Getting legal weed ready to launch won’t hurt this state’s budget after all
LAS VEGAS Officials think they have enough money on hand to get a legal Nevada marijuana market for recreational use up and running without straining the state budget.
The state could use money from its existing medical marijuana program to pay upfront costs of regulating the new recreational market, Democratic state Sen. Tick Segerblom told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in a story published Sunday. Those start-up costs could include licensing and inspecting businesses that will cultivate and sell the substance.
Nevada voters approved a measure in November that allows adults who are 21 or older to possess up to an ounce of marijuana effective Jan. 1. The measure calls for retail shops to sell the substance by 2018, and state officials are already hashing out details including procedures for determining who gets a license.
The department is already working to develop temporary regulations, said Deonne Contine, executive director of the Nevada Department of Taxation, which will regulate recreational weed. We intend to hold a public workshop very early in 2017 and then have our temporary regulations adopted so we can begin issuing licenses.
Nevadas anticipated funding to get the marijuana market working contrasts with Massachusetts, which is trying to find money to get a regulated pot market going after voters there legalized recreational marijuana in November. Lawmakers are considering tapping into their states rainy day fund to the tune of $30 million for start-up costs, according to the ...
