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GROWTH INDUSTRY

Nevada Lawmakers Get Up-Close View of Colorado's Pot Business

With medical marijuana already here and full legalization on the ballot in 2016, a group of Nevada legislators took a trip to Denver last weekend to get an up close look at how the state is handling its booming cannabis market.

What they saw was impressive, according to Sen.  Patricia Farley, R-Las Vegas, who said Nevada would do well by mirroring the laws and regulations Colorado has put into place.

"One of the ( Colorado ) senators said, 'We legalized medical marijuana, we have legalized recreational and the sky hasn't fallen yet,'" Farley said.

Even if recreational marijuana is approved by voters in 2016, it will take a few years before the regulatory system is up and running.  But Farley did come back with some new information she said would be put to use right away in helping shape her decision on a pair of medical marijuana bills being debated in the Legislature.

The Sun spoke with Farley about the trip and the future of marijuana in Nevada:

What did the delegation see and do on the trip to Colorado?

We had a reception when we got there to meet some of the different lawmakers, attorneys and consultants associated with Colorado's market for both medical and recreational marijuana.  We toured a dispensary and grow ( operation ) that was both medical and recreational and then we toured just a recreational dispensary so we could see the differences between the regulations and how the businesses are set up.  We also visited a lady who's making edibles with marijuana, so she walked us through those regulations.  It's just amazing how well Colorado is doing this.

Why did you help organize this trip?

For me, I wanted to see what it looked like.  I don't necessarily have interest in the actual product, but I have a lot of interest in the economic impact it makes in Nevada.  I think seeing the regulations, seeing them in process, meeting the business owners to talk about how they work within the confines of these regulations and who these people are who are involved, it really opened my mind.

Does Colorado's marijuana market seem to be working well?

Very well, to the extent that something new can be.  Lawmakers and elected officials are being very proactive, so when something's going wrong they correct it.  It's a work in progress, but they are highly responsive and you can see that in the delivery of the product to the public.  They're on top of it and we need to mirror a system like that, which we're very capable in Nevada of doing because we have other vice businesses that we've regulated extremely well.

Is there anything that surprised you about the trip?

I honestly thought I was going to be unimpressed with the regulations.  While I think the business concept is good, I have two little kids, so it scares me that they could be at somebody's house and a ( marijuana ) brownie looks like a brownie to a little kid.  I was overwhelmed by how well regulated these are, especially with the packaging.  It's a colored package so you can't tell what's in it and it isn't attractive to a child.  Every package is child resistant, and I also liked that they didn't change the taste of cannabis in the product.  Their goal is if you're eating cannabis you should know you're eating cannabis.  To a child, after one bite that taste is going to be undesirable.  They're not going to consume the whole thing.

Have there been any negative side effects to marijuana legalization in Colorado?

We did talk about that.  Major crimes over the last two years are significantly down and we talked specifically marijuana-related crimes, amongst licensed businesses the crime is relatively low.  The only crime they have is obviously these businesses have a high amount of cash on premises, so there's been some issues with that.  You get the black market effect if you don't have supply meet the demand, so the government is incentivized to reduce crime by making sure the counties and the cities determine how many dispensaries and what the grows look like.

The Legislature is currently debating a pair of medical marijuana bills.  Did you learn anything on the trip that will affect those?

There are a couple of big fixes.  Right now in the state of Nevada if you own a license, you can't sell or transfer that license.  It pretty much locks people in, so we have a bill that's focused on transferability.  The other bill talks about increasing the number of dispensaries.  Prior to the trip I wasn't so keen on that, but after understanding what Colorado has done to combat the black market, my thoughts have changed on that.

Do you think recreational marijuana would be a good thing for Nevada?

I think we can benefit from it.  I think we have to prove ourselves in the medical field before we say we're ready to add on top of it.  I'll be looking to see if we make medial successful without any negative fallout.  My answer will be mostly based on that when we're ready.

Did you get a chance to sample any of the marijuana products in Colorado.

No I didn't.  What's funny, even for these business folks, many don't or have not used marijuana products for 10, 20, 30 years.  I tell people it's a glass of cabernet at night that works for me, so I don't have any interest in ( marijuana ) past the fact that it could be very economically good for the state.