NEVADA IS ALREADY RUNNING OUT OF LEGAL POT

After recreational sales kicked off on July 1, dispensaries are so dry on pot Nevada's government issued a "statement of emergency" to get them new supply pronto

By Drew Schwartz

VICE News
July 10, 2017

It's been about a week since Nevada became the fifth state to legally start selling recreational marijuana, and its stoners have already almost exhausted the supply of legal weed, the Reno Gazette-Journal reports.

A total of 47 dispensaries amassed as much flower and oil as they could before July 1, when recreational sales kicked off in the state. But because the government requires those dispensaries to purchase their product from a select number of licensed suppliers, many aren't ready to resupply after the initial rush.

On Friday, the state government gave potheads a cause for hope, with Governor Brian Sandoval announcing he had thrown his support behind the Nevada Department of Taxation's "statement of emergency," which could clear a path for more greenery to make its way into the market.

The tax authority's "statement of emergency" calls for allowing more distributors to apply for licenses to sell weed, ideally getting new shipments of cannabis to distributors within the next couple days before they run dry. On Thursday, the Nevada Tax Commission votes on whether or not they'll green-light more applicants for the pool.

"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," Department of Taxation spokeswoman Stephanie Klapstein told the Journal. "A halt in this market will lead to a hole in the state's school budget."

Nevada's already brought in about $3 million in sales from recreational weed, and an estimated $1 million in tax dollars, according to the Las Vegas Sun. If the state can manage to capitalize on the rapidly growing number of Americans who like getting stoned, it stands to make a whole lot more. Colorado's already managed to turn legal pot into a billion-dollar industry.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Stoners need not worry, there's always the tax-free black market. The Mexican cartels will always make sure there will always be illegal pot.