Are Nevada officials actually trying to preserve the state's marijuana black market? 
 
 In the first four days that Nevada residents could legally purchase marijuana for recreational uses, state retailers made $3 million in sales—and lined the state government's coffers to the tune of a cool $500,000 in tax revenues, according to the Las Vegas Sun. 
 
 Actually, that can't be right. Allowing for rounding, that only accounts for about 15 percent of sales—which is the state excise tax on the first wholesale sale. Nevada also imposes a 10 percent retail excise tax on recreational sales, and then adds in sales tax, which varies from just under 7 percent to over 8 percent according to where you are. Let's call the total tax take about 32 percent of legal recreational marijuana sales. That's a really high tax rate to impose on any industry—especially one that was thriving (albeit illegally) and entirely untaxed less than two weeks ago. 
 
 The confusion is understandable, given that Nevadans voted to legalize pot just last November and state officials dragged their feet on complying until the last minute. The market for marijuana is currently operating under emergency regulations issued July 6 after booze distributors went to court to protect a temporary, legally guaranteed monopoly on recreational marijuana sales guaranteed them by last year's ballot measure. In June they won an injunction prevent the state from authorizing competing licensees and the whole process threatened to founder. 
 
 "State officials are clearly rushing into this hoping no one will notice how sloppy implementation is actually going," Rafael Lemaitre, a former top staffer in the Obama administration's Office of National Drug Control Policy, told the Sun. 
 
 That the state might need to make room for more retailers to hang out their shingles is evident from reports of hours-long lines for people to make legal purchases. 
 
 Undoubtedly, many people were willing to endure long lines because of the novelty of legal marijuana sales and the festive nature—fireworks!—of the holiday weekend launch. But novelty wears off. You have to assume that Nevada pot connoisseurs might soon tire of long waits when they could certainly get quick delivery from whichever underground entrepreneurs had their business before July 1—especially when calling old dealers could also bypass that high tax. 
 
 Nevada isn't exactly inventing the wheel here, either. Other states have legalized marijuana in the past, and their experiences offer lessons to anybody willing to learn. 
 
 "Colorado and Washington both initially levied tax rates of over 30 percent and struggled to reduce the size of the black market," the Tax Foundation's Lindsey Lassiter and Matthew Stadnicki recently noted. "Nevada could face similar troubles stamping out the black market." 
 
 To keep people from reverting back to their reliable and responsive black market dealers, Lassiter and Stadnicki recommend that the state focus on a lower, relatively easily implemented retail sales taxes. Reduced burden and simplicity would encourage compliance. So, they say, would reducing the tax differential between the legal recreational market and the legal medical marijuana market, so that supply doesn't get diverted from the one to the other. If Nevada lawmakers don't make some changes, well… 
 
 Nine months after Colorado legalized recreational sales, PBS reported that black market marijuana remained far cheaper than the legal stuff, and stifling red tape made it difficult and expensive to open an aboveground business. Little has changed since then, except that the state has actually tightened regulations and recently hiked the marijuana sales tax by 50 percent. 
 
 "It seems kind of odd that at the same time they're trying to do something about the black and gray markets they're going to ratchet up the taxes and drive more people to the black and gray markets," former state Sen. Pat Steadman (D-Denver) commented earlier this year. 
 
 Washington state also tried its luck with sort-of legalization of marijuana that bound the market in restrictions and burdened it with high vice taxes (37 percent excise tax). Lawmakers and regulators channeled their inner commissars and tried to create a centrally planned market with caps on production and sales outlets. Lower prices and easier access—including home delivery—were two big competitive edges possessed by illegal dealers that led Seattle Weekly to conclude last September that "four years after legal weed, Seattle's black market still thrives." 
 
 State lawmakers recently voted down legalization of delivery services—a change that would have eliminated one major advantage possessed by underground vendors. 
 
