Pubdate: Sun, 25 May 2014
Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal (NV)
Copyright: 2014 Las Vegas Review-Journal
Contact: http://www.reviewjournal.com/about/print/press/letterstoeditor.html
Website: http://www.lvrj.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/233
Author: David Ferrara
Page: 1E

COUNTY GUIDELINES STRICT FOR PROSPECTIVE POT COMPANIES

In coming months, Clark County is expected to issue the first medical 
marijuana business licenses on four different levels: cultivation 
warehouses, production facilities, lab testing and dispensaries.

That covers each stage of getting pot from seed to sale.

At a hearing scheduled for June 5, which could spill over into the 
next day, county commissioners are expected to decide which of 109 
companies that applied for licenses will be sent to the state Public 
and Behavioral Health Division for review.

State and county officials want to closely oversee newly legalized 
sales, and have set strict guidelines for companies that want to 
enter the pot business.

A medical marijuana business also could lose its license for:

Delivering or dispensing the drug to someone "other than a medical 
marijuana establishment agent, another medical marijuana 
establishment, a patient who holds a valid registry identification 
card or the designated primary caregiver of such a patient

Acquiring pot from someone other than a person with a medical 
marijuana card, a medical marijuana establishment agent or another 
licensed facility.

So how will marijuana be grown in the desert? What happens inside a 
production facility? How is the drug tested? And what sort of 
products will be for sale in the dispensary?

Here's a breakdown of each step in the process:

Lawmakers have decided that growing medical marijuana must be done in 
a secured warehouse. Under state law, a cultivation warehouse is 
defined as a business that "acquires, possesses, cultivates, 
delivers, transfers, transports, supplies or sells marijuana and 
related supplies" to dispensaries and production facilities.

To better track the drug, Clark County officials have decided 
dispensaries must obtain medical marijuana from in-state cultivation 
facilities.

Those who have applied to grow marijuana in Clark County said they 
would operate in warehouses as large as 50,000 square feet. What's 
known as "controlled environment agricultural" could be easier in the 
desert, where humidity is usually not an issue, industry experts said

A production facility sells "edible marijuana products or 
marijuana-infused products to medical marijuana dispensaries," under 
the law. That sounds simple, until you delve into the myriad pot 
products available on the market in other states where marijuana 
sales - medical or recreational - are legal. Anything from brownies 
to candies and oils and waxes can be infused with 
tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.

At a production plant, extraction of the leaves and trimming of the 
plant may also produce waxes and oils for vaporizers.

Taylor West, the National Cannabis Industry Association's deputy 
director, said there's been a surge in alternative methods of 
ingesting marijuana across the country.

"They allow people to have a more custom dosing," she said, "because 
some people don't like smoking.

A testing lab is required to test all marijuana, edibles and 
marijuana-infused products sold in Nevada. Only one business, G3 Labs 
LLC, has applied for a testing license in Clark County.

Any licensed lab must examine the concentration of THC and 
cannabidiol, whether the material is organic or nonorganic, the 
presence and identification of molds and fungus and the presence and 
concentration of fertilizers and nutrients.

The county found that G3 Labs' initial site was too close to a 
school, and extended the deadline to apply for testing labs. G3 Labs 
Chief Financial Officer William Whalen said he found another 
3,500-square-foot facility that meets qualifications.

The dispensary, where patients pick up the buds or pot-infused 
products, can also sell marijuana-related supplies and educational 
materials, under the law. That would include smoking devices and 
"vape pens," along with the candies, brownies, oils and waxes from 
the production facility.

About 4,000 Nevadans hold medical marijuana cards, but that number 
could jump once dispensaries open.

The law also lets patients from other states purchase pot in the 
Silver State, which could mean "huge business," said state Sen. Tick 
Segerblom, D-Las Vegas, who authored the 2013 medical marijuana bill.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom