Nevada close to opening medicinal pot shops
By Cy Ryan, Las Vegas Sun
CARSON CITY — A Senate committee has cleared a bill to permit a network of medical marijuana dispensaries, but those who sell the drug will have to pay a $20,000 licensing fee.
In 2000, voters approved a constitutional amendment to allow possession of medical marijuana if prescribed by a physician. But the law did not permit for dispensaries to distribute it.
State Sen. Mark Hutchinson, R-Las Vegas, said the initial fee for licensing a clinic will be $20,000 with an annual renewal of $5,000. The fees would give the state Health Division money to regulate dispensaries, and any excess would go to aid to public schools, he said.
The Senate Judiciary Committee on April 11 endorsed the bill, which would permit 40 dispensaries in Clark County and fewer in other counties.
Under the bill a lottery will be set up if applications exceed the limit. Nevada companies would receive preference.
Hutchinson said Senate Bill 374 establishes a system of “tight controls” to track the marijuana from seed to sale.
State Sen. Greg Bower, R-Reno, said there was a “disconnect” between the federal law that prohibits the sale of marijuana and the proposed state law. But he called allowing dispensaries the “next logical step” in carrying out Nevada’s constitutional amendment to allow medical marijuana.
Committee Chairman state Sen. Tick Segerblom, sponsor of the bill, said he has seen press reports that the governor would be open to considering the measure, which now goes to the full Senate.
The bill originally suggested dispensaries be non-profit organizations, but that was changed to allow for-profit groups to run them. The initial bill also called for a $5,000 license fee, which was raised to $20,000 by an amendment adopted by the committee today.
Besides the authorized 40 clinics in Clark County, there would be a maximum of ten allowed in Washoe County, two in Carson City and one each in rural counties.
If they are smart they will make sure felons aren’t in the business and that the suppliers aren’t outlaw growers from other areas bringing their crime and black market product across state lines. These pot shops have been nothing but trouble everywhere they have operated because of the criminals they surround themselves with and the unregulated mess that Cal allowed. If it remains federally illegal then there will be nothing keeping the Nevada shops from being closed at any time.
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Hey Justice, Your 100 % right. People are so confused about the pot laws because they want it legalized. They don’t like the federal law, so they ignore what they don’t like. Thinking that pot is legal, because their state legalized it, is ignorance of the law. People involved in medical pot dispensaries are messing with fire. They could be arrested and federally charged at any moment. I can’t believe how stupid our citizens have become. If marijuana is ever to be legalized, it will have to be done through an act of U.S. Congress. That’s not sarcasm. That’s the only way to legalize pot. So, you people who want to legalize pot should write your congress representative. But in the mean time, you’d better not mess with this publicly.