Nevada legal marijuana shortage inspires statement of emergency
Over 40,000 transactions made during opening weekend of legalised sales
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Your support makes all the difference.The Governor of Nevada has endorsed a statement of emergency because the state's marijuana dispensaries are running out of the legal product.
Nevada became the fifth state in the US to sell cannabis for recreational purposes just under two weeks ago, and the state's 47 licenced marijuana stores are already running out of stock.
Governor Brian Sandoval endorsed the statement of emergency from Nevada's Department of Taxation, which proposed emergency regulations to expand who can get a licence.
Currently, while stores are allowed to sell marijuana for recreational use, they are not legally allowed to restock their inventories.
For that, they rely on alcohol wholesalers, which have exclusive rights to transport weed from the growers to the retailers, in a move designed to regulate pot similar to alcohol.
However, none of the seven applications from liquor distributors have been approved so far, leaving the dispensaries without reliable product transportation.
The new regulation would allow other applicants to sell the drug, and could be adopted as soon as 13 July.
“Unless the issue with distributor licensing is resolved quickly, the inability to deliver product to the retail stores will result in many of these employees losing their jobs and will cause this nascent industry to grind to a halt,” Mr Sandoval said in a statement.
The statement said "well over" 40,000 transactions were made during the opening weekend of legalised sales.
People aged 21 and above can buy an ounce of the drug at a time and use it in their homes if they have valid ID.
The millions of tourists who visit Nevada's cities every year are expected to make up nearly two of every three purchases from retailers.
Colorado, Oregon, Washington and Alaska also allow adults to buy marijuana, which is still banned by the federal government.
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