Reno-Gazette Journal: “The state currently is required to rely solely on alcohol distributors for delivery of recreational marijuana to dispensaries, a mandate that could either be killed or continued on Thursday in a Carson City District Court hearing. Carson City District Court Judge James Russell may determine whether the state’s recent report is evidence enough that the state is in dire straits, or he may determine that the alcohol distributors still have exclusive rights to distribution.
Alcohol distributors were given those exclusive rights in the November ballot measure legalizing recreational marijuana, but the state last week determined in its report that there are not enough alcohol distributors qualified for the job at this time.
After passing an emergency regulation last month and releasing the report last week, the state planned to open the application process up to the more than 80 marijuana establishments that have expressed interest in distribution, but Russell asserted that the state had not given distributors ample opportunity to respond to the findings, according to an order filed soon after the report’s release. “
So technically, recreational marijuana is legal in Nevada. In practice, it looks more like a hand-out to favored industries. At least it’s legal, now Nevadans have only to strip away the regulatory chains placed on the market at inception.
