Nevada Determined to Have Recreational Sales by July 1

Despite numerous setbacks to date, Nevada is still determined to move forward and allow recreational cannabis sales by July 1, and has found a way to do so.

According to the Associated Press, the concern regarding Nevada’s industry stalling was due to a temporary order issued by a judge last week that prevents the state from issuing licenses to distribute for existing businesses.

The anxiety surrounding Nevada’s moving forward was based on technicalities in the legal language. While a regulation passed by the Nevada Tax Commission in May was supposed to open up licensing beyond the alcohol industry, Wilson is claiming it is invalid. Since no alcohol companies have applied to sell cannabis, the judge argued that none could be approved. The judge first began investigating this issue when a group of alcohol wholesalers sued for the write to distribute cannabis.

However, Nevada has now found a way to move forward and open despite their worries. According to the Associated Press, as long as only companies that already have medical licenses move forward at this time, it is legal for them to become recreational. However, the main concern now is that because only existing product in stores has been approved for sales, businesses will not be able to restock their inventory for recreational until something happens with the judge’s ruling.

“Our phones have been blowing up with calls from all the dispensaries that we currently serve down in Las Vegas who are trying to stock up on inventory,” Clint Cates, director of compliance for the operators of the Mynt Cannabis Dispensary in Reno, told the Associated Press. “We have been back-stocking for four to six months, so we have extra inventory on hand.”

While Nevada may have successfully made arrangements to meet their opening date of July 1, they still have some work to do before they will have a truly viable local industry.