On Tuesday, Nevada regulators reported they’ll open up the state marijuana distribution system to businesses aside from alcohol wholesalers after rejecting an appeal by a liquor group that states they have exclusive rights to move cannabis from cultivators to retail stores. The state Tax Commission voted unanimously to support a previous decision by the Tax Department to grow the licensing outside alcohol distributors because they have not been able unable to maintain the overwhelming demand.
The battle for distribution territory has been occupied in district court and administrative appeals way before legal recreational sales started in July. Kevin Benson, a lawyer for the Independent Alcohol Distributors of Nevada, reported following a hearing that went on for five hours before the commission his group hasn’t figured out whether to file another lawsuit challenging the state’s decision. Tax Commissioner Thom Sheets states he expects another lawsuit to be filed.
Tax Department spokeswoman Stephanie Klapstein reported the agency plans to begin issuing formal licenses to non-alcohol distributors but a timetable has yet to be released.
“We are looking at that right now and discussing things with our legal counsel,” she reported to The Associated Press late Tuesday.
Nevada’s voter-approved law is unique among pot states in providing liquor wholesalers exclusive rights to transport marijuana for 18 months unless they could not keep up with demand.
To launch sales July 1, the state regulators accepted emergency rules to make it clear that some marijuana shops could act as their own middlemen under certain circumstances.
State Tax Director Deonne Continue has protested that a delivery bottleneck was undermining a robust industry and the state revenue that comes with it. She claimed the small distribution network’s inability to maintain pace with demand is driving up prices and pushing buyers back to the black market.
