August pot sales, tax figures beat targets

Nevada dispensaries sold more than $33 million in recreational marijuana, and the state pulled in nearly $5 million in taxes from those sales in August, according to numbers released Monday by the Nevada Department of Taxation.

That’s up from the $27 million in sales and $3.7 million in taxes in

July, the state’s first month of recreational weed sales.

The sales numbers were significantly ahead of the state’s projection of $21.5 million for August. In fact, the state did not project any month in the first year of recreational sales to eclipse $28 million.

Andrew Jolley, CEO of The Source dispensaries and president of the Nevada Dispensary Association, said those projections will likely prove to be fairly conservative, and heexpectsthemarkettocontinueto grow steadily over the next several months.

“I think it is a good indication that there was a large, pent-up demand that was being served by the black market,” Jolley said.

The August tax numbers broke down like so:

■ $3.35 million generated by the 10 percent sales tax on recreational marijuana (up from $2.71 million in July)

■ $1.51 million generated by the 15 percent wholesale tax at the cultivation level on all marijuana (up from $974,060 in July)

State Sen. Tick Segerblom, D-las Vegas, said he was initially a little worried that the novelty of legal marijuana could lead to a drop-off in the second month of sales.

But after talking to people in the industry, he said it was clear that wasn’t going to be the case for August.

“Obviously, there’s a demand,” Segerblom said.

He said he doesn’t think the sales and tax numbers will level off for at least two years, and he cited the recent opening of five dispensaries in Henderson.

Segerblom also heaped the praise onto the industry and state regulators for ensuring the market got off to a smooth start.

“Everyone’s just been really been working perfectly together,” he said.

Contact Colton Lochhead at clochhead@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638. Follow @Coltonlochhead on Twitter.

on whether to close the school was further drawn out, as the board went into recess so lawyers for both sides could discuss a proposed settlement, or “cure.”

Theboardhastheauthorityto close any charter with a graduation rate below 60 percent.

Nevada Connections Academy has argued that the graduation rate is an unfair statistic to use, saying many of their 3,000 students statewide come to the school as a last resort and are far behind in credits when they enroll. It petitioned a Carson City court last October asking it to stop

SCHOOL

second trial in August that he never intended to threaten Bureau of Land Management agents. He was captured in photographs of the standoff pointing a long gun through a crack in a barrier wall on Interstate 15.

“My barrel was in a safe direction,” he told jurors then.

Parker also was photographed in April 2014 pointing a long gun through a barrier on the freeway overpass. His testimony during the second trial was cut short after Navarro ruled that he made statements to jurors that were prohibited.

The jury acquitted Drexler and Parker of several charges in the August trial but could not reach verdicts on all the felonies.

As part of the plea agreement, both will avoid further jail time but would still face between one and five years of probation.

Sentencing for both men was scheduled for Feb. 2.

Contact Colton Lochhead at clochhead@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638. Follow @Coltonlochhead on Twitter.