Carson City, NV-(ENEWSPF)- Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval signed a bill into law Wednesday that will establish a state-regulated system of dispensaries to provide medical marijuana to licensed patients. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the Las Vegas Police Protective Association, the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office supported the measure.
“We applaud Gov. Sandoval and the legislature for their leadership and commend those law enforcement organizations that expressed support for this much-needed legislation,” said Karen O’Keefe, director of state policies for the Marijuana Policy Project, who testified in support of the bill. “It will make Nevada a safer and healthier place not only for medical marijuana patients, but for the entire community.
“This new law will provide patients with the safe and reliable access to medical marijuana that they deserve,” O’Keefe said. “Regulating medical marijuana sales will also generate revenue and take a bite out of the state’s underground marijuana market.”
SB 374, introduced by Senators Tick Segerblom (D-Las Vegas) and Mark Hutchison (R-Las Vegas), establishes rules and regulations for medical marijuana dispensaries, infused product manufacturers, cultivation facilities, and testing facilities. In addition to standard sales taxes, medical marijuana will be subject to excise taxes of 2% on wholesale sales and 2% on retail sales, of which 75% will be directed to education and 25% will be directed toward implementing and enforcing the regulations.
Nevada voters approved a constitutional amendment, Question 9, by a margin of 59-41 in 1998 and 65-35 in 2000. It required the legislature to set up a medical marijuana program that includes appropriate methods of supplying medical marijuana to qualified patients. Currently, patients must grow their own marijuana or have it grown for them by a physician-approved caregiver substantially responsible for caring for them. In 2012, Clark County District Judge Donald Mosley dismissed charges against two medical marijuana providers and called the state’s current system "absurd," "ridiculous," and unconstitutional.
State-regulated medical marijuana dispensaries are currently operating in Arizona, Colorado, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Rhode Island. They are expected to begin operating this summer in Washington, D.C. and Vermont, and the rule-making process for dispensaries is underway in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Eighteen states and D.C. allow patients with qualifying conditions to use medical marijuana with recommendations from their physicians. The Illinois General Assembly adopted medical marijuana legislation in May that, if signed by the governor, will establish a system of state-regulated dispensaries, and the New Hampshire Legislature is likely to adopt similar legislation this month.
