Summary: On Saturday, recreational marijuana will be sold in Nevada.
What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, and now all the hedonists who flock to the city can legally buy their wacky weed from a store instead of Joe Bud Dealer on the street corner.
On Saturday, Sin City dispensaries are expected to open for the first time since voters approved recreational weed’s legalization in November. According to CBS News, lines are expected to form as people clamor to buy their ganja.
“I get the sense that most, if not all, dispensaries will have sufficient inventory to serve retail customers until distributors are up and running,” Nevada Dispensary Association President Andrew Jolley said to CBS News.
While other states also approved recreational marijuana in November, Nevada’s turnaround has been the fastest. For instance, California also approved recreational marijuana, but recreational sales are not slated to begin until January.
Starting Saturday, Nevada will allow anyone 21 and over to buy up to an ounce of weed, 1/8 of an ounce of edibles, or 1/8 of an ounce of concentrates. To buy, consumers must show a valid ID.
Pot-smokers are banned from using marijuana in public places such as the sidewalk or park, but it is unclear how stringently the state and the city of Las Vegas will enforce the rule. After all, alcohol is forbidden to be consumed in public, but anyone on the Las Vegas Strip can easily find someone walking around with a giant margarita in hand.
The state has also regulated the way recreational marijuana is advertised. Any medium that has 30% or more of an underaged audience is forbidden to host marijuana ads.
So far, the state has approved 17 retail stores to sell recreational weed, and up to 40 could be licensed by Saturday. The dispensaries will be allowed to sell at 12:01 am, and some stores plan on grand openings with fun activities like barbecues and raffle drawings.
Nevada’s sales are expected to engulf Colorado, Oregon, and Washington’s sales because Las Vegas lures in 45 million tourists a year with its glitz and glamour. Regulators predict that the majority of recreational weed buyers will be out-of-state guests.
“I don’t think we’ve ever seen anything quite like what Nevada is going to look like just because of the sheer volume of tourism in the state,” Nancy Whiteman, co-owner of the Colorado-based Wana Brands, said to CBS News.
Overall, Jolley told CBS News that people seem excited about the weekend.
“We are anticipating a lot of very happy customers,” Jolley said.
Recreational marijuana is now legal in Nevada, Colorado, Washington, Alaska, Oregon, California, Maine, Massachusetts, and the District of Columbia.
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Source: CBS News