As licensed dispensaries plan to open their doors to sell recreational marijuana on July 1, it is not without a last-minute hangover in the form of a court case brought by the Independent Alcohol Distributors of Nevada (IADON) against the Nevada Department of Taxation.
After filing a temporary restraining order against the Nevada Department of Taxation on May 30 prohibiting it from enforcing a May 31 license application deadline for marijuana distribution licenses, IADON made their case in front of Carson City Judge James Wilson on June 19. Today Judge Wilson handed down his ruling in favor of the alcohol wholesalers, granting them a preliminary injunction.
The crux of the case began with IADON filing a complaint on May 30th, arguing that the November voter-approved ballot measure, known as Question #2, which legalizes cannabis in Nevada, gives liquor wholesalers exclusive rights to marijuana distribution licenses for the first 18 months of sales in the state.
Although alcohol wholesalers were to have exclusive distribution rights according to the language in Question #2, in mid-March the Department of Taxation opened the licensing application process to the marijuana…