Riana Durrett

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Director, UNLV Cannabis Policy Institute

Adjunct Professor, William S. Boyd School of Law

Expertise: Cannabis law, policy, and regulation, Cannabis industry, Marijuana dispensaries

Biography

Riana Durrett — a well-known figure in Nevada’s cannabis law and policy space — is the inaugural director of UNLV's Cannabis Policy Institute, which launched in 2023. She also teaches cannabis law and regulation courses at UNLV's William S. Boyd School of Law.

Durrett's background includes appointment by the governor as the first vice chair of the Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board. Prior to her work with the compliance board, Durrett served from 2015 to 2020 as the executive director of the Nevada Dispensary Association, where she established the association as the primary resource on best practices in Nevada's cannabis industry — developing the Nevada Dispensary Association into the primary regulatory and government affairs voice for Nevada's cannabis industry.

In addition to her work at UNLV, Durrett currently serves on the boards of the Nevada Taxpayer Association and the Nevada Conservation League.

Durrett is an attorney admitted to practice law in Nevada and California. While pursuing her law degree, Durrett participated in several internship and externship programs, including a judicial internship for the Suquamish Tribe, where her mother is an enrolled tribal member.

Education

LL.M., Gaming Law and Regulation, UNLV
J.D., UNLV
B.A., Political Science, UNLV

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business development, law, politics (Nevada)

Riana Durrett In The News

Benzinga

Nevada is taking its first serious steps toward exploring a potential merger of its gaming and cannabis industries, as policymakers and industry leaders discuss how these two major sectors can legally co-exist. A recent panel hosted by the ��ҳ| �鶹��ýӳ�� (UNLV) brought this conversation into the spotlight, as reported by Kolo.

Casinos.com

Recreational cannabis has been legal in Nevada since 2017. By most measures legal pot has been a success, serving the public while generating nearly a billion dollars in sales and more than $130 million in tax revenue annually without causing significant societal harm.

Can the major industries of gaming and cannabis ever co-exist in Nevada? Policy experts, industry insiders and local leaders are discussing the possibilities within state law, all to give tourists and locals more consumer options. UNLV’s Cannabis Policy Institute and the UNLV International Gaming Institute recently held a panel on federal regulations, state and local laws, and interest from industry leaders in gaming and cannabis.

Casinos.com

Nevada has held itself as the “gold standard” in gaming regulation for more than three score. And now, for nearly a decade, the state has used that model to claim its stake as a leader in cannabis regulation, too. But bringing those two together has been more like oil and water than chocolate and peanut butter.