Cannabis sales in Nevada are already booming, as retail sales have exceeded $3 million during the first four days, according to a Las Vegas Sun report. That equates to nearly $500,000 in state tax revenue putting the state on track to achieve $30 million over the next six months of sales, the Nevada Dispensary Association estimates.
The tax rate for recreational cannabis sales in Nevada is 33 percent to 38 percent, depending on the municipality.
“We had a higher demand than everybody initially thought,” said dispensary association director Riana Durrett in the report. “It shows this market really exists.”
Nevada was one of four states to legalize adult-use cannabis during last November’s general election, and thanks to Early Start provisions by the Tax Department, the state is the first of the four to roll out the new regime.
California’s Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation Chief Lori Ajax, whose agency is responsible for devising regulations for the industry, said that she fully expects to meet the Jan. 1, 2018 deadline set forth by Proposition 64.
Lawmakers in Maine passed legislation in January to delay the rollout of the voter-approved program by three months, from January 2018 to April 2018. Despite the legislature-approved delay, other lawmakers have introduced legislation to allow early sales at currently licensed dispensaries. The personal possession and home-grow provisions included in the recreational law, however, were unaffected by the legislative action and took effect on Jan. 30.
Massachusetts lawmakers also passed legislation delaying the implementation of the voter-backed regime from January to July 2018, and have been crafting changes to the law ever since. As of June, at least 81 Massachusetts communities have considered or enacted bans on the industry, including moratoriums and zoning regulations to prevent cannabis business operations. However, portions of the law allowing adult cannabis possession and home-grows took effect Dec. 15.
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