Las Vegas Poised to Become Nation's Pot Capital

There won’t be any neon signs, drive-thru windows, or 24-hour wedding chapels attached to them,but Las Vegas marijuana dispensaries will be massively profitable tourist attractions that could deepen the entire nation’s relationship with weed. At least that’s the hope of the 109 applicants who have entered the heated competition for Vegas’ first medical marijuana dispensary.

Nevada voters legalized medical marijuana way back in 2000, but the state only recently enacted regulations to allow people to open pot businesses legally. Unincorporated Clark County — not to be confused with the regular incorporated Clark County, which contains the city of Las Vegas proper — includes the flashy 4.2-mile gambling corridor known as the Las Vegas Strip. It’s home to mega-casinos like the Bellagio and Caesars Palace and became the first jurisdiction to draft its licensing requirements. Those requirements look a lot like the ones that control its lucrative gambling industry: they favor high rollers and are geared towards reaping massive profits.

Although only medical marijuana is legal in Nevada now, a petition has been filed to legalize weed for recreational use, and it’s expected to pass by 2016. As it is, Vegas is known as a place where out-of-towners can come and get crazy for a weekend, because “whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” Throw legal marijuana into the mix, and you’ve got a potential stateside Amsterdam.

As a result, Vegas has turned into a serious land grab for would-be marijuana entrepreneurs. “Anybody who ever had any ambition to do something in the cannabis industry, whether they’re from CO, CA, they’re all looking at Las Vegas,” says Leslie Bocskor, founding chairman of the Nevada Cannabis Industry Association, and a consultant and investment advisor to the cannabis industry at large. And unlike most states in the country with legal medical marijuana, Nevada’s cannabis market will be for profit. That is, dispensaries won’t have to operate as collectives or cooperatives the way they do in California, for example.

Nevada will also allow what’s known as “full reciprocity”: people with medical marijuana cards from other states will be able buy cannabis in Nevada without having to get a new prescription or card. They’ll simply sign an affidavit when they enter their first dispensary. (And they’ll have to stick to that dispensary, exclusively, for one month before trying another one.) Colorado and Washington have fully legalized weed for recreational as well as medicinal use, so in theory it would seem like those states would be bigger markets for cannabis. But those with knowledge of the marijuana industry believe that Nevada, and Vegas in particular, represents an even greater opportunity.

“We’re looking at anywhere from a $600 million to $1.5 billion yearly market in Vegas,” says Derek Peterson, CEO of the Irvine, CA- based hydroponics company, Terra Tech, who applied for licenses.