Nevada’s first weekend of recreational marijuana sales was lucrative, to say the least.
The Las Vegas Sun is reporting that Nevada generated $3 million in sales revenue and approximately $500,000 in tax revenue over the first four days of recreational marijuana sales. These figures put Nevada on track to hit $30 million in sales revenue over the next six months, which should bring in about $5 million in taxes. Figures were estimated from the early hours of Saturday through Tuesday.
Nevada residents can expect to see the fruits of the regulated cannabis industry in the form of a massive new deduction on the state’s annual budget, defraying the costs of a number of other crucial expenses.
Nevada web traffic to the popular dispensary finding service Weedmaps increased 380% day-to-day and 700% increase year-over-year. Even some notable Nevada politicians were curious what the fuss was all about and got some weekend shopping in.
Nevada’s Question 2 — Initiative to Regulate and Tax Marijuana — was passed on November 8th with the support of 54% of voters. The basic measure legalized the possession of up to one ounce of cannabis for adults over the age of 21. Since November, state officials have had a difficult time establishing regulations for the recreational marijuana industry. One major roadblock on the way to legalization was the stranglehold that liquor distributors have on marijuana distribution licenses for the initial 18 months of legalization, stifling the supply chain and ramping up demand.
“I’m a very happy with the way sales have gone and continue to go, especially when you consider that the word didn’t really get out ahead of time,” Nevada Dispensary Association President Andrew Jolley told Regina Cano of the Associated Press on Monday. “The public really only had a couple of weeks’ notice, whereas Colorado had a full year to prepare,” added Jolley.
The increased desire on behalf of consumers to purchase in bulk could explain somewhat inflated opening weekend sales figures compared to what officials expected, but cannabis sales should flourish in Nevada regardless.
credit:marijuana.com