 So…What's Nevada's excuse? Having seen states elsewhere enter into legalization of marijuana half-heartedly, and preserve a healthy black market as a result, it's impossible for lawmakers to claim they can't predict the outcome of their efforts to nominally legalize a product while retaining some of the worst aspects of prohibition via intrusive taxes and rules. 
 
 Then again, officials in Colorado and Washington have been living with the results of their bad choices, and seem unwilling to undo the damage. If you're incapable of learning from your own experiences, it's unlikely that you'll suddenly see lessons elsewhere. 
 
 Whatever the motivations of officials in Nevada and their counterparts in other states, you can anticipate that "legalizing" marijuana while burdening it with tight rules and high taxes will have legal dealers competing with underground vendors for a long time to come. ||||| Articles, lectures, videos, and other informational resources regarding the history of the Church. ||||| In this Saturday, July 1, 2017, photo, people line up at the NuLeaf marijuana dispensary in Las Vegas. Recreational marijuana sales have exceeded the expectations of Las Vegas area store owners, who have... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this Saturday, July 1, 2017, photo, people line up at the NuLeaf marijuana dispensary in Las Vegas. Recreational marijuana sales have exceeded the expectations of Las Vegas area store owners, who have seen long lines outside their dispensaries since Saturday, when Nevada became the fifth state with... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this Saturday, July 1, 2017, photo, people line up at the NuLeaf marijuana dispensary in Las Vegas. Recreational marijuana sales have exceeded the expectations of Las Vegas area store owners, who have seen long lines outside their dispensaries since Saturday, when Nevada became the fifth state with... (Associated Press) In this Saturday, July 1, 2017, photo, people line up at the NuLeaf marijuana dispensary in Las Vegas. Recreational marijuana sales have exceeded the expectations of Las Vegas area store owners, who have... (Associated Press) 
 
 LAS VEGAS (AP) — Recreational marijuana sales have exceeded the expectations of Las Vegas area store owners, who have seen long lines outside their dispensaries since Saturday, when Nevada became the fifth state with shops selling pot to the public. 
 
 That move jumpstarted a market projected to be fueled by the tens of millions of visitors that Sin City welcomes each year. 
 
 Eager pot customers on Monday again lined up before dispensaries opened their doors. Some were looking to make their first purchase since Saturday, and others were shopping for seconds. Tourists and locals alike have taken advantage of the change in state law. 
 
 "I'm a very happy with the way sales have gone and continue to go, especially when you consider that the word didn't really get out ahead of time." said Andrew Jolley, president of the Nevada Dispensary Association and a store owner. "The public really only had a couple of weeks' notice, whereas Colorado had a full year to prepare." 
 
 Nevada voters approved legalizing recreational pot in November, but regulations needed before the sales could start weren't approved until the past two weeks. The state later this week will release a report regarding the unannounced enforcement inspections that were conducted Saturday at dispensaries across the state. 
 
 The demand for recreational marijuana has been such that dispensaries had to turn away customers in line over the weekend, and at least one extended its hours of operation. Dispensaries reported wait times of 45 minutes to an hour Saturday afternoon and up to 20 minutes Sunday. 
 
 The Euphoria Wellness dispensary had 50 people waiting to make purchases midmorning Monday. Its marketing coordinator, Jim Ferrence, said budtenders helped at least 1,000 customers during the first two days of legal recreational pot sales. 
 
 Customers on average bought a quarter of an ounce of marijuana flowers and a sampling of various edibles and concentrates, Ferrence said. "Everyone was calm, cool and collected. No unruly crowds at all," he said. 
 
 Those 21 and older with a valid ID can buy up to an ounce of pot. As of Friday, the state had licensed 44 dispensaries to sell recreational marijuana. Thirty-nine of those shops are in the Las Vegas area. 
 
 More than 42 million tourists flock for business and pleasure to Las Vegas every year. They along with visitors to the rest of Nevada are expected to make nearly two of every three recreational pot purchases in the state. 
 
