Next week, Nevada will have the chance to join four other states to allow legalized recreational marijuana for adults. Ballot Question 2 would not only allow Nevadans age 21 and older to have easier access to pot, it could provide more than $1.1 billion in tax revenue and economic activity over the course of the proposed law's initial eight years, according to a study by Las Vegas-based RCG Economics. Armen Yemenidjian, president and CEO of the three Essence Cannabis Dispensaries in the Las Vegas Valley, is ready for the change. [continues 1194 words]
Two Las Vegas medical marijuana dispensaries have been ranked among the top 25 dispensaries in the United States by a national publication. Essence Vegas and The Grove were ranked 22nd and 25th, respectively, by Business Insider in a Sept. 20 list of the top marijuana dispensaries selling either recreational or medicinal marijuana. The rankings evaluated more than 500 marijuana facilities across 25 states and the District of Columbia. The list cited Essence's on-site nurse and quality service as reasons for giving the Las Vegas Boulevard dispensary its top ranking among Silver State dispensaries, while The Grove on Swenson Street earned high marks for offering a signature dispensary joint rolled in gold-plated paper. [continues 116 words]
There are several ways to measure the failure of the War on Drugs, starting with its role in sending a grossly disproportionate number of African-Americans to prison. Not far down the list is how the initiative affected marijuana supply and demand. Despite hundreds of billions of dollars in expenditures and decades of effort on drug eradication, millions of Americans continue to use the drug. Look it up. The 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the most recent year available, shows that 22.2 million Americans had used the drug within the past month when they were surveyed. Compared to 2002, marijuana use was up among all age groups survey save for one: 12- to 17-year-olds. Among the U.S. population of 18- to 25-year-olds, 22 percent were users. [continues 428 words]
As Nevada voters prepare to vote this fall on whether to decriminalize recreational marijuana use, they're going to hear a sinister-sounding warning that the push for legalization is being fueled by out-of-state money. Former Assemblyman Pat Hickey, a prominent opponent of legalization, already sounded the alarm in a June 21 post on his blog, Soup to Nuts. He wrote that "the term oligarchy ('a business interest controlled by a small group of people') applies to the mostly out-of-state special interests who are responsible and largely paid for the pot legalization question on this November's ballot." [continues 576 words]
I do not use marijuana, I made a decision more than 30 years ago to not use drugs or alcohol. Having said that, I believe certain drugs should be legalized if for no other reason than alcohol is legal. The problem I find is this: How do you test to assure that people who show up for work are not impaired? With alcohol it is simple; you blow into a machine, and if you are impaired you go home. Marijuana is different. The THC stays in your system for weeks, if not months. So if you are at a party Saturday night and you smoke, how do you prove you did not ingest these substances on your way to work Monday? [continues 98 words]
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's response in a recent radio interview to a question about legal marijuana was in keeping with his tough-on-crime persona. A former prosecutor and potential presidential candidate, Christie has long been a staunch opponent of legalized pot use, at one time lambasting tax revenue generated from the sale of legal recreational marijuana as "blood money." "I will crack down and not permit it," he told radio host Hugh Hewitt, who had asked whether legal marijuana sales in Colorado and Washington state should be allowed. "Marijuana is an illegal drug under federal law. And the states should not be permitted to sell it and profit from it." [continues 1150 words]
Nevada Lawmakers Get Up-Close View of Colorado's Pot Business With medical marijuana already here and full legalization on the ballot in 2016, a group of Nevada legislators took a trip to Denver last weekend to get an up close look at how the state is handling its booming cannabis market. What they saw was impressive, according to Sen. Patricia Farley, R-Las Vegas, who said Nevada would do well by mirroring the laws and regulations Colorado has put into place. [continues 894 words]
It's not surprising that both the Florida Sheriff's Association and the Florida Medical Association oppose legalizing medicinal marijuana. Expanding public access to legal marijuana is bad for business. Locking people up for minor drug offenses and maintaining a monopoly on the bountiful pain-relief industry are two aspects of the status quo that law enforcement and physician groups have an interest in maintaining. Sure, they dress up their concerns in different terms. But I don't buy it. "The dangers of marijuana have been well-documented in recent years with increased crime and traffic accidents in states that have passed legislation legalizing marijuana," the Florida Sheriff's Association announced. "For example, of the 20 states with the highest driver acknowledgement of drugged driving, 15 were states that have passed legislation legalizing marijuana." [continues 567 words]
Regarding Erin Ryan's July 7 column, "A child of the '80s grapples with the failures of the =80'war on drugs,'" the drug war is largely a war on marijuana consumers. Marijuana is by far the most popular illicit drug. In 2012, there were 749,825 marijuana arrests in the United States, almost 90 percent for simple possession. If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to subsidize violent drug cartels, prohibition is a grand success. The drug war distorts supply and demand dynamics so that big money grows on little trees. If the goal is to deter use, marijuana prohibition is a catastrophic failure. The United States has almost double the rate of marijuana use as the Netherlands, where marijuana is legal. [continues 73 words]
War has been declared on the "war on drugs." Not by violent cartels, but by economists, public health workers, human rights advocates and others who believe that punitive, blanket prohibition is not only failing but has done enormous harm. Thousands took to the streets of more than 100 cities across the globe June 26, "reclaiming" the United Nations' International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking by protesting the fallout of the drug war, from health crises to mass incarceration. [continues 780 words]
