Riana Durrett, Vice Chair of the Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board – Interview Series

Since November of 2020, Riana Durrett has served as the Vice Chair of the Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board, the regulatory agency for the billion-dollar Nevada cannabis industry. A graduate of the Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, Durrett previously served nearly six years as the Executive Director of the Nevada Cannabis Association (formerly Nevada Dispensary Association) and simultaneously serves as the Director of UNLV’s Cannabis Policy Institute, which regularly hosts impactful events featuring very notable cannabis professionals and regulators from other states with recreational cannabis as far away as Maine.

Tell me about yourself and what interested you about becoming an attorney? Were there any defining moments that cemented that decision?

I could tell you that I’d always been interested in justice, but I became a lawyer because I didn’t know how else to focus my interests and skills into a career. It’s okay not to have it all figured out and I hope reading this helps law students to feel less alone when they feel like they’re the only ones that don’t have it all figured out yet.

Where did you go to law school and what fields of law did you study/gravitate towards while there? Why do you feel that those fields of law are vital?

I graduated from William S. Boyd School of Law in 2008 and returned to obtain an LL.M. in Gaming Law and Regulation in 2023. When I was going to school for my J.D., I loved tribal law and chose to complete my Capstone paper in that course, but there were not many tribal law opportunities at the time. I returned to obtain the LL.M. in Gaming Law and Regulation because, when the Nevada State Legislature created the Cannabis Compliance Board in 2019 and modeled its operations and goals after the Nevada Gaming Control Board, I knew it would be important to have experience in both arenas, especially when there is integration among the two industries.

When did you first start working in the cannabis business side of law? And from your experience, what are the most common legal issues that cannabis business owners face or other issues that require an attorney?

My career took a big turn in 2014 when I was offered a small contract to track bills for a newly formed organization, the Nevada Dispensary Association (now Nevada Cannabis Association). Prior to that, I had been practicing criminal, family, and immigration law for five years at a relatively small law firm. The small contract with the NDA quickly expanded into an opportunity to run the organization as its Executive Director, which involved leading the cannabis industry on major issues that arose in the early years of legalization in Nevada. As far as the most common legal issues cannabis business owners face, cannabis businesses must comply with complex and ever-evolving regulations. It’s easy to run into trouble without the guidance of competent counsel.

What was the experience of teaching the Green Collar Jobs course at College of Southern Nevada like? What subjects were discussed about working in cannabis and how did the students enjoy it?

Teaching Green Collar Jobs at CSN was a great first experience in developing curriculum and communicating with students. It helped prepare me to develop and teach Cannabis Law & Policy at my alma mater, the William S. Boyd School of Law. I enjoy teaching at the law school because the students come from a wide range of backgrounds and cannabis legalization is such an interesting lens from which to view a wider range of topics, like taxes, administrative law, etc.

How did you become Executive Director of the Nevada Dispensary Association (now the Nevada Cannabis Association)? What were some of the most important highlights of your time serving that role and how do you feel those highlights benefited the Nevada cannabis industry?

I started with a small contract tracking cannabis bills, but I quickly found myself in the Executive Director position, acting as the primary source of information on the cannabis industry and as a representative for the cannabis business community. The work I did that impacted cannabis legislation and regulation was the most rewarding. It’s why I shifted my entire focus to cannabis law and policy and have pursued that focus for the past 10 years. I highly recommend law students and new lawyers get involved in legislation that they care about because you’ll learn so much and appreciate your legal background even more.

As far as highlights and benefits to the industry, while the cannabis industry still struggles, the early years were even more turbulent with multiple threats of industry shutdowns. At one time, a state agency was on the verge of shutting down the majority of cannabis sales. At another time, a group of small alcohol distributors filed a lawsuit to enjoin cannabis transportation throughout the state. At that time, the members of the trade association were looking to me for answers and we spent a lot of time and effort working together on those early battles.