 But people can only use the drug in a private home as it remains illegal to consume it in public, including the Strip, hotels and casinos. Violators face a misdemeanor citation and a $600 fine. 
 
 Fifteen tourists on Monday hopped on a bus for a three-hour tour of dispensaries in the Las Vegas area. The "Cannabus" took the visitors to two stores with whom they have an agreement to allow riders to skip the lines. 
 
 The recreational marijuana sales did not cause Las Vegas police a headache over the weekend. The department did not deploy additional officers and does not track misdemeanor citations, Officer Larry Hadfield on Monday said. 
 
 "It was business as usual," he said. "Everything went smooth as far as we can tell." 
 
 The state stands to earn millions from the sales of recreational marijuana, but the tax collection data won't be available for several weeks. 
 
 Nevada joins Colorado, Oregon, Washington and Alaska in allowing adults to buy the drug that's still banned by the federal government. The market in the Silver State is expected to outpace all others in the U.S., at least until California starts its sales. 
 
 "With all due respect to Denver, Seattle, and Portland, Las Vegas is already the party capital of the world, and this is just an extension of that," Ferrence said. "There's no question that the demand is ever going to relent." 
 
 ___ 
 
 Follow Regina Garcia Cano on Twitter at https://twitter.com/reginagarciakNO / More of her work can be found at https://www.apnews.com/search/ReginaGarciaCano ||||| First days of recreational marijuana sales generate about $500,000 in taxes 
 
 The first four days of legal recreational marijuana sales generated $3 million in sales revenue and about $500,000 in tax revenue, putting Nevada on pace to achieve an estimated $30 million in sales revenue over the next six months of recreational sales, according to the Nevada Dispensary Association. 
 
 The sales figure was generated from Saturday’s first day of recreational marijuana sales to Tuesday. The tax rate for recreational pot is 33 to 38 percent, depending on local regulations, with all state and local taxes included. A 15 percent tax on wholesale marijuana distribution from cultivation and production facilities included in the total tax rate did not contribute to this week’s tax revenue, as dispensaries loaded up on supply prior to July 1 when the new wholesale tax took effect. 
 
 “We had a higher demand than everybody initially thought,” dispensary association director Riana Durrett said. “It shows this market really exists.” 
 
 Thousands of marijuana shoppers took to dispensaries over the weekend, forming lines as long as three hours for their chance to legally purchase the plant. Nevadans passed Ballot Question 2 in November, legalizing the use and possession of up to one ounce of marijuana flower or up to one-eighth ounce of concentrates. Legislation allowing sales of the plant at medically licensed dispensaries was finalized in late May. 
 
 Nevada was one of four states to legalize recreational use of the plant in November’s election. In addition, four other states allow recreational pot sales. 
 
 Editor’s note: This story has been revised. An earlier version contained an incorrect figure on the amount of tax revenue that has been generated. ||||| CLOSE Four Reno dispensaries begin sales of recreational marijuana. Jason Bean 
 
 AP file photo/gannett illustration: Marijuana growing in Medford, Ore. (Photo: AP file) 
 
 Nevada dispensaries licensed to sell recreational marijuana are running out of pot less than a week after the legal market came to life, according to the state Department of Taxation. 
 
 On Friday, taxation officials announced that Gov. Brian Sandoval had endorsed the department's "statement of emergency," allowing state officials to consider adopting an emergency regulation that could alleviate the shortage. 
 
 The regulation would allow the department to consider a larger pool of applicants for distribution licenses, licenses that permit the transport of recreational marijuana from the cultivation and packaging facilities to the dispensaries.The Nevada Tax Commission will vote on the regulation on Thursday. 
 
 As of Friday, the taxation department has issued not one distribution license because of a last-minute court battle, incomplete applications and zoning issues, meaning dispensaries will not be getting a delivery for a while. 
 
