Buying marijuana on the Las Vegas Strip is illegal. That doesn’t mean it’s difficult. Tourists are only a Google search away from the many illegal websites offering delivery to the Resort Corridor. Others can hop on social media to find “pop-up sales parties” in nearby hotel suites. And, as Assemblymember Max Carter II, D-Las Vegas, recalls a visitor telling him, rideshare vehicles will sometimes come supplied with a mini-dispensary.

In December, the UNLV Cannabis Policy Institute issued a report outlining six different recommendations for eliminating the illegal unlicensed market, which accounts for up to 30 percent of all cannabis sales. The recommendations include developing a strategy to enforce against the unlicensed market and provide the Department of Taxation with the authority to collect taxes on unlicensed cannabis sales.

Even as Nevada casinos draw millions of tourists, a fear of federal oversight has created artificial barriers between the state’s gaming and cannabis industries, leading to missed business opportunities and confused operators trying to navigate the divide, according to a new study.

After approval from both voters and state lawmakers, sales of recreational marijuana products in Nevada have reached more than $5 billion. Sales peaked during the pandemic in 2021 at more than a $1 billion. They’ve fallen since then but remained around $800 million in 2024.

Our first dispensaries opened in Las Vegas 10 years ago — advocates for cannabis legalization had promised a tax revenue jackpot, earmarked for education, that would save our schools. But that windfall never really happened, and since 2021, cannabis revenue has actually dropped and flatlined. Today, co-host Dayvid Figler talks with Riana Durrett, director of the Cannabis Policy Institute at UNLV, and asks: What happened? And is 2025 the year cannabis finally makes money?

U.S. Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nevada, will become one of the leading voices on issues related to cannabis on Capitol Hill. Titus' office announced Thursday that the lawmaker has been named co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus.

Jordan Wellington hosts Riana Durrett, vice chair of the Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board and director of the Cannabis Policy Institute at UNLV, for a discussion about the impact of legal cannabis in Nevada, its relationship with the gaming industry, and why it is so important to get cannabis hospitality right. They also discuss the importance of ongoing research and stakeholder engagement, which were at the heart of the policy symposium co-hosted by CPI and Strategies 64 during MJBizCon.

The Cannabis Policy Institute (CPI) at UNLV has released three new reports addressing key aspects of the cannabis industry. The reports were shared during the institute's inaugural symposium on Dec. 5 and highlighted critical challenges and opportunities related to regulatory reform, market trends, and emerging product categories.

The Cannabis Policy Institute (CPI) at UNLV has released three new reports addressing key aspects of the cannabis industry. The reports were shared during the institute's inaugural symposium on Dec. 5 and highlighted critical challenges and opportunities related to regulatory reform, market trends, and emerging product categories.

Get ready to pay at a Las Vegas marijuana dispensary, and the substance’s illicit status at the federal level becomes quickly apparent. Cash, yes, please. Debit card, maybe. Credit card, no cannabis for you.

Since November of 2020, Riana Durrett has served as the Vice Chair of the Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board, the regulatory agency for the billion-dollar Nevada cannabis industry. A graduate of the Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, Durrett previously served nearly six years as the Executive Director of the Nevada Cannabis Association (formerly Nevada Dispensary Association) and simultaneously serves as the Director of UNLV’s Cannabis Policy Institute, which regularly hosts impactful events featuring very notable cannabis professionals and regulators from other states with recreational cannabis as far away as Maine.

Nevada is taking its first serious steps toward exploring a potential merger of its gaming and cannabis industries, as policymakers and industry leaders discuss how these two major sectors can legally co-exist. A recent panel hosted by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) brought this conversation into the spotlight, as reported by Kolo.