The Countdown to Nevada Marijuana Dispensary Openings

Early last month, the state of Nevada notified 55 dispensary applicants that they were approved for provisional licenses. Some of the names of the dispensaries were disclosed, while others remain confidential. The provisional license is a large part of the dispensary program, but does not mean that stores can open immediately. Most of the applicants now have to work with local authorities and zoning on the final locations, build out the locations with the proper security and other requirements, and obtain marijuana.

Although there’s a long road ahead, Nevada dispensaries should be opening in early 2015. In fact, one dispensary, Euphoria Wellness in Las Vegas, told media that they plan to open on January 12th, 2015. Some good news for all the dispensaries and for patients awaiting the openings is that the Nevada Medical Marijuana Program allows for dispensaries to obtain marijuana from patients who cultivate. Since patients have been authorized to grow for a much longer period of time than companies that have been granted cultivation licenses, this will allow for dispensaries to have plenty of products on hand.

The Nevada marijuana program is also the first to allow dispensaries to honor and provide medical marijuana to out-of-state patient cardholders. Many patients nationwide are curious about the out-of-state process since it could pave the way for other states to also participate. This potentially could be extremely valuable to patients who live near borders or where there are limited dispensary options.

Nevada dispensaries also can operate for-profit, so it will be interesting to see how the pricing and business operations compare to most other non-profits.

AllBud has a listing of the Nevada dispensaries that have been granted provisional licenses and we’ll keep monitoring and keeping the information up to date as locations are secured and the pot shops open up.

Good Luck Nevada!