California’s Wild West of Cannabis vs Nevada’s Highly Regulated Cannabis Industry
Nevada and California are two states whose most popular cities, Las Vegas and Los Angeles, are only 263 miles apart.
The two states, known for their abundances of liberties (even prostitution is parts of Neveda) are some of the top marijuana producers and consumers in all of the United States of America. The two states may be dominating the marijuana game, but they have very different regulations surrounding cannabis consumption as well as a few similarities.
The Differences
The most notable difference in the two state’s laws about marijuana is selling to minors. While California does punish those over the age of 18 who sell marijuana to a minor by a penalty it is much more lenient to that compared Nevada. In the state of California, an adult caught selling marijuana to a minor has the potential to spend up to 1 year in prison and a $1000 fine. Whereas Nevada treats this as a more major offence. In Nevada, the same crime of selling marijuana to a minor is punishable by a minimum 1 year jail sentence to a maximum of 5 with a fine of $10,000. Nevada also has stricter regulations for concentrations. An individual can possess up to 6 g of concentrates in the state of California while Nevada only allows one to carry 3.5 g.
The Similarities
Both states of California and Nevada legalized the possession of marijuana as well as its use for medical and recreational purposes. These new laws were enacted in November 2016 after the two states took to a vote. While both may remain legal they still experience prosecution. Take California for instance, who recently voted ‘Yes’ to proposition 64, whom still sees their dispensary shops raided by DEA agents. This is also true to Nevada, although less raids are seen in Las Vegas due to the environment. So why does this occur when pot is legal in both states? Well the most simple answer boils down to American law. The United States government decided to let individual states delegate their marijuana laws. This, however, is contradicted by the DEA who are federal agents and therefore do not abide by state law.
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