Pubdate: Sat, 31 May 2014
Source: Record-Courier (Gardnerville, NV)
Copyright: 2014 The Record-Courier
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Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1353

GARDNERVILLE, MINDEN TO HEAR MEDICAL MARIJUANA PRESENTATION

The Gardnerville and Minden town boards will weigh in with their 
feelings about having medical marijuana establishments in their 
communities this week.

On Friday, the Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health 
announced it will accept applications for medical marijuana 
establishments Aug. 5 - 18. The application form can be found on the 
department of health's Medical Marijuana Program web page at: 
http://health.nv.gov/medicalmarijuana.htm.

Douglas County has imposed a temporary ban on medical marijuana 
establishments while it collects information to produce an ordinance.

Genoans said they didn't have anything in particular against medical 
marijuana, but they didn't thing any of the businesses would be a fit 
for the town.

Deputy District Attorney Cynthea Gregory said she is going to the 
towns and improvement districts gathering input.

Douglas County's temporary 180-day ban on establishments is in effect 
until Sept. 16. County commissioners could extend the temporary ban 
until March 2015.

Gregory said there were 129 medical marijuana cardholders in Douglas 
County, all of whom grow their own.

Douglas County is allowed one dispensary under state law, but is not 
under an obligation to approve one, Gregory said.

Gardnerville Town Board members are scheduled to hear Gregory's 
presentation at their regular meeting 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. Minden Town 
Board members will hear the issue at their meeting on Wednesday.

Applications to the state must be submitted with the $5,000 
nonrefundable fee. Applicants are eligible to apply and be ranked, 
whether they have applied at a local government level or not.

According to the state, there are more than 40 pages of text 
applicants will need to understand as they submit their applications.

"In addition to the merit criteria outlined in the law, applicants 
will need to submit notarized forms attesting they do not have any 
disqualifying felony convictions and declaring whether they are 
subject to a court order for child support," Nevada Department of 
Health spokeswoman Mary Woods said. "If they are, they must declare 
whether they are in compliance with the court's order. If they are 
not in compliance with the court's order, they are not an eligible 
party to receive a medical marijuana registration certificate."

Following the passage of Senate Bill 374 of the 2013 Legislative 
Session, Marla McDade Williams, Deputy Administrator for the Division 
of Public and Behavioral Health, led the effort to put the new 
regulations in place.

"We greatly appreciated the input and patience of all of the 
stakeholders that were involved in this process. Together, we have 
come a long way in a very short period. By being receptive to 
feedback received throughout the process, we believe the application 
allows applicants to promote their unique business model," said 
McDade Williams.

Not only must medical marijuana establishment operators obtain permission

Property owners must also declare on a form provided in the 
application that they are authorizing an establishment to use the 
property as a medical marijuana establishment.

To ensure there are no biases as applications are reviewed and 
scored, applicants are prohibited from submitting their response on 
company letterhead. Individual names of owners, officers, board 
members, or key staff are not to be used in certain text of the 
application. There is an Identifier Form that will be required and is 
essential for applicants to use as they write their responses.

Applicants will be provided an opportunity to waive confidentiality 
if they want information in their applications to be shared with 
local government jurisdictions.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom