Nevada liquor distributors want first dibs on marijuana distribution licenses, brace for a fight with regulators

Small-scale liquor distributors who were excited about the possibility of getting in on Nevada’s new recreational marijuana business say they’re now being pushed out by the Department of Taxation’s proposed regulations.

Nevadans voted in November to legalize recreational marijuana through Question 2, which was backed by a group called the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol.

But the model in draft regulations that will head for a Tax Commission vote on May 8 doesn’t create a system like the three-tiered one that governs alcohol.

In the liquor world, producers sell to distributors who then sell to retailers, with strict rules preventing businesses from participating in more than one of those three tiers.

Read More at TheNevadaIndependent.com