Nevada Suffers"Emergency" Recreational Marijuana Shortage

                 “Nevada approved an emergency regulation Thursday aimed at solving a marijuana shortage,” so trumpeted the Los Angeles Times story. There was an “emergency” marijuana shortage? The horrors! What urgent plight must the state face next, a Doritos deficit?

                The new regulation is aimed at alleviating the dope shortage “by expanding who is allowed to transport the drug from cultivation facilities to retail dispensaries,” according to The Times. The Nevada Tax Commission voted unanimously in favor of the regulation just two weeks after the state began allowing the sale of recreational marijuana. Supply problems had quickly surfaced because virtually no one had been licensed to transport it.

                The referendum Nevada voters passed last year legalizing the drug for recreational use stipulated that only liquor wholesalers would be allowed to apply to distribute marijuana for the first 18 months of sales. The proviso was a concession to the alcohol industry, which was- and is- worried about new competition from pot. However, far fewer alcohol distributors applied than was expected, and, as of a few days ago, none had been approved.

                That’s government for you: stoned immaculate. (Google it).

                So, when sales of “recreational” pot began on July 1^st, retail shops- all of which were already selling marijuana for medical use- had to rely on their existing stocks, which quickly ran low.

                Jim DeVolld, the chairman of the state’s tax commission, averred that the emergency regulation was necessary, and noted that “This is such an important time in the state of Nevada’s existence." He added, “We’re trying to do the right thing.”

                The times, they are a-changin’. 

                Who could have imagined this scenario even a few short decades ago?

Leave It to Beaver Episode:

Ward: “June, do you know where I left my weed?”

June: “I think you left your Acapulco Gold in the Beaver’s room…and I’m sure I saw Wally with your sinsemilla this morning. Also, there are some hash brownies and cannabis candy bars in the jar on the kitchen counter if you’d like some, dear.”

                In light of the dramatic increase in car accidents and THC poisoning, especially among children and pets, in states such as Colorado that have recently legalized marijuana, it will be interesting to see how the tourist and gambling mecca of Las Vegas fares while subjected to “reefer madness.”

                This is especially so with the arrival of professional sports in Sin City. The Las Vegas Golden Knights of the NHL start play this coming fall, while the Las Vegas Stoners Raiders(?) of the NFL will arrive sometime in the next few years.

Arena announcer: “Welcome Golden Knights fans. Please note that everyone in section 124 will receive a free 1-year supply of cannabis if the Knights score a power play goal tonight!”

Concession stand vignette: “Dude, I’d like a tall beer, a dime’s worth of weed, and like, the biggest container of Cheetos you’ve got, my man!”

                Booze, betting and bhang. What could go wrong?

                Come mothers and fathers

                Throughout the land

                And don’t criticize

                What you can’t understand

                Your sons and your daughters

                Are beyond your command

                Your old road is rapidly agein’

                Please get outta’ the new one if you can’t lend your hand

                For the times they are a-changin’

                (© Bob Dylan Music Co.)