The delicate balance of mixing cannabis and tourism in Las Vegas.

The party bus is a Las Vegas staple. Hop on board with a few of your pals and cruise around the Strip while taking in the sights and energy of Sin City, typically with a beverage in hand. Some buses come with a bar, others come with a stripper pole, but Herbology Tours is putting a new spin on the concept altogether by focusing on the culture and community of cannabis.

It has been a year since Nevada launched its recreational cannabis market on July 1, 2017 — giving way to strong retail pot sales and tax revenue that have surpassed what analysts originally predicted. Some of the latest figures show that the state raked in around $340 million in sales within the first 10 months of operation — $55 million of which has been deposited into the state’s coffers. What’s more is thousands of new jobs have been created since adults 21 and over were officially cut loose from their black market ties.

Legal sales of recreational marijuana in Nevada kicked off on July 1 last year with a projected fiscal year (July through June) tax revenue estimate of $50.32 million. As of the end of April, two months ahead of schedule, the state’s tax receipts from pot sales totaled $55.53 million, 110% of the projected total.

March and April tax receipts reached $7.09 million and $6.55 million, respectively, the two best months for the fiscal year so far. In July 2017 the state collected $3.68 million in tax receipts.

Actual tax receipts have surpassed forecasts in every month of the 2018 fiscal year. At the end of April, tax collections exceed estimates by 30%.

Las Vegas could soon become the second U.S. city to allow standalone marijuana consumption businesses.

City officials said Wednesday they’re wading into the new territory cautiously.

“We’re trying to get it right the first time,” Assistant City Attorney Bryan Scott told stakeholders at a workshop on the city’s draft rules for marijuana social use venues.

Despite recreational marijuana use being legal for more than a year in Nevada, Las Vegas’ roughly 42 million annual visitors don’t have many options for where they can use the pot they buy in local dispensaries. State law bans public consumption, and casinos and hotels don’t allow people to consume cannabis on their properties.

Nevada's marijuana regulators say they are trying to keep up with demands at recreational dispensaries, where sales continue to outpace projections.

The Nevada Appeal reports the Interim Finance Committee approved an additional $1.5 million for the Department of Taxation to hire more security guards and staff to process background checks for workers at marijuana facilities.

Sales have surpassed projections every month since recreational marijuana for adult use became legal July 1.

Taxation Director Bill Anderson told the Interim Finance Committee this week the workload is severely straining the existing staff.

MedMen Enterprises Inc. (CSE: MMEN) (OTCQB: MMNFF) (“MedMen” or the “Company”), a leading cultivator, producer and retailer of state-sanctioned cannabis in the U.S., announced today that the anticipated location for a new MedMen store in Las Vegas has received land-use and zoning approval by the Clark County Board of County Commissioners. The store is expected to be located at 4503 Paradise Road, Las Vegas, NV 89169, near major casinos such as the Hard Rock Hotel, the Thomas and Mack Center and Las Vegas International Airport.

Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions (OTC:REFG), a Nevada corporation specializing in state-of-the-art financial services structured to serve the medical cannabis and banking industries, announced today that it has acquired 40 acres of agricultural land to cultivate hemp as part of Utah’s recently passed law, H.B. 302. 

The company will seek a license to grow hemp as part of the state’s Department of Agriculture and Food licensing program. In 2014, Utah passed H.B. 105, which allowed legal possession and use of CBD oil by registered patients with a doctor’s recommendation and intractable epilepsy. 

Legal sales of marijuana for recreational use began last July in Nevada and in January in California. Although California sells a lot more legal weed than Nevada, California sales are much lower than projected while Nevada’s are much higher.

First the good news. From July 2017 through March 2018 (the first nine months of Nevada’s fiscal year), combined taxable sales of marijuana totaled $386 million, of which nearly $305 million represents sales for recreational use. Sales in March posted a record total of just over $41 million. Through March, the state has collected almost $49 million in taxes, about 97% of its estimated full-year take of $50.32 million.

A Las Vegas baby named Carter Padelford has been suffering from a rare skin disorder called lamellar ichthyosis since his birth. But now, Carter and his parents are getting some relief thanks to cannabis-infused balm, writes Calvin Hughes.

March set a new record for adult-use marijuana sales, with sales coming in just above $41 million for the month, helping to push total marijuana tax revenues to $48.97 million through the first nine months of the fiscal year, according to the Nevada Department of Taxation.

Statement from Bill Anderson, Executive Director, Nevada Department of Taxation:

March set a new record for adult-use marijuana sales, with sales coming in just above $41 million for the month, helping to push total marijuana tax revenues to $48.97 million through the first nine months of the fiscal year. With three months still in the fiscal year, Nevada has already brought in about 97 percent of the combined marijuana tax revenue that was projected for the entire year.