Nevada cannabis sales drop 8.6% but education fund gets $96M boost
- Nevada’s annual cannabis sales declined to $758 million from July 2024 to June 2025, down from $829 million the previous year, largely due to falling prices rather than reduced consumer demand.
- The illicit cannabis market remains strong in Nevada, with 356 licensed cannabis businesses statewide, including 107 retail stores and consumption lounges, primarily concentrated in the Las Vegas area.
- Declining cannabis sales correlate with a slight downturn in Nevada’s tourism industry, and strict regulations, especially on the Las Vegas Strip, limit market growth by restricting delivery and consumption for tourists.
- Policymakers are considering potential tax cuts or regulatory streamlining to boost the legal cannabis market, as the current 15% wholesale and 10% retail excise taxes may impact sales.
Annual Nevada cannabis sales dropped to $758 million from July 2024 to June 2025, down from $829 million over the prior fiscal year, according to state Cannabis Compliance Board data released last week.
But as in other states with declining sales revenue, Nevada cannabis retailers aren’t selling less product, according to one observer.
“Our analysis of the sales, unequivocally shows that people were not buying less, the prices were just going down,” Riana Durrett, executive director of the University of Nevada Las Vegas Cannabis Policy Institute, told Las Vegas-based CBS affiliate KLAS.
And as in other states, Nevada’s illicit cannabis market remains strong, Durrett said.
According to state data, Nevada has 356 operational licenses statewide, including one medical cannabis dispensary and 107 retail cannabis stores and two cannabis consumption lounges in Las Vegas.
And it’s the Las Vegas area that powers the overall industry, as the Reno Gazette Journal noted.
Clark County cannabis retailers reported $567.6 million in sales – down 10% from the prior fiscal year total of $628.4 million.
And the dip in cannabis sales mirrors the slight decline in Nevada’s tourism industry, the Nevada Independent reported.
Cannabis in Nevada is subject to a 15% wholesale excise tax and a 10% retail excise tax.
Policymakers are open to changes including a tax cut, CCB Executive Director James Humm told the Independent.
“We really want to look down into the numbers to see if there are any changes we need to make to the taxes, or if we need to streamline them,” he said.
Nevada’s strict regulations, particularly on the Las Vegas Strip, may have also limited the market’s growth potential.
Tourists, a key demographic, face restrictions on cannabis delivery to hotel properties and consumption within hotel rooms.
“If these are consumers, then I think when Nevada legalized cannabis, the idea was to serve that tourist market,” Durrett told KLAS.