short amount of time, the state has made a shit-ton of money. The Nevada Dispensary Association states that there has been near $3 million in marijuana sales in only a week, which equates to about to approximately $1 million in tax revenue for the state. Initial estimates touted that legal weed would generate at a minimum $60 million in revenue for the state over the next two years and they’ve already made a million dollars in a week from only 47 dispensaries.

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“The business owners in this industry have invested hundreds of millions of dollars to build facilities across the state.” Klapstein said. “They have hired and trained thousands of additional employees to meet the demands of the market. Unless the issue with distributor licensing is resolved quickly, the inability to deliver product to retail stores will result in many of these people losing their jobs and will bring this nascent market to a grinding halt. A halt in this market will lead to a hole in the state’s school budget.”

The lack of cheeba is actually not because there is enough product, but rather red tape. When Nevada legalized weed they gave the state’s wholesale liquor distributors exclusive rights to distribute the legal pot for the first 18 months and not marijuana companies. Only seven seven liquor distributors have applied to do the job and none of them have obtained a cannabis license that is required. The Department of Taxation attempted to license outside distributors but they were hit with a lawsuit and court order to use only liquor distributors. As soon as these legal issues are remedied then Nevada should expect to be swimming in hippie lettuce once again.

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[Uproxx]