Regulation
Expansion of Marijuana Consumption Lounges Approved in Nevada, but Diversity and Regulatory Challenges Persist
Nevada regulatory authorities have given the green light to three additional licenses for marijuana consumption lounges, with two of them set to operate in the Las Vegas area, as reported by MJBiz Daily. The Cannabis Compliance Board (CCB) unanimously approved applications from Deep Roots Harvest and Global Harmony, both of which run cannabis stores in Las Vegas, as well as KV Group in the southern Nevada town of Pahrump. This brings the total number of approved consumption spaces in Nevada to seven, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Earlier this year, the CCB had granted conditional licenses to the first three venues:
- Cheyenne Medical in unincorporated Clark County
- Common Sense Botanicals Nevada in Washoe Valley, located between Carson City and Reno
- Planet 13 in Las Vegas
In addition to these approvals, regulators have relaxed air-ventilation standards for marijuana consumption, offering greater clarity to operators as they proceed with construction plans in one of the nation's primary tourist destinations. This decision came after concerns were raised by operators and stakeholders about the substantial upfront investment and ongoing operational costs associated with ventilation systems, potentially exceeding $100,000. These costs were seen as making consumption areas economically unviable for most operators and nearly impossible for social equity licensees.
While some lounge operators had initially hoped to open their doors during the summer, various challenges such as administrative setbacks, funding issues, and changing regulations caused delays. A year ago, when Nevada regulators first approved the concept of consumption lounges, they had set a target of issuing up to 65 licenses. Approximately 40-45 of these licenses were intended to be linked to existing cannabis shops.
Deep Roots Harvest, during the recent CCB meeting, indicated that their lounge aims to be operational by the end of March, according to the Review-Journal. Despite earlier expectations that lounges might open in 2022, as of now, the only legal consumption lounge in Nevada remains the NuWu Cannabis Marketplace, situated on tribal land just a couple of blocks from downtown Las Vegas.
