Pubdate: Thu, 02 Apr 2015
Source: Reno News & Review (NV)
Copyright: 2015, Chico Community Publishing, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.newsreview.com/issues/reno/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2524
Author: Georgia Fisher

HIGH DESERT

Can Nevada's Newest Crop Weather a Record Drought?

In late March, Sierra Wellness Connection became Nevada's first 
commercial medical-marijuana business to get state approval. Less 
than a week later, the fledgling company led by former University of 
Nevada, Reno president Joe Crowley also got the City Council's 
unanimous nod to sell the medicine. As of press time, Sierra Wellness 
and Certified Ag Lab of Sparks were the only two such establishments 
to clear the final state hurdle, said Pam Graber with the Nevada 
Division of Public and Behavioral Health. More are coming, of course, 
as hundreds of companies received provisional certifications last year.

"Provisional certification is pretty much a blessing from the state 
that says, 'We're OK with you. Now just go do what you need to do at 
the local level, make sure you can jump through their hoops, too, and 
you're good to go,'" Graber explained.

Once city paperwork is in order and state inspectors come for a final 
look-see a company can move forward. That's where Sierra Wellness now 
stands, though treasurer Deane Albright said the East Second Street 
dispensary won't open until August or so. Plants don't grow 
overnight, you know.

Know, too, that law-abiding commercial growers won't have the 
fragrant crop in their yards. Plants must be locked indoors, in a 
precaution Graber said is largely meant to deter theft. The 
stipulation that medical marijuana must stay inside arguably makes it 
more sustainable as well, especially in a parched desert.

Take CannaVative Farms, a cultivator that received its local license 
last week and will use high-tech pods to grow the medicine. (Sierra 
Wellness and a third company, MMG Agriculture, are also newly 
licensed growers.) Made from modified shipping containers with 
software that quickly alerts to threats such as pests and viruses, 
the pods are "a controlled environment, and are going to use less 
water than the typical grow," said CannaVative founder Joey Gilbert. 
He thinks greenhouses would be a positive addition too, should they 
ever be allowed.

"We're not talking about your greenhouses of 50 years ago," Gilbert 
said. "There's a lot to be done with solar energy, with renewable energy."

In the initial application process, new business owners of all 
stripes must indicate how much water they'll use, "and of course the 
applicant always says they'll use less," said John Erwin, Truckee 
Meadows Water Authority's director of natural resources planning and 
management. Prospective pot growers have provided a rather wide range 
of estimates, so TMWA is studying facilities in Colorado and the Bay 
Area for comparison.

To be clear, there's no point at which city staffers throw up their 
hands and say a business is too much of a water hog provided the 
bills are paid. But for the second year, TMWA has asked customers to 
cut consumption by 10 percent, using 2013 numbers as a baseline. 
Northern Nevada is in the midst of a record drought.

Cannabis "actually is a low-water plant, depending on how you grow 
it, how big you grow the plant and how you trellis it out," said 
Clint Cates, CannaVative's director of operations. "With a lot of 
outdoor grows, your plants are a lot bigger, so they take a lot more 
water, but no more than any other agricultural crop."

[sidebar]

To read the legalese for medicinal pot, visit http://bit.ly/1D3tlQm
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