It was this past Friday that recreational marijuana business owners received the ability to apply for licenses to open on-site cannabis consumption lounges.
The move comes after Nevada passed to new legislation earlier this year that went into effect last week.
The state Senate and Assembly voted to allow consumption lounges five years after Nevada voters approved the legalization of recreational cannabis in the state in 2016, with the first opening in 2017.
At consumption lounges, patrons can smoke, eat, and dab cannabis products.
This is a big move for the state as many visitors and residents cannot legally use cannabis at hotels or casinos. There are few options for being able to consume the products being purchased at cannabis stores.
The Cannabis Compliance Board started fielding applications for cannabis lounges this past Friday, which, once licensed, become the first places consumers can legally partake recreational cannabis.
The new permitting system prioritizes Black and Latinx applicants who have been “adversely affected by provisions of previous laws which criminalized activity relating to cannabis.”
The board uses a points-based system to award licenses and the first 10 of 20 independent cannabis consumption lounges must be awarded to social equity applicants.
The licensing fees start at $10,000 for stand-alone consumption lounges and go up to $100,000 for dispensaries that want to add a consumption lounge.
