LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – As Nevada lawmakers look to curb illegal marijuana sales and purchases across Nevada, FOX5 sat down with the head of LVMPD’s Narcotics Section on their enforcement efforts — and who exactly is selling or buying these street drugs.
Recreational marijuana has been legal in Nevada since 2017. A 2023 commissioned study by the Cannabis Compliance Board found that 21% of all marijuana sales across Nevada are illegal — amounting to $242 million in profits.
FOX5 covered concerns from state lawmakers about the issue– and how these illegal sellers target unwitting tourists on the Strip.
FOX5 sat down with Lt. Jorge Marty to discuss Metro Police enforcement across the Valley. There are more than two dozen officers assigned to the Narcotics section, and a quarter of all cases involve illegal marijuana.
“In this town, you have the two markets: We see the legal market, which is for anybody who’s 21 and over. The problem that we’re seeing though, is the illicit market: they’re selling drugs. We don’t know how it’s made. We don’t know what they’re using to make it,” Marty said.
Sellers range from people growing plants in their home, to high-level criminal operations; Metro police often tackle the low-and mid-level operations–even working to stop “marijuana parties” at venues– and aid state or federal law enforcement in major trafficking busts.
Common buyers, Marty said, are people who cannot afford marijuana from legal dispensaries or people under 21.
Cannabis regulators warn against purchasing and using illegal marijuana, which has not been vetted or inspected. Unregulated products may contain mold or even pesticides.
Marty warns, buying off the streets can make you vulnerable to violent crime.
“It’s not always the high-level trafficking that will bring the violence; a lot of times that low-level [dealer], one bag, here, one bag there, causes the violence, especially somewhere that’s heavily populated,” he said.
Marty has a warning for parents: many teenagers are able to find drugs like marijuana on social media.
“We always want parents to pay attention to what their kids are looking at,” he said.
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