Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
In just four months, Nevada voters will head to the polls for the November general election. Along with voting for president and other races, voters will tackle whether or not marijuana should be regulated like alcohol within the state making the use of marijuana legal for adults 21 and over.
Colorado legalized the sale of recreational pot in 2014 opening the door for a billion-dollar-a-year industry, but it has come with some growing pains and problems.
Nevada could be headed in the same direction.
Colorado, and the city of Denver in particular, has become the case study for how to regulate the world of legal weed.
"What we've seen has had a lot fewer unintended consequences than we thought would come up," said Andrew Freedman, director of Marijuana Coordination, state of Colorado.
He is Colorado's marijuana czar.
He says the process to legalizing pot is much more complicated than just a vote of the people at the polls.
"Legalizing is not like a light switch, and so I think a lot of people had in their minds that you do this, you flip a switch and suddenly this is the way the world works, this is a lot of work for everybody."
Colorado voters passed state constitutional amendment 64 in 2012 legalizing recreational marijuana. The first recreational storefronts opened in 2014.
In the meantime, dozens of laws have gone in front of state legislators to modify, improve or fix unforeseen regulatory problems.
A 2015, UNLV study of registered voters shows 55 percent support legalizing recreational marijuana.
Riana Durett, the executive director of the Nevada Dispensary Association, spearheaded a trip to Denver for Nevada lawmakers and stakeholders - a fact-finding trip for guidance - should Nevada voters pass recreational marijuana in November.
"We can get a little more of a jump start than Colorado did, we have a little bit of an advantage, but if those responsible for moving this forward don't do that, then they'll lose that opportunity," said Durett.
The initiative - Question 2 on the November ballot - is eight pages long. It lays out the framework for how the state would regulate marijuana.
As of Jan. 1, 2017, it would be legal for anyone 21 and older to possess an ounce of marijuana or an eighth of an ounce of marijuana concentrate.
Also an adult may grow up to six plants for personal use inside their home.
It would still be illegal to drive under the influence and to consume marijuana in public.
If it passes, Republican state Senator Patricia Farley says lawmakers will see a flurry of marijuana-related bills and discussion in Carson City next year.
"My hope is if it passes, that we have a realistic conversation about what normal human behavior is going to be with this product," she said.
Perhaps the biggest issue to tackle in January - who's in charge of regulation?
The Department of Taxation would regulate recreational marijuana while the Department of Health currently regulates medical marijuana.
Both Farley and Assemblyman Derek Armstrong are open to moving everything under one umbrella even if it means expanding state government to handle it.
"This is a vote of the people, so if the people do vote for it in November in Nevada, then they've given us that mandate where we have to be responsible to them to have an industry that is regulated properly," said Republican Assemblyman Derek Armstrong of Las Vegas.
There would be a 15 percent excise tax on top of any state or local sales taxes.The proceeds would fund the state's regulatory program and the rest of the tax dollars would go into the state general fund earmarked to fund K-12 education.
That may be the selling point that gets voters to approve recreational marijuana.
And lawmakers and regulators - no matter which side of the issue they're on - will be tasked with getting the program up-and-running.
"The voters have approved medical marijuana, and they're more than likely going to approve recreational, and we have to respond, and we have to be ready for that and act professionally about it," Farley said.
If Question 2 passes, the state would have until Jan.1, 2018 to start accepting license applications for recreational dispensaries. It would allow for up to 80 dispensaries in Clark County. But for the first 18 months, only existing medical marijuana establishments could apply to open recreational dispensaries.
If recreational use passes, a study by a pro-pot group estimates the industry could be worth $630 million a year by 2020, but that may be a bit bullish.
Nevada's population is a little over half that of Colorado's and Nevada would only have about 15 percent the number of dispensaries.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Nevada Looks At Life After Possible Marijuana Legalization
Author: Patrick Murphy & Bill Roe
Contact: 702-792-8888
Photo Credit: Brent Levin
Website: Las Vegas Now
Colorado legalized the sale of recreational pot in 2014 opening the door for a billion-dollar-a-year industry, but it has come with some growing pains and problems.
Nevada could be headed in the same direction.
Colorado, and the city of Denver in particular, has become the case study for how to regulate the world of legal weed.
"What we've seen has had a lot fewer unintended consequences than we thought would come up," said Andrew Freedman, director of Marijuana Coordination, state of Colorado.
He is Colorado's marijuana czar.
He says the process to legalizing pot is much more complicated than just a vote of the people at the polls.
"Legalizing is not like a light switch, and so I think a lot of people had in their minds that you do this, you flip a switch and suddenly this is the way the world works, this is a lot of work for everybody."
Colorado voters passed state constitutional amendment 64 in 2012 legalizing recreational marijuana. The first recreational storefronts opened in 2014.
In the meantime, dozens of laws have gone in front of state legislators to modify, improve or fix unforeseen regulatory problems.
A 2015, UNLV study of registered voters shows 55 percent support legalizing recreational marijuana.
Riana Durett, the executive director of the Nevada Dispensary Association, spearheaded a trip to Denver for Nevada lawmakers and stakeholders - a fact-finding trip for guidance - should Nevada voters pass recreational marijuana in November.
"We can get a little more of a jump start than Colorado did, we have a little bit of an advantage, but if those responsible for moving this forward don't do that, then they'll lose that opportunity," said Durett.
The initiative - Question 2 on the November ballot - is eight pages long. It lays out the framework for how the state would regulate marijuana.
As of Jan. 1, 2017, it would be legal for anyone 21 and older to possess an ounce of marijuana or an eighth of an ounce of marijuana concentrate.
Also an adult may grow up to six plants for personal use inside their home.
It would still be illegal to drive under the influence and to consume marijuana in public.
If it passes, Republican state Senator Patricia Farley says lawmakers will see a flurry of marijuana-related bills and discussion in Carson City next year.
"My hope is if it passes, that we have a realistic conversation about what normal human behavior is going to be with this product," she said.
Perhaps the biggest issue to tackle in January - who's in charge of regulation?
The Department of Taxation would regulate recreational marijuana while the Department of Health currently regulates medical marijuana.
Both Farley and Assemblyman Derek Armstrong are open to moving everything under one umbrella even if it means expanding state government to handle it.
"This is a vote of the people, so if the people do vote for it in November in Nevada, then they've given us that mandate where we have to be responsible to them to have an industry that is regulated properly," said Republican Assemblyman Derek Armstrong of Las Vegas.
There would be a 15 percent excise tax on top of any state or local sales taxes.The proceeds would fund the state's regulatory program and the rest of the tax dollars would go into the state general fund earmarked to fund K-12 education.
That may be the selling point that gets voters to approve recreational marijuana.
And lawmakers and regulators - no matter which side of the issue they're on - will be tasked with getting the program up-and-running.
"The voters have approved medical marijuana, and they're more than likely going to approve recreational, and we have to respond, and we have to be ready for that and act professionally about it," Farley said.
If Question 2 passes, the state would have until Jan.1, 2018 to start accepting license applications for recreational dispensaries. It would allow for up to 80 dispensaries in Clark County. But for the first 18 months, only existing medical marijuana establishments could apply to open recreational dispensaries.
If recreational use passes, a study by a pro-pot group estimates the industry could be worth $630 million a year by 2020, but that may be a bit bullish.
Nevada's population is a little over half that of Colorado's and Nevada would only have about 15 percent the number of dispensaries.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Nevada Looks At Life After Possible Marijuana Legalization
Author: Patrick Murphy & Bill Roe
Contact: 702-792-8888
Photo Credit: Brent Levin
Website: Las Vegas Now
