Big alcohol is fighting to keep its grip on legal pot in Nevada

Recreational marijuana is now legal in Nevada, but the rollout isn’t exactly going according to plan.

Currently, marijuana producers aren’t allowed to distribute their weed from the soil to the store — only alcohol wholesalers can. One company that produces and sells weed had to hire a third-party distributor just to move product down their own hallway, a process that takes about 90 seconds.

“If we’re talking about money, it’s not a huge issue. But just logistically, it’s a nightmare,” Reef Dispensaries CEO Matthew Morgan said.

As weed supplies dwindled over the last several weeks, the state tried to open up license applications to other types of companies. But a small group of liquor wholesalers sued, fighting to preserve its monopoly. Meanwhile, dispensaries are scrambling to make sense of the changing regulations.


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