Long lines in Nevada as recreational marijuana goes on sale

Authored by edition.cnn.com and submitted by mvea

Story highlights Recreational marijuana goes on sale in Nevada

Adults 21 and over can possess up to an ounce

$600 fine for smoking in public

(CNN) Fireworks, long lines and even a wedding marked the start of recreational marijuana sales in Nevada.

At midnight Saturday, legal pot went on sale -- making Nevada the eighth state to allow the purchase of marijuana in dispensaries.

Nevada's law lets adults 21 and older to possess up to an ounce of marijuana. The law was approved by voters in November 2016.

But due to federal marijuana laws and state casino laws , dispensaries cannot be located on the famous Las Vegas Strip.

Fireworks ring in the new law

punktilend on July 2nd, 2017 at 14:03 UTC »

How are they dealing with the tourist's that come to smoke but have no place to do so because they are staying at a casino hotel?

DooDooDoodle on July 2nd, 2017 at 14:00 UTC »

Can someone explain to me the reasoning behind allowing alcohol wholesalers to have a monopoly on marijuana distribution for the first 18 months? That seems pretty corrupt. The only sense I can make of it is the people who have a license to distribute alcohol must have already gone through background checks so it speeds up the process.

jb2386 on July 2nd, 2017 at 12:41 UTC »

Ah that's great.

"Every time you buy something here, 33-cents is going to taxes. This is the most heavily taxed and regulated industry in the whole state," Segerblom told CNN affiliate KSNV.

Marijuana is expected to generate $60 million in tax revenue the next two years.

Add that to police time that's no longer dedicated to deal with cracking down on pot smokers.

And I loved this:

Nathaniel White told KSNV that he had experienced trouble with the police for past marijuana possession but today said "just the receipt is amazing. I'm shocked I got a receipt for marijuana."