{"id":7584,"date":"2017-07-14T21:46:39","date_gmt":"2017-07-14T21:46:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.denverpost.com?p=2716834&amp;preview_id=2716834"},"modified":"2017-07-14T21:46:39","modified_gmt":"2017-07-14T21:46:39","slug":"nevada-adopts-emergency-rules-to-meet-huge-demand-for-weed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/nevada-adopts-emergency-rules-to-meet-huge-demand-for-weed\/","title":{"rendered":"Nevada adopts emergency rules to meet huge demand for weed"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/nevada-adopts-emergency-rules-to-meet-huge-demand-for-weed\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"large-10 large-centered small-12 columns\">\n<div class=\"entry-meta-date\">Published: Jul 14, 2017, 7:55 am \u2022 Updated: Jul 14, 2017, 3:22 pm<span class=\"single-comments-link\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"byline\">By <strong>Scott Sonner<\/strong>, <em> The Associated Press<\/em><\/p>\n<p>CARSON CITY, Nev. \u2014 Nevada moved Thursday to reduce supply problems at recreational marijuana stores that have faced overwhelming demand for newly legal pot and the possibility of their shelves going empty.<\/p>\n<p>Regulators approved emergency rules that would speed up licensing for pot distributors, a sticking point that launched a legal battle and threatened the flow of supplies after dozens of retailers started selling recreational marijuana on July 1.<\/p>\n<p>Nevada\u2019s law is unique among legal pot states, dictating that only alcohol wholesalers can transport the drug from growers to storefronts for the next 18 months. But the state rewrote the rules Thursday used to enforce the state\u2019s pot law to make it clear that it\u2019s legal under certain circumstances to license some retailers to transport pot from growers to storefronts.<\/p>\n<p>Gov. Brian Sandoval endorsed the proposal last week after <a href=\"http:\/\/&lt;a href=\">\u201c&gt;a judge ruled in June<\/a> state law dictates only alcohol wholesalers can transport pot from growers to store fronts the next 18 months.<\/p>\n<p>The judge had rejected the state\u2019s claim it has the authority to license some pot retailers to serve as their own middleman if there aren\u2019t enough alcohol distributors to do the job.<\/p>\n<p>The new regulation makes it clear that\u2019s legal, at least for now. A lawyer for the alcohol wholesaler groups that won the court injunction told the tax panel during Thursday\u2019s three-hour hearing that he\u2019s convinced the new regulation is just as illegal as the earlier one the judge threw out.<\/p>\n<p>James DeVolld, chairman of the Nevada Tax Commission charged with regulating recreational marijuana, sought reassurances from state attorneys that they are on solid legal ground before joining the other commissioners in backing the emergency regulation unanimously.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think like all the commissioners, this is such an important time in the state of Nevada\u2019s existence that I just want to do it right,\u201d DeVolld said.<\/p>\n<p>Many retailers were previously licensed to sell and distribute medical pot, so they started stockpiling supplies months ago in an anticipation of high demand for recreational marijuana.<\/p>\n<p>But representatives of several of the 47 retailers now licensed to sell recreationally testified before the tax panel Thursday their shelves are nearly empty because there\u2019s no distribution mechanism that allows them to restock.<\/p>\n<p>Nevada Department of Taxation Executive Director Deonne Contine announced at the hearing in Carson City that the agency <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/07\/13\/nevada-marijuana-dispensary-products-supply\/83651\/\">has approved licenses for two alcohol wholesalers<\/a> in compliance with a court order to begin distributing recreational pot to retailers.<\/p>\n<p>But she said it\u2019s too soon to tell if Crooked Wine of Reno and Rebel Wine of Las Vegas will be able to handle the demand statewide. She said one of the new licensees is \u201cpretty stressed out about what he\u2019s going to be asked to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s room in this market for plenty of more,\u201d Contine said, adding that she\u2019s hopeful some additional alcohol wholesalers could be licensed in the days or weeks ahead.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBusinesses could close their doors or are not going to be able to get products they are legally licensed to sell,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>The state has filed an appeal asking the Nevada Supreme Court to overturn Carson City Judge James Wilson\u2019s ruling prohibiting distribution licenses for anyone other than alcohol wholesalers.<\/p>\n<p>Kevin Benson, a lawyer for the Independent Alcohol Distributors of Nevada that won that injunction, stopped short of threatening another lawsuit but testified at the hearing Thursday he\u2019s convinced the emergency regulation is invalid. He told The Associated Press after the hearing he wants to review the regulation before deciding whether to challenge it in court.<\/p>\n<p>The Tax Department last week <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/07\/10\/nevada-marijuana-distribution-emergency-liquor-wholesalers\/83428\/\">declared the need for the emergency rules<\/a> after marijuana retailers recorded more than 40,000 transactions in the first weekend.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWithout the ability to license marijuana distributors to continue the flow of product to the retail store, a high likelihood exists that consumers will revert to the black market,\u201d Contine said.<\/p>\n<p>She said unless the matter is resolved quickly, the distribution bottleneck will cost both the state and investors millions of dollars, thousands of jobs and \u201ccause this nascent industry to grind to a halt.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- .row --> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>Nevada moved Thursday to reduce supply problems at recreational marijuana stores that have faced overwhelming demand for newly legal pot and the possibility of their shelves going empty. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[550,6813,77,5667,6858,9,6833,5437,5019,1,3,61,1736],"tags":[3123,6818,2655,5673,6860,6835,5444,5022],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7584"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7584\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}