Nevada Has a Drug Problem: Shops Are Running Out of Marijuana
Since recreational pot became legal last month, retail dispensaries have struggled to keep their shelves stocked and say they will soon run out if nothing is done to fix a broken supply chain.
“We didn’t know the demand would be this intense,” Al Fasano, cofounder of Las Vegas ReLeaf, said last week. "All of a sudden you have like a thousand people at the door.…We have to tell people we’re limited in our products.”
In declaring the recent state of emergency, the state Department of Taxation warned that “this nascent industry could grind to a halt.”
As bad as that would be for marijuana consumers and the pot shops, the state has another concern: tax revenue. A 10-percent tax on sales of recreational pot — along with a 15-percent tax on growers — is expected to generate tens of millions of dollars a year for schools and the state’s general fund reserves.
With about 100 growers in operation across Nevada, there is plenty of wholesale marijuana. The crisis has to do with distribution and state rules over who is allowed to transport marijuana.
