Fed pot policy change could alter Nev. economy
By Colton Lochhead, Las Vegas Review-Journal
Nevada’s thousands of marijuana employees and millions of dollars in pot tax revenue could be in jeopardy with the rescinding of a federal memo seen as the sole protector for state-regulated pot markets.
The Obama-era policy called the Cole Memo had paved the way for legalized marijuana to flourish in states across the country, but Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a memo to federal prosecutors that they should follow “federal law enforcement priorities set by the Attorney General.” Sessions has often stated his opposition to marijuana.
The directive puts the hundreds of licensed marijuana businesses in Nevada — and nearly 9,000 workers — in a state of flux as they wait to see what the move means for the state’s budding industry that generated more than $126 million in sales and some $19 million in tax revenue through its first four months of operation.