Nevada to look beyond alcohol firms for cannabis distribution

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After deciding there aren’t enough liquor distributors interested in transporting marijuana, Nevada regulators will start issuing licenses to companies that aren’t alcohol wholesalers.

Deonne Contine, executive director of the state tax department, said the “capacity of only liquor wholesalers to serve the market seems lacking,” according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The agency will now review approximately 80 applications it received in May from other businesses seeking to distribute cannabis in the state.

Nevada’s recreational law approved in November called for alcohol distributors to transport marijuana for the first 18 months of the program. However, few liquor wholesalers applied for the licenses, raising concerns about a potential bottleneck in the supply chain from cultivators to retailers.

The agency has received nine applications from alcohol distributors, the Review-Journal reported. Four have been licensed and two are in the works.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.