 "Based on reports of adult-use marijuana sales already far exceeding the industry’s expectations at the state’s 47 licensed retail marijuana stores, and the reality that many stores are running out of inventory, the Department must address the lack of distributors immediately. Some establishments report the need for delivery within the next several days," said department spokeswoman Stephanie Klapstein in an email Friday. 
 
 More: Nevada marijuana prices rise, product may sell out 
 
 More: Nevada celebrates first legal recreation marijuana sales 
 
 More: Which Reno marijuana dispensaries have recreational pot? 
 
 As the state law legalizing recreational marijuana was passed in November, wholesale alcohol distributors were promised exclusive rights to transport wholesale marijuana for the first 18 months of legal sales. Since November, the state has received seven applications from liquor wholesalers. 
 
 "We continue to work with the liquor wholesalers who have applied for distribution licenses, but most don’t yet meet the requirements that would allow us to license them. Even as we attempted to schedule the final facility inspection for one of the applicants this week, they told us their facility was not ready and declined the inspection," Klapstein said. 
 
 The department tried to address the issue earlier this year by opening the application process up to the businesses that have been transporting medical marijuana and other marijuana businesses, but an 11th hour court battle ended in an order only to accept applications from wholesale alcohol distributors. The taxation department since appealed the court's decision. 
 
 Now that any marijuana dispensary licensed to sell recreational marijuana must receive all product -- both recreational and medical -- from a distributor licensed to transport recreational marijuana, many of them are stuck with dwindling supplies of flower and edibles both. 
 
 "The business owners in this industry have invested hundreds of millions of dollars to build facilities across the state. They have hired and trained thousands of additional employees to meet the demands of the market. Unless the issue with distributor licensing is resolved quickly, the inability to deliver product to retail stores will result in many of these people losing their jobs and will bring this nascent market to a grinding halt. A halt in this market will lead to a hole in the state’s school budget," Klapstein said. 
 
 If the regulation passes and the taxation department issues distribution licenses, not all of the industry's hardships will be solved. Many cultivation centers are in the midst of the grow cycle of some strains of marijuana, meaning there will be a lag between dispensaries selling out and the next harvest. Additionally, some cultivation centers already have sold futures of their next crop. 
 
 While the department does not plan to release any numbers on state tax revenue from the industry until late September, the Nevada Dispensary Association earlier this week estimated that dispensaries made about $3 million in sales and the state made about $1 million in tax revenue between July 1 and July 4. 
 
 Revenue collected from the 15 percent cultivation tax goes toward schools, while the 10 percent sales tax revenue goes toward the state's rainy day fund, which can be used for any number of expenditures. 
 
 Read or Share this story: https://www.rgj.com/story/news/marijuana/2017/07/08/nevada-fire-resources/452606001/
– Nevada on July 1 became the fifth state to sell recreational marijuana to the public, and one week later, it declared an emergency. But the chaos is on the licensing side of things. The new law allows those 21 and up to buy up to an ounce of pot from what are 47 licensed dispensaries, reports the AP. The problem, explains Vice News, is that the only way for dispensaries to legally get pot for the next 18 months is via wholesale liquor distributors, who secured the exclusive right via a November ballot measure. But of the seven liquor distributors to have applied for a license to restock dispensaries, zero have "met the application requirements." That's where the statement of emergency, signed Friday by Gov. Brian Sandoval, comes in. It says the emergency regulation is needed to allow the Department of Taxation to figure out whether limiting licenses to liquor dealers will result in an insufficient number of pot distributors in the state. This is a real concern, because without pot sales, "the State will not realize the revenue on which the State budget relies." Indeed, the Las Vegas Sun reports the first four days of sales brought in $500,000 in tax revenue, with the six-month tax estimate set at $30 million. The whole thing has been a bit of a saga: In mid-June, liquor distributors won a preliminary injunction banning the state from handing out licenses to other entities, Reason notes. As for how pot sales have happened to date, dispensaries were able to stock up pre-July 1. But "some establishments report the need for delivery within the next several days," a rep for the department said in an email to the Reno Gazette-Journal Friday.