The first recreational marijuana dispensary opened Monday in a northeastern Nevada border city known for its casinos, but Utah residents considering making the 90-minute drive to West Wendover will have to be careful about where they use the pot if they go.
Nevada laws prohibit using marijuana in public or hotel rooms, and U.S. laws prohibit people from taking it across state lines to Utah, where only medical marijuana is legal.
The new dispensary in West Wendover, Nevada, called Deep Roots Harvest, figures to get plenty of business from Utah residents waiting for Utah’s new medical marijuana program to roll out next year.
Christine Stenquist is the director and founder of advocacy group Together for Responsible Use and Cannabis Education, or TRUCE. She said she’s already getting requests for carpools to West Wendover, which is about 125 miles west of Salt Lake City, making it the closest marijuana dispensary for people who live in northern Utah. She said previously, people traveled nearly twice as far to cities in Colorado or southern Nevada.