Riana Durrett, at the time the executive director of the Nevada Dispensary Association, poses in this 2017 photo outside the Legislative Building in Carson City. Durrett is the inaugural director of the new Cannibas Policy Institute at UNLV. The institute will serve as a research hub for local, state, national and international cannabis policy, according to UNLV.
Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023 | 2 a.m.
The medicinal and recreational use of legal cannabis is still relatively new in Nevada, where lawful sales debuted in 2017, and the regulation of consumption lounges is being worked through.
That’s part of the reason why UNLV created its Cannabis Policy Institute, which is believed to be the first of its kind in Nevada and possibly in the United States, director Riana Durrett said.
The institute will serve as a research hub for cannabis policy and “local, state, national and international implications for public policy, law, medicine, science, economics and businesses,” UNLV said in a recent release. It is a collaboration between multiple programs at the university.
“There are so many unanswered questions related to cannabis legalization here in Nevada and nationwide, and we believe UNLV — with