Tag Archives: Dispensaries
Nevada Approves Medical Pot Dispensaries
At long last, the Silver State has passed legislation for medical marijuana dispensaries to operate legally under state law, becoming the14thstate to do so. On Wednesday, Republican Governor Brian Sandoval signed a measure regulating a network of growers and d…
Nevada Governor Approves Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
Medical marijuana patients in Nevada will finally have legal access to their medicine.
Gov. Brian Sandoval
On Wednesday, 13 years after Nevada voters approved the medical use of marijuana, Gov. Brian Sandoval signed SB 374 into law. The bill establishes the regulatory framework for medical marijuana dispensaries in the state, thereby putting an end to patients’ decade-long struggle to obtain their medicine safely. The bill will also allow patients to continue growing their own plants (and increases the number they may possess) until 2016.
The law allows the state to license up to 66 dispensaries throughout the state, distributed according to population density.
Additionally, the state will impose medical marijuana-specific taxes, of which 75% will fund education and 25% will be spent on implementing and enforcing the regulations.
The governor’s approval of the bill was sparked by Judge Donald Mosley’s critique last year of the state’s medical marijuana law. Mosley declared the existing law “unconstitutional” for failing to provide patients with the legal means to obtain their medicine.
Nevada is now the 14th state to allow medical marijuana dispensaries.
Feds cracking down on California dispensaries
Federal authorities yesterday moved to shut down marijuana dispensaries in Echo Park, Westlake, south L.A., the harbor area, Long Beach, Lancaster and Pearblossom. The action so far involves mainly warning letters to most of the 103 storefronts targeted, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles.
While weed retailing might still be legal in the city of L.A. and other California communities, the federal government still sees cannabis as a top outlaw drug. The targeted 71 dispensaries in the city of L.A. involved all remaining known shops in the LAPD’s Rampart, Newton and Harbor divisions, feds said. LA Weekly has the full story.
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Nevada Legislature Approves Bill to Establish System of Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
Nevada state lawmakers approved a bill Monday that will establish a state-regulated system of dispensaries to provide medical marijuana to licensed patients. It will now be transmitted to Gov. Brian Sandoval for his signature, and he has said he is open to dispensary legislation.
MPP’s Karen O’Keefe, who testified in support of the bill, was featured in a story by Reno’s Fox affiliate station:
“Nevadans with serious illnesses who are using medical marijuana under the supervision of their doctors should have a safe and legal way to obtain it,” said Karen O’Keefe, director of state policies for the Marijuana Policy Project. “We applaud the Nevada Legislature for taking action to protect patients and promote a safer and healthier state for their constituents.
“We are hopeful that Gov. Sandoval will join legislators and the voters of Nevada in supporting a system of state-regulated medical marijuana dispensaries that is long overdue,” O’Keefe said. “Regulating medical marijuana works.”
SB 374 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.
Currently, patients must grow their own marijuana or have it grown for them by a physician-approved caregiver despite the constitutional amendment approved by voters in 1998 and 2000 requiring the legislature to set up a medical marijuana program that includes appropriate methods of supplying medical marijuana to qualified patients. In 2012, Clark County District Judge Donald Mosley called the state’s current system “absurd,” “ridiculous,” and unconstitutional. Apparently the legislature agreed. Let’s hope the governor will, too.
Los Angeles Dispensaries Slashed by Prop D
The voters of Los Angeles have spoken — and it's going to get a lot more crowded in dispensaries. With the passage of new measures, a mere 135 dispensaries will now face the task of serving 100,000 patients.
