The State of Nevada will soon have more cannabis consumption lounges after regulators recently approved six new licenses, all to social equity applicants. There are currently only two legal cannabis lounges operating in the State of Nevada.
“The applications were selected using random number generator software,” the Nevada Cannabis Compliance Control Board (CCB) stated in a news release. “This comes after an internal audit found that 6 previously selected applicants failed to meet the residency requirement established by the bright-line criteria and were ineligible to proceed.”
“In July, the CCB contacted 8 previously undrawn applicants to determine if they wished to be entered into the random number generator selection event. All 8 applicants opted in. The CCB is in the process of returning the $2,500 application fee to all social equity applicants who are not proceeding in the licensing process to mitigate financial burden.” the Nevada regulators also stated.
The social equity criteria for Nevada’s cannabis industry can be found at this link here. Below is a video of the selection process:
According to CCB, as of May 2024 there were 674 total medical and recreational operational licenses/certificates statewide. Additionally, as of December 2023, there were 15,435 registered agent card holders in Nevada’s cannabis industry.
“Nevada currently has 140 cultivation facilities and 103 production facilities for recreational cannabis, per the CCB website, along with 138 cultivation and 103 production licensees that are both medical and adult-use establishments.” stated News 3 in its initial reporting in late-May 2024.
Nevada voters first approved adult-use cannabis legalization in 2016 on Election Day along with California, Massachusetts, and Maine. The United States adult-use cannabis industry has generated over $20 billion in total tax revenue since the first legal recreational cannabis purchase was made in Colorado on January 1st, 2014 according to a new report by the Marijuana Policy Project.
“Through the first quarter of 2024, states have reported a combined total of more than $20 billion in tax revenue from legal, adult-use cannabis sales. In 2023 alone, legalization states generated more than $4 billion in cannabis tax revenue from adult-use sales, which is the most revenue generated by cannabis sales in a single year.” the Marijuana Policy Project stated in a press release.
Total legal cannabis sales in the United States are expected to reach $31.4 billion in 2024 according to a recent analysis by Whitney Economics. Additionally, leading cannabis jobs platform Vangst, in conjunction with Whitney Economics, estimates that the legal cannabis industry now supports 440,445 full time-equivalent cannabis jobs in the United States.
Whitney Economics also projects the following legal cannabis sales figures in the United States for the coming years:
- 2024: $31.4 billion (9.1% growth from 2023)
- 2025: $35.2 billion (12.1% growth from 2024)
- 2030: $67.2 billion
- 2035: $87.0 billion
The emerging legal cannabis industry in the United States is projected to add roughly $112 billion to the nation’s economy in 2024 according to a newly released analysis by MJBiz Daily. The projection is part of the company’s 2024 MJBiz Factbook.
“The total U.S. economic impact generated by regulated marijuana sales could top $112.4 billion in 2024, about 12% more than last year,” MJBiz stated in its initial reporting.