1st year of Nevada marijuana sales exceeds expectations

RENO, Nev. – Nevada regulators and industry insiders say the state’s first year of broad marijuana legalization has exceeded even their highest expectations.

Sales and tax collections already have surpassed fiscal year-end projections by 25 per cent with a month of numbers still outstanding.

Taxable sales should top $500 million when June’s figures are counted, with total tax revenue of about $70 million — and about $25 million of that devoted to schools.

State Taxation Department Director William Anderson says Nevada’s program is viewed by other legal pot states as “the gold standard.”

The biggest criticism has come from medical marijuana patients who say broad legalization has resulted in dispensaries stocking fewer higher-potency products that cannot be sold for recreational use.