Nevada wants to be the nation’s gold standard for marijuana regulation, and last week it got the chance to show off its mettle to visitors from the Garden State.

Jason Gully, chief operating officer of GreenMart of Nevada NLV LLC in North Las Vegas, shows the mother room during a tour of his facility to New Jersey lawmakers and cannabis industry officials on a three-day marijuana ' fact-finding trip' to Nevada to see recreational stores and grows. K.M. Cannon Las Vegas Review-Journal @KMCannonPhoto

New Jersey lawmakers and cannabis industry officials tour GreenMart of Nevada NLV LLC in North Las Vegas, as part of a three-day marijuana ' fact-finding trip' to Nevada to see recreational stores and grows. K.M. Cannon Las Vegas Review-Journal @KMCannonPhoto

New Jersey lawmakers and cannabis Industry officials prepare to tour GreenMart of Nevada NLV LLC in North Las Vegas Friday, Feb. 9, 2018, as part of a three-day marijuana ' fact-finding trip' to see recreational stores and grows. K.M. Cannon Las Vegas Review-Journal @KMCannonPhoto

Beau Huch, right, chief of staff for Sen. Declan O'Scanlon, checks out clones during a tour of GreenMart of Nevada NLV LLC in North Las Vegas, with New Jersey lawmakers and cannabis industry officials on a three-day marijuana 'fact-finding trip' to Nevada to see recreational stores and grows. K.M. Cannon Las Vegas Review-Journal @KMCannonPhoto

Jason Gully, chief operating officer of GreenMart of Nevada NLV LLC in North Las Vegas, second from right, gives a tour of his facility to New Jersey lawmakers and cannabis industry officials including Lerone Jones of Green Garden Advisors, and Leo Bridgewater of the New Jersey Cannabis Commission. The group was on a three-day marijuana ' fact-finding trip' to Nevada to see recreational stores and grows. K.M. Cannon Las Vegas Review-Journal @KMCannonPhoto

Jason Gully, chief operating officer of GreenMart of Nevada NLV LLC in North Las Vegas, center gives a tour of his facility to New Jersey lawmakers and cannabis industry officials on a three-day marijuana ' fact-finding trip' to Nevada to see recreational stores and grows. K.M. Cannon Las Vegas Review-Journal @KMCannonPhoto

Kelli Hykes, senior government relations associate at Weedmaps, during a tour of GreenMart of Nevada NLV LLC in North Las Vegas Friday, Feb. 9, 2018. New Jersey lawmakers and cannabis Industry officials came to Las Vegas for a three-day marijuana ' fact-finding trip' to see recreational stores and grows. K.M. Cannon Las Vegas Review-Journal @KMCannonPhoto

Jason Gully, chief operating officer of GreenMart of Nevada NLV LLC in North Las Vegas, top, gives a tour of his facility to New Jersey lawmakers and cannabis industry officials on a three-day marijuana 'fact-finding trip' to Nevada to see recreational stores and grows. K.M. Cannon Las Vegas Review-Journal @KMCannonPhoto

Jason Gully, chief operating officer of GreenMart of Nevada NLV LLC in North Las Vegas, center, gives a tour of his facility to New Jersey lawmakers and cannabis industry officials on a three-day marijuana 'fact-finding trip' to Nevada to see recreational stores and grows. K.M. Cannon Las Vegas Review-Journal @KMCannonPhoto

Jason Gully, chief operating officer of GreenMart of Nevada NLV LLC in North Las Vegas, third from left, gives a tour of his facility to New Jersey lawmakers and cannabis industry officials on a three-day marijuana ' fact-finding trip' to Nevada to see recreational stores and grows. K.M. Cannon Las Vegas Review-Journal @KMCannonPhoto

Lerone Jones of Green Garden Advisors gets a photo of fresh frozen batches during a tour GreenMart of Nevada NLV LLC in North Las Vegas, with New Jersey lawmakers and cannabis industry officials as part of a three-day marijuana ' fact-finding trip' to Nevada to see recreational stores and grows. K.M. Cannon Las Vegas Review-Journal @KMCannonPhoto

April Lee of Secaucus, N.J. with fresh frozen batches during a tour GreenMart of Nevada NLV LLC in North Las Vegas, with New Jersey lawmakers and cannabis industry officials as part of a three-day marijuana 'fact-finding trip' to Nevada to see recreational stores and grows. K.M. Cannon Las Vegas Review-Journal @KMCannonPhoto

Tanya Reyes shows edibles during a tour GreenMart of Nevada NLV LLC in North Las Vegas, with New Jersey lawmakers and cannabis industry officials as part of a three-day marijuana 'fact-finding trip' to Nevada to see recreational stores and grows. K.M. Cannon Las Vegas Review-Journal @KMCannonPhoto

Nevada wants to be the nation’s gold standard for marijuana regulation, and this past week it got the chance to show off its mettle to visitors from the Garden State.

About a dozen New Jersey lawmakers came to Las Vegas on Wednesday for a three-day marijuana “fact-finding trip” to learn how the Silver State created a regulated cannabis market within seven months of voters approving legal sales. The New Jersey contingent also got a first-hand look at recreational stores and grows.

“It’s surprising,” said New Jersey Assemblywoman Annette Quijano. “To go to a facility that’s so clean, to see how it’s processed and how it’s grown, I know people are going to get cannabis that is clean and safe.”

Newly elected New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has vowed to bring recreational marijuana to New Jersey, and the state Legislature is expected to pursue potentially decriminalizing the drug and work towards creating a legal market.

Medical marijuana is legal in New Jersey, but the state of roughly 9 million people has just six dispensaries. Nevada, which has fewer than 3 million residents, has more than 60 marijuana dispensaries.

Quijano said a big part of that is because previous Gov. Chris Christie “put a choke hold on the market.”

The visit offered lawmakers an opportunity to learn directly from the Nevada officials and stakeholders who helped implement the state’s regulated market and discuss what worked, what didn’t and what unforeseen issues might arise (looking at you, distribution).

States such as Washington, Oregon and Colorado have more mature markets, so why did the coalition choose Nevada for its first fact-finding trip?

“We think Nevada is, right now, the very best example of a well-regulated market,” said Hugh O’Beirne, president of the New Jersey Cannabis Industry Association, which hosted the visit.

Nevada’s ability to get recreational sales started six months ahead of schedule was a big selling point, O’Beirne said, adding that he believes New Jersey wants to replicate that kind of regulatory quickness.

O’Beirne also said that given the two states’ shared history of regulating casinos, Nevada’s work in trying to determine how gaming and cannabis can co-exist is something the New Jersey group hopes to glean from the visit.

Nevada state Sen. Tick Segerblom, D-Las Vegas, said the visit shows that Nevada has become the “gold standard” for marijuana regulation.

“We are the model,” he said.

For Segerblom, cannabis fact-finding trips are nothing new. He’s been on the visiting side in the past.

In 2013, as Nevada was pushing forward with legislation to allow for medical marijuana sales, Segerblom and other state lawmakers went to Arizona to talk to regulators and visit marijuana businesses to see how it was being done. He went on similar trips to Colorado in 2015 and to Oregon in 2016 after Nevada voters approved recreational sales.

Segerblom said his biggest take away from those trips, and what he hopes to impart on his New Jersey counterparts, is that “there’s no point in reinventing the wheel.”

“If other states are doing it and doing it well, why not just do it that way.”

Contact Colton Lochhead at clochhead@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638. Follow @ColtonLochhead on Twitter.