Nevada Dispensaries Racing to Open for Business

Nevada dispensaries are in a race to be the first to open for business. Some dispensary owners have even begun turning to medical marijuana patients with home grows in order to stock their shelves with marijuana and open their doors faster.

No cultivation centers are up and running yet, which is why some dispensary licenses are searching for marijuana from medical marijuana patients or their designated caregivers, which is allowed under a provision in Nevada’s medical marijuana law.

If successful, dispensaries might be able to open for business within a few weeks.

Nearly 9,000 Nevadans have medical marijuana cards, with the vast majority – 6,500 – residing in or near Las Vegas.

55 dispensaries received provisional licenses, and if a proposed bill passes it will allow more licenses to be granted. Many dispensaries are planning to open this fall and early 2016. Some cultivation centers might be able to harvest their first crop in 2015.

“It’s going to be four or five months before any crops come to fruition, so the only option right now is to buy from existing cardholders,” stated an employee of a soon-to-be Las Vegas area dispensary.