North Vegas Drawing in Medical Cannabis Growers, Producers

The “financially ailing” cousin of Las Vegas – North Las Vegas – is perhaps poised to be revitalized by the cannabis trade.

The city, which is much more run-down and off the beaten track from the downtown strip where most tourists play these days, has drawn at least 18 medical marijuana cultivators and producers, all lured by inexpensive industrial space and lower licensing fees than neighboring municipalities, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Those 18 licensees are even less than what was originally anticipated, since at least 35 were approved to set up shop in a specific industrial park in the city, but it’s still more than Las Vegas and nearby Henderson.

At the park, MMJ businesses pay just one-time licensing fees that add up to about $55,000 and 2% quarterly fees of gross revenue. But in other locations, those fees can be annual payments of $55,000, and the quarterly percentage jumps to 3% or 4%, and increases every few years.

And an important note is that although the state limits the number of dispensaries that can legally operate, there’s no such cap on growers or producers.