UNLV Students Innovate to Look into Underreported Impacts of Cannabis

The UNLV Cannabis Policy Institute recently hosted a showcase where students presented research offering data-driven strategies to help address issues in the cannabis industry. Our recent explainer on cannabis taxes was cited in this work. ‍

The following excerpt covering this showcase was originally published in The Nevada Independent:
‍

Youth and Nevada’s illicit cannabis market

A presentation by sophomore student Mia Tschan highlighted Nevada’s lucrative illicit cannabis market, which reportedly brings in up to $370 million in untaxed revenue.

Tschan pointed out that taxes on cannabis sales — a portion of which go to K-12 education —  have dropped since 2021 while illicit sales continued to climb, according to the Guinn Center for Policy Priorities, a nonprofit, nonpartisan policy research center.

Tschan also noted that Nevada as of 2022 had the nation’s second highest youth usage rate of marijuana — nearly 16 percent of Nevada youth ages 12 to 17 reported using the drug during the past month.

Despite these issues, the state lacks dedicated health campaigns to warn the public about the illicit market and synthetic cannabinoids such as the drugs SPICE or K2, Tschan said.

Tschan says that informational campaigns could encourage buyers to spend money on safe, quality products rather than sustaining the illicit market. Then as that market dies down, young Nevadans would have less access to cannabis and Nevada schools would get more funding.

Click here to read the full story.

‍