Clark County's first legal medical marijuana dispensary plans to open Monday after months of delays. Euphoria Wellness got final state and county approvals this week, a spokesman said Thursday. The news, a relief for patients and advocates, came more than two years after the Nevada Legislature voted to allow marijuana dispensaries. "It's pretty exciting," said state Sen. Tick Segerblom, who sponsored that bill. "It's one small step, but it's pretty amazing." For its first two days, Euphoria will sell only to invited customers who pre-registered. On Wednesday, it will open to anyone with a state-issued medical marijuana card. The dispensary is at 7780 S. Jones Blvd. in the southwestern Las Vegas Valley. [continues 387 words]
Why One Patient Gave Up Her State Card For more than a year, Sheila Gerstenzang has carried the card in her wallet: "Medical Marijuana Patient." But she's yet to purchase a single bit of marijuana. After a year of frustration and more than $200 out of her pocket, she gave up and let her card expire in May. Months of delays in opening the first legal Las Vegas-area dispensary have cost investors money and frustrated advocates. But the effect on patients has been the most cruel. [continues 1132 words]
A medical marijuana cardholder has filed a lawsuit alleging Nevada's patient registration system is unconstitutional. James Parsons' complaint says federal agents raided his house in 2010 after getting his name from a state patient database. He says provisions in the state's medical marijuana laws and the actions of state officials violate his Second and Fifth amendment rights and constitutional right to privacy. Parsons, whose lawsuit identifies him as a Clark County resident and former Marine, filed the case without an attorney Tuesday in Las Vegas Justice Court. He declined to answer questions Wednesday, saying he planned to have a press conference later. [continues 363 words]
Police, Federal Agents Disrupt Pot Education Convention Las Vegas police and federal agents arrested 10 people and seized drugs over the weekend at Hempcon, a marijuana education convention at the Cashman Center. People who were there described seeing police dogs around the event, as well as officers on the roof of the building, apparently looking for people smoking marijuana. The arrests outraged event organizers, and some attendees said they left medical marijuana patients frightened as Nevada's first legal dispensaries prepare to open. [continues 766 words]
Labs, Dispensaries Have Been in Limbo for Months Awaiting Policy After spending months in limbo, waiting for the state to hash out rules for testing medical marijuana, laboratories might be able to get to work soon. That moves patients one step closer to the first legal sales in dispensaries. A state health official said Tuesday that all the rules are in place for labs to start testing marijuana. But in a sign of how confusing the process has been, that news came as a surprise to a dispensary owner and a lab scientist, who both expected a longer wait for the state to finalize some rules. [continues 580 words]
Forum Addresses Resource-Heavy Indoor Cultivation Early last year, the broker for a 100,000-square-foot warehouse near Las Vegas called the power company to find out how much juice the building would need. Longtime NV Energy executive Arnold Lopez went out to meet a group on the site and asked what kind of business they planned. After some hesitation, they told him: medical marijuana cultivation. Lopez asked questions and started doing some quick math. And, as State law prohibits outdoor cultivation he recalled, "All of a sudden I came up with numbers I'd never seen before." [continues 566 words]
Businesses Waiting for State Committee to Develop Rules for Pesticides Nevada's first legal marijuana dispensaries can't open yet because a state advisory committee hasn't figured out what pesticides growers will be allowed to use on plants. That leaves it uncertain when the first of 8,575 cardholders - close to 6,200 of them in Clark County - will be able to buy medical pot in a shop. "All I know is I'm done. I'm ready. I can move quickly," said Joe Lamarca, co-owner of Euphoria Wellness, a dispensary southwest of McCarran International Airport. "I just need to get others on the same page." [continues 700 words]
Sitting through an average day's criminal court docket, Circuit Court Judge Michael E. Loney can see the pattern in a second. Burglaries, thefts, robberies - whatever the specific crime, one problem is usually at the root: drugs. That's something that's obvious to almost everyone who works in the court system, but solutions haven't been as clear. Judges say they know they're not getting at the root of the problem when they sentence addicts to jail, but they have few other options. [continues 974 words]
