{"id":1468,"date":"2021-09-30T17:39:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-30T17:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/CBMipgFodHRwczovL3d3dy5sYXN2ZWdhc29wdGljLmNvbS9uZXdzL2J1c2luZXNzL2Vjb25vbXktZ29lcy10by1wb3Qtb2ZmaWNpYWxzLXdlaWdoLWluLW9uLWltcGFjdHMtb2YtbGVnYWxpemVkLW1hcmlqdWFuYS9hcnRpY2xlXzZhYzcxMmQyLTIyMTUtMTFlYy04ZDI5LTA3ZGZjMjc4YzdlMi5odG1s0gEA"},"modified":"2021-09-30T17:39:00","modified_gmt":"2021-09-30T17:39:00","slug":"economy-goes-to-pot-officials-weigh-in-on-impacts-of-legalized-marijuana-las-vegas-optic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/?p=1468","title":{"rendered":"Economy goes to pot: Officials weigh in on impacts of legalized marijuana – Las Vegas Optic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
<\/span> <\/span> <\/p>\n
\n
\"Pot <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>
<\/p>\n

A nighttime shot of Smoke n Body 2.0 at 1213 National Ave. in Las Vegas. General manager Joseph Jaramillo expects the store to benefit now that the sale of recreational marijuana has been legalized.<\/p>\n

<\/span> Courtesy photo<\/span> <\/span> <\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Editor\u2019s note: This is the first in a series focusing on how the Las Vegas and San Miguel economy will be affected by the legalized sale of marijuana come April 1.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Joseph Jaramillo has no doubt his Las Vegas businesses will benefit from the state legalizing the sale of recreational marijuana starting on April 1.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of the older generations will be more free (to purchase marijuana) and it will be more acceptable,\u201d said Jaramillo, the general manager for Smoke n Body 2.0 at 1213 National Ave. and Smoke n Body Main at 1822 7th St. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The stores offer Cannabidiol, or CBD products, for treating things like insomnia and inflammation and providing cancer relief in addition to pipes and bongs.<\/span><\/p>\n

A local professor and municipal leaders also expect that the Las Vegas and San Miguel County economy will benefit.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI would expect more cannabis stores opening up,\u201d said Dr. Ali Arshad, who teaches economics and finance at New Mexico Highlands University. \u201cThe city will get a share of the gross receipts tax and be collecting their own tax from the sale of cannabis.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Arshad, who has a doctorate in economics from the University of Connecticut, said the state will levy a tax.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe legislation they have passed at the state level will allow them to collect a 12 percent excise tax, which is scheduled to go up to 18 percent in 2025,\u201d he said. \u201cThe state always shares revenue.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLooked at what happened in Colorado and California,\u201d Arshad continued. \u201cThese small towns have actually benefited quite a lot. The most important reason is it\u2019s a source of revenue that didn\u2019t exist before.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

District 1 county commissioner chairman Harold Garcia, who represents <\/span> West Las Vegas, Camp Luna, Montezuma and the <\/span> Gallinas Canyon, believes the legalization could have a positive effect on the economy. He however worries about the need for water to grow marijuana.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had so much drought over the last few years,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cIt\u2019s becoming part of the norm. It\u2019s hard to predict if it will get better.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He\u2019s also concerned about youth indulging.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want kids to think it\u2019s free for them to just start smoking,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cThat worries me. You know, if kids want to do it, they\u2019re going to do it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Jaramillo believes it will take pot off the black market, making it more difficult for youth to get. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis will throw everything into the regulatory system,\u201d he said. \u201cYou will need to show ID to get it, like alcohol. I think it will get it out of kids\u2019 hands.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

City mayor Louie Trujillo welcomes new business to the city.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a good opportunity for our municipality to take advantage of the tax money,\u201d Trujillo said. \u201cI think it\u2019s up to 6 to7 percent of the sale of recreational cannabis. I looking forward to the windfall so we can put it back into the police department and fire department and maybe the arts.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A nighttime shot of Smoke n Body 2.0 at 1213 National Ave. in Las Vegas. General manager Joseph Jaramillo expects the store to benefit now that the sale of recreational marijuana has been legalized. Courtesy photo Editor\u2019s note: This is the first in a series focusing on how the Las Vegas and San Miguel economy will be affected by the legalized sale of marijuana come April 1. Joseph Jaramillo has no doubt his Las Vegas businesses will benefit from the state legalizing the sale of recreational marijuana starting on April 1. \u201cA lot of the older generations will be more… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-connecticut-cbd-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1468\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}