Vegas has a funny way of taking your money. The casino gets some, the hotel gets some, and by the time you've ordered dinner, your wallet is asking for a day off. At least buying weed has become a little easier on the budget. A gram of cannabis flower costs roughly half what it did in Nevada back in 2019. Edibles have dropped in price too, by around 40 percent. Great if you're shopping. Less exciting if you're counting tax dollars. Back in 2021, Nevada was collecting considerably more cannabis tax than it does today. By 2025, roughly four out of every ten dollars from that earlier revenue peak had disappeared. Falling prices help explain why. Apparently, even the government can get annoyed when something goes on sale.
And here's where the paperwork starts. Nevada takes a 15 percent cut when cannabis first changes hands at wholesale level. Recreational customers then face another 10 percent excise tax at the register, before ordinary sales tax gets added. Assemblywoman Danielle Gallant thinks the system could use a rethink. She's floated removing the wholesale charge and collecting more of the tax at retail instead. One option under discussion puts that retail excise rate at 15 percent. That's an idea, not a new law. Nobody has voted to make it happen, and the state isn't about to change prices overnight because somebody suggested a different calculation.
The shops aren't exactly deserted, either. Nevada's legal cannabis businesses still made around $758 million in sales over the year. People are spending money; they're just getting more weed for it than they used to. So the politicians have a choice. Do they try to bring back some of that missing tax revenue, even if higher prices might send customers elsewhere? Or do they leave things alone and accept that the boom years don't last forever? There's still an illegal market waiting for anyone who decides the licensed shops are too expensive. The question could come back when lawmakers meet in 2027. For now, Vegas keeps doing what Vegas does best: finding new ways to argue about money.
