Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Medical marijuana creeps forward in Las Vegas and NLV

First Marijuana Dispensary Opens

Christopher DeVargas

Medical marijuana is on display Monday, Aug. 24, 2015, during the opening of Euphoria Wellness, the first marijuana dispensary in the Las Vegas Valley. Las Vegas and North Las Vegas officials are working to bring dispensaries to their jurisdictions.

Las Vegas and North Las Vegas inched closer Wednesday toward opening their first medical marijuana dispensaries in their city limits.

On Wednesday, the Las Vegas City Council voted for a measure that would allow a 12th dispensary to begin the permitting and licensing process, while the North Las Vegas City Council voted to approve a special-use permit for one dispensary. The votes bring both cities closer to opening their first dispensaries after months of delays.

The Las Vegas City Council voted to reopen permit applications for medical marijuana dispensaries in an effort to allow a dispensary provisionally certified by the state to move closer to receiving a permit. Of the 12 businesses given the provisional go-ahead to establish a medical marijuana dispensary in Las Vegas, only one dispensary, NuLeaf CLV Dispensary, had been previously denied special-use and compliance permits by the city because of the proposed site’s proximity to schools and concerns raised by neighbors.

“For me, they were one of the best applicants that came by,” said Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian.

Reopening permit applications will allow NuLeaf — run by operators affiliated with the Bay Area-based dispensary Berkeley Patients Group — to reapply at a new location. Other dispensaries could technically apply as well, though they will not be able to become fully licensed without a provisional license from the state.

The council also voted to reopen permit applications for medical marijuana cultivation and production facilities.

Of the 11 already permitted businesses, the city expects that as many as nine dispensaries could come before the city council at its Oct. 21 meeting for business license applications.

The council also voted to temporarily waive business license fees until Aug. 1 for medical marijuana cultivation facilities supplying products to businesses in the city. Those businesses were previously required to pay the same license fee as facilities located inside city limits.

In North Las Vegas, the council voted Wednesday to approve a special-use permit for one medical marijuana dispensary, Primo Dispensary. The business already holds special-use permits from the city and provisional licenses from the state for medical marijuana cultivation and production. However, the dispensary was not one of the four dispensaries awarded a provisional license by the state to operate as a dispensary in the city.

“I am here to speak on behalf of full integration. I really like that they’re adding a dispensary, so it goes from seed to sale,” said local medical marijuana advocate Mona Lisa Samuelson at the meeting. “We want this to be the safest, most viable industry.”

The city also approved special-use permits for two medical marijuana production facilities — Healthcare Options for Patients Enterprises and Fidelis Holdings.

An ordinance was also introduced to expedite the permitting process for medical marijuana businesses in North Las Vegas. If the ordinance were to be approved, the planning commission would be able to directly issue special-use permits and only appeals will come before the city council.

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