As Vice Chair of the Cannabis Compliance Board, what are your usual duties? And as a regulatory body, how do you feel that the CCB operates overall? From your experience as a cannabis business lawyer, do you feel that the CCB is sometimes too strict upon cannabis operators when it comes to proper compliance or not so much?

My duties are similar to the other board members, including preparing for meetings and voting on various matters. I may receive more calls from the industry because each board seat is based on area of expertise, and I was appointed to fill the seat reserved for a person with industry experience. The other seats are reserved for law enforcement, financial background, etc.

I do think we had a period where the CCB was overly strict and punitive and that was a misguided attempt to follow the gaming model, but there have been changes in legislation that addressed that concern. We can learn from some of gaming’s successes, but in many ways the two industries are too divergent to cut and paste the gaming model onto cannabis regulation. I have a law review article pending publication that goes into depth on this topic that I will be happy to share when it is available.

What are the most problematic and/or widespread issues facing the Nevada cannabis industry and business owners/operators?

I think the resounding response from the industry and business owners is the illegal market. There is a large demand for cannabis, but only a fraction of it is being met by the legal market. There may not be a silver bullet to solving this issue, but there are various actions that the state and local governments could take to reduce the illegal market, such as reducing restrictions on the legal market (when public health and safety are not at issue) and educating the public, including tourists, on buying from legal sources.

Another issue cannabis business owners face are the significant taxes imposed on the industry at the local, state, and federal level. I hope, for the industry’s sake, that cannabis is moved federally to Schedule III, which would alleviate the tax penalty for conducting business activities involving a Schedule I substance, under the Controlled Substances Act. This would reduce the effective tax rate for business owners. It could take years to accomplish, but it would significantly help those still in business and infuse much needed optimism and capital investments into the industry.

Looking forward, how would federal rescheduling impact the Nevada cannabis industry? Would it be mostly positive, mostly negative or a mixture of the two?

The jury is out on some of the impacts of rescheduling, but it seems most likely that they will be limited to tax and research reform. Rescheduling is expected to eliminate the IRS Code § 280E tax penalty on business activities involving Schedule I substances as well as ease the restrictions on cannabis research. These changes will be the major legal implications, but they could lead to other changes or policy shifts. Two of the most exciting areas of research for UNLV’s Cannabis Policy Institute are the eventual integration of gaming and cannabis and the interstate commerce of cannabis, which will significantly impact Nevada’s cannabis market.

What is your role at UNLV’s Cannabis Policy Institute and have your past experiences helped prepare you? What are you working on?

UNLV established the Cannabis Policy Institute in 2023 with the mission to expand, coordinate, and promote cannabis policy, education, and research. I serve as the Director and 10 years of first working for the industry and then serving as a Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board member have helped me develop a complex understanding of the history, laws, and policies relating to cannabis and cannabis legalization. This past year, the CPI has initiated cannabis research and policy projects, launched a speakers series, implemented a faculty affiliate program, applied for grants, educated students on cannabis law and policy, and much more.

You recently co-hosted a panel discussion on gaming and cannabis at the UNLV Cannabis Policy Institute, along with the International Gaming Institute. What was the discussion about and what was the outcome?

Currently, gaming operators cannot have any involvement in legal cannabis business activities and legal cannabis deliveries are prohibited on the Strip corridor. The panel discussion looked at these and other laws separating gaming and cannabis. The first action to prohibit gaming licensees from participating in the cannabis industry was taken in 2014—10 years ago—and many policies and attitudes have changed drastically since then. The event was a success with stakeholders, elected officials, UNLV faculty, press, students, etc. in attendance and I look forward to hosting further discussions on potential integration between the two industries and other topics that are significant in the cannabis world.

Thank you for joining us Riana! To stay up to date on Nevada cannabis industry matters and the CCB, please visit the regulatory agency’s website. Anyone interested in the events of The UNLV Cannabis Policy Institute can stay informed through the institute’s very informative website.