Nevada Gets First Medical Marijuana Business School

The Cannabis Career Instituted launched its Budtender School in Nevada just two days after the state's lawmakers unanimously passed a bill out of committee on Thursday calling for the establishment and regulation of pot dispensaries.

Those attending the workshop received instruction from everything from growing marijuana legally, to baking it into brownies, cookies and cakes. 

According to the Institute's founder Robert Calkin, a successful marijuana dispensary can earn $250,000 a year, with some in Arizona averaging $10,000 a day. 

However, despite the overwhelming approval of the bill by the state's Senate Judiciary Committee, those involved in the marijuana business acknowledge they are constantly under threat of being accused of illegal behavior.

Before you try marijuana in Nevada, it is important that you understand all the Nevada Marijuana Laws and regulations so that you stay on the right side of the law. 

"We know that [because of] federal laws, no matter what we do in the realm of medical marijuana, it is illegal," Calkin told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Sen. Tick Sergblom, D-Las Vegas, however, isn't cocerned about this deatil, telling the Reno-Gazette Journal that he does not believe President Barack Obama will intervene with the dispensaries.

Should the bill become a law, applicants would pay $5,000 to enter a lottery for what would be limited licenses. Winners would then be required to pay an additional $20,000 license issue fee and $5,000 to renew the license annually. Those looking to cultivate marijuana or sell it in edible products would have to pay separate fees of $3,000 and $5,000 respectively.

The fees would then be used to regulate the production of medical marijuana with the balance going into a discretionary education spending account, according to Segerblom.

"It's quite a challenge to open a dispensary that meets all the legal criteria," Calkin said. "But it'll be pretty lucrative for whoever has the skills. And it's definitely going to be a boon to the economy here."

The daylong seminar cost $249 and included lectures by several "marijuana experts" as well as a textbook on pot dispensaries, according to the Las Vegas Sun.