Financial Institution Eager to Do Business With Would-Be Marijuana Dispensary If finance executives are worried about getting involved with medical marijuana clients, don't tell Las Vegas banker John Sullivan. First Security Bank of Nevada, led by CEO Sullivan, has signed on to manage cash and other banking transactions for would be dispensary operator GrowBlox Sciences. GrowBlox, which said it "operates with the utmost compliance integrity," said its arrangement with First Security would eliminate the "cash-only" status of medical marijuana shops that have left them vulnerable to devastating theft. [continues 246 words]
The Clark County Commission signaled this week that it would ignore a recommendation by the state and continue with its medical marijuana application process unchanged. Commissioners said during a meeting that they plan to choose operators for 18 dispensaries from a pool of 81 applicants when they review applications starting June 4. That differs from a request from the state Monday afternoon that local governments forward "a large number of applicants" for state approval. Under the two-step system imposed by the Legislature in 2013, medical marijuana applicants must receive a special-use permit from local governments and a license from the state. [continues 183 words]
The Clark County Commission voted today to increase the number of medical marijuana dispensaries allowed in the unincorporated county from 10 to 18. The decision drew protests from officials representing Henderson and North Las Vegas, which lose dispensaries under the arrangement. With 45 percent of the population living in the unincorporated county, Commission Chairman Steve Sisolak said it should get 45 percent of the dispensaries. Under the distribution proposed by Sisolak and approved unanimously today, the unincorporated county would get 18 dispensary licenses, Las Vegas would get 12, Henderson five, North Las Vegas four and Mesquite one dispensary license. [continues 132 words]
Clark County revealed today the names of hundreds of people looking to get into the region's budding medical marijuana industry. The list of applicants includes doctors, lawyers, real estate brokers, political power players and gaming moguls. Included among the applicants are: * Retiring District Judge James Bixler, who owns a 25 percent stake in Greenleaf Dispensaries, which is seeking two licenses. * Former Henderson Mayor Robert Groesbeck, who is listed as a manager for MM Development Co., which is seeking dispensary, cultivation and production facility licenses. Former Henderson City Councilman Larry Scheffler is also listed as a manager in the company. [continues 299 words]
Despite Medical Marijuana Cards, Judges Have Discretion As Southern Nevada readies for expanded access to medical marijuana - and an anticipated avalanche of people seeking access to it - legal experts have a warning for parents: One of the drug's myriad effects is its heavy sway on some child-custody battles. Judges have broad discretion in custodial cases, Las Vegas family law attorney Stacy Rocheleau said, and their personal philosophies about marijuana use can affect each ruling. That means medical marijuana cardholders with children should scrutinize the reasons they're using the drug and the frequency with which they do it, Rocheleau said. [continues 674 words]
I'm writing about Jackie Valley's story in The Sunday: "Modern addiction: Our heroin epidemic." The question that needs to be asked is: Why don't children and adolescents believe those who warn them about the dangers of drugs like heroin? The answer: Because when the drug war cheerleaders lie about or grossly exaggerate the dangers of marijuana, they lose all credibility. When children find out that they have been lied to about marijuana, they make the logical assumption that they are also being lied to about the dangers of other drugs like heroin. This has been a recipe for disaster. Kirk Muse Mesa, Ariz. [end]
How Your Medicine Cabinet Can Lead You To A Back Alley Drug Not even the funeral of his beloved older brother, dead from a lethal injection of their shared drug of choice, could put the brakes on Dylan Engle's downward spiral. Death didn't scare him. He made daily trips to the dope man's house, blowing his paychecks on a pricey habit that left him cloistered in his home's bathroom. There, he would smoke heroin, sometimes up to six times a day. He lost weight, and acne sprouted on his face, but neither physical change deterred him. Nor did his first stint in rehab. [continues 2070 words]
I don't want to start the new year by bashing President Barack Obama, but as I see him and politicians from both parties criticizing countries such as Cuba and China and advocating the release of political prisoners, I can't help but wonder how they can do this with a straight face. China and Cuba may have hundreds of political prisoners, but in this country we have hundreds of thousands of political prisoners. Our political prisoners are not in jail for crimes against the government such as treason, political coups or murder, though. [continues 155 words]
They've got a lot of money and a big plan to peddle marijuana throughout Clark County, but they're not a drug cartel pushing pot on the streets. They're high-profile lawyers, consultants and investors, and their clientele appears to be mostly middle-aged patients suffering from severe pain. Nevada's Legislature legalized medical marijuana dispensaries earlier this year, and now monied interests are lining up to cash in on the blossoming bud business. "We're 'Star Trek' right now; we're going where nobody has gone before," Vicki Higgins, secretary of the Wellness Education Cannabis Advocates of Nevada, said about the new law. [continues 1174 words]
CARSON CITY - After a malfunctioning reader board threw its future into question, a bill that would create a legal medical marijuana dispensary system in Nevada passed the Assembly in a nearly party-line vote. The Assembly voted twice on the measure, Senate Bill 374, because on the first try the electronic board that displays how the votes are cast read that the bill had failed despite the 28-14 vote, the necessary two-thirds vote for passage. Seeing a failing vote, two Democrats changed their vote so they could bring it back up for consideration. [continues 174 words]
