Legal recreational marijuana sales begin in Nevada

July 1 (UPI) -- Crowds gathered just before midnight Friday outside Nevada's first marijuana dispensaries as recreational pot became legal in the state.

State and local governments have approved 40 dispensaries to begin selling recreational pot after voters approved sale of the drug in November's election.

At some locations across the state, hundreds of people lined up at midnight to be among the first to legally buy weed.

Democratic state Sen. Tick Segerblom attended the Reef Dispensaries opening in Las Vegas, where a line stretched around the block. At Euphoria Wellness, about 400 to 500 people lined up, and at Oasis Medical Cannabis, there were between 250 and 300 people waiting outside.

With the sudden demand in marijuana in the state -- recreational weed must be grown and packaged in-state -- price has increased, as well.

"With the demand going up, the supply has gone down because dispensaries are taking a lot of possession and stocking up for tomorrow and so they price has also seen an increase as much as about a $1,000 a pound," Mikel Alvarez, director of retail operations for Terra Tech Corp, which owns Blum Dispensaries, told KTNV-Las Vegas.

Nevada is one of eights states where recreational marijuana is legal, including Maine, Massachusetts, Colorado, California, Alaska, Washington and Oregon. Medical marijuana is legal in 29 states and Washington, D.C.