MJBiz - May/June 2024 - 25

INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS
Nevada
The Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board (CCB) issued the state's first marijuana consumption
lounge license to Smoke and Mirrors in Las Vegas. The operation is attached to Thrive
Cannabis Marketplace at 2975 Sammy Davis Jr. Drive.
Planet 13 opened Dazed! Consumption Lounge on April 5, making it the second state-licensed
consumption lounge to open in Las Vegas. The CCB said 19 lounges have been approved for conditional
licenses, including 14 retail-adjacent locations and five independent lounges.
Administrative setbacks, tight funding and changing regulations governing smoke
ventilation delayed the launch of dozens of lounges in Nevada for months last year. In June
2023, Nevada regulators approved loosening ventilation standards for marijuana consumption
lounges in Las Vegas and other parts of the state.
New Hampshire
The state House of Representatives passed another adult-use cannabis legalization bill in
April, but getting it through the Senate has been a perennial challenge.
The legislation passed in the House would allow 15 medical marijuana dispensaries to sell
recreational cannabis under regulation of the New Hampshire Liquor Commission, according
to New Hampshire Public Radio. New Hampshire is the only New England state that hasn't
legalized adult-use marijuana.
Advocates, operators and consumers hope this is the year legislation passes, considering
outgoing Gov. Chris Sununu and key lawmakers have signaled an openness for approval. However,
the Senate roadblocked legalization efforts last year and a similar measure in 2022.
New Jersey
The governor's office celebrated the opening of more than 100 marijuana stores in the state,
which saw cannabis sales top $2 billion in March. The dollar figure includes regulated sales
from the past six years, including medical marijuana sales conducted before the launch of an
adult-use market in 2022.
Multistate operators already doing business in New Jersey's medical marijuana market were
the first to receive adult-use licenses.
" Reaching 100 cannabis dispensaries is a huge milestone that shows we are headed in the
right direction, " Gov. Phil Murphy said.
In 2023, adult-use marijuana sales in New Jersey totaled more than $673 million, and MMJ
transactions were more than $99 million. When adult-use sales launched in 2022, the total
New Jersey market was projected to be worth $2 billion.
New York
State regulators approved 114 more adult-use marijuana licenses in March, but illicit stores
continue to outnumber legal operators by nearly 24-to-1.
Of the 114 licenses approved by the Cannabis Control Board:
* 45 were permits to open stores.
* 38 were non-conditional adult-use permits for " entrepreneurs who applied during the
2023 application window, " which opened Oct. 4.
* 31 were microbusiness permits, which allow a " licensee to grow, process, distribute and sell
all under one license. "
Regulators also waived some cultivation fees for two years, according to the governor's
office. The costs for conditional cultivator permits vary from $4,500 to $40,000, based on the
licensee tier and grow size.
mjbizdaily.com | May-June 2024 25

http://www.mjbizdaily.com

MJBiz - May/June 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of MJBiz - May/June 2024