Las Vegas City Council wants to learn from past marijuana mistakes

By April Corbin

Published Wednesday, March 1, 2017 | 2:35 p.m.

Updated Wednesday, March 1, 2017 | 3:25 p.m.

Recreational marijuana taxation regulations are still being drafted at the state level, but Las Vegas City Council members decided today they want to be ahead of whatever issues they can be.

The council voted to recommend city staff work on merging medical and retail/recreational into one land use category, which members see as the quickest path to the sale of recreational marijuana.

The state Department of Taxation has not yet issued its guidelines, and the Legislature could vote on marijuana issues during the current session. That means there are many unknowns facing officials charged with implementing sales at the municipal level.

“There are so many moving parts at the state level,” Councilman Ricki Barlow said. “It could be in complete conflict.”

But Councilman Bob Coffin urged the council to “act as quickly as possible” and pointed to the city’s awkward and cumbersome implementation of medical marijuana as justification.

“We made mistakes in 2013,” he said. “We did it the hard way. We took the statute and made it as tough as possible to get into the business and to do business. We are still unwinding some of those regulations.”

Councilman Steve Ross agreed the city shouldn’t sit idly and wait for a framework to be handed to it.

“There are so many committees working on this,” he said. “The city as an agency is leaps and bounds above everyone else. We need to take a leadership role.”

The operations and policy team for the city of Las Vegas has been working through recreational marijuana issues since November.

Additionally, there is a statewide task force of local government officials who have been working together to determine issues they want the state Department of Taxation to address, as well as a green ribbon panel created by the Clark County Commission to advise on its land use and business licensing issues.

City staff also requested the council give feedback and direction on the dual licensing of medical establishments and issues related to public spaces and on-premise consumption.

However, council members opted not to provide any specific recommendations on those topics, saying there were too many unknowns.

Question 2 legalized smoking or consuming marijuana in private places, which has been interpreted as including stores. That opens up the possibility of smoking at dispensary lounges or other commercial spaces.

“I am puzzled on the definition of a public space,” Councilman Bob Beers said. “I’m happy to wait out the legislature to see where they go with that.”

CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correct an attribution issue. | (March 1, 2017)