Throngs of tokers head into Nevada
State beats out neighboring California with recreational pot
RENO — Thousands of tokers kicked off retail pot sales in Nevada Saturday, crowding into more than two dozen dispensaries in Reno and Las Vegas, where long lines of giddy buyers waited throughout the day for a taste of history.
Whoops and cheers broke out as the doors opened in several locations at one minute past midnight Saturday, making Nevada the fifth state in the nation to let pot shops sell recreational marijuana.
“It’s a day in history,” shouted Todd Weatherhead, 35, who was the first to walk through the doors of the Dispensary in Reno at 8 a.m., after waiting outside for three hours and 40 minutes. “Here we have been arrested, persecuted, frowned upon — and now we have a chance to purchase this plant legally and, by paying taxes, support local government. It’s incredibly exciting.”
It was a major victory for a state
better known for its legal gambling and prostitution, but the latest indulgence is particularly special because it comes six months before neighboring California pulls the trigger on recreational reefer.
The rush began amid the pomp of Las Vegas, where a cannabis-crusading state senator was among the first to purchase the newly legalerb amid fireworks and preening celebrities. But the crowds were just as big at the four shops that opened in Reno, where many of the ganja trade’s true-blue hedonists, including several from California, crowded against the shelves and display cases to sample the wares.
“It’s huge,” said Mikel Alvarez, director of retail operations for Blüm, a Reno dispensary where the hoi polloi of hemp gathered before midnight Friday in hopes of getting in on the action. “It's been a long time coming.”
Tourists mingled with veterans, housewives, people in tie-dye apparel, young people holding skateboards and folks in button-down shirts as they waited in line at the various dispensaries.
“It’s like Christmas in July,” said a giddy Mike Stephenson, a 51-year-old veteran from Reno, who had never obtained a medical marijuana card for his lingering pain because the Department of Veterans Affairs does not recognize pot as medicine.
“It’s a dream come true,” he said, as he bought weed at the Dispensary. “I don’t have to worry anymore.”
Customers were elbow to elbow at Blüm, where the store shelves were stocked with edibles, lozenges, gums, extracts and oils. Bud tenders explained the psychedelic qualities of the store’s neatly arranged jars of sticky flower, which had names like Purple Monkey, Skunkberry, Gorilla Glue and Dream Queen.
“I’ve been waiting for this for a long time, so I had to be a part of it on day one,” said Rick Hernandez, 35, of Carson City, who spent $35 for 3.5 grams of a potent brand called Blueberry Cookies. “It’s going to be much more convenient now that I don’t have to deal with shady characters in a parking lot.”
Motorists honked at the many first-time pot buyers waiting in line at the MYNT Cannabis Dispensary, the only retail outlet near the casinos in downtown Reno.
“It’s a monumental day here,” said Clint Cates, the owner of MYNT, an acronym for My Natural Therapy. “We’re slammed. We have about 150 people in line at all times. We’re doing about one customer a minute, and we can’t get going fast enough.”
Nevada state Sen. Tick Segerblom kicked off the statewide shindig at the Reef dispensary, a Las Vegas store that sells Segerblom Haze, a potent strain named after him.
Essence Vegas hosted a dignitary-packed event, where bud tenders peddled 50 strains of cannabis, pipes and other accoutrements. The high-flying scene was lit up by fireworks and featured barbecued meat for consumers with the munchies.
The recreational pot trade was not supposed to start in Nevada until 2018, but lawmakers sped things up when they found out the state could earn an additional $3 million in tax revenue if sales started July 1.
The early start forced lastminute rulings on distribution permits and an emergency order by Gov. Brian Sandoval allowing medical dispensaries to sell existing medical supplies to recreational customers as long as they met packaging requirements. The order, issued Monday, forced many dispensary workers to stay up late Friday re-labeling their supplies.
Dispensaries are allowed to sell both medical and recreational pot in Nevada, where all flowers and edibles have to be placed in child-proof packaging with dosages, strains and growing regions listed on the label.
Recreational users can buy up to an ounce of marijuana flower. Edibles are limited to no more than 10 milligrams per serving and 100 milligrams per package of THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, the chemical compound in cannabis that makes people high. Patients with medical cards can purchase more.
Regulators believe that the 50 million tourists who visit Las Vegas and Reno every year will account for more than 60 percent of recreational sales. That’s largely because out-oftowners do not have to pay the 10 percent recreational cannabis excise tax.
“I’m here more for the novelty, because it is a landmark moment for Nevada,” said Django Broomfield, 41, who drove to Reno from Laytonville in Mendocino County to buy a gram of pot. “The gram won’t make it back across the state line.”
Wherever he smokes, Broomfield will have to limit his pleasures. The state’s renowned brothels don’t allow pot.
Nevada joins the states of Colorado, Oregon, Washington and Alaska in opening pot retail stores. California voters also approved sales of recreational marijuana last fall, but regulators are still working out its rules.