Another year passes with a lack of clarity for medical marijuana access
Because the Nevada Legislature only meets every other year, patients will have to wait until 2013 for more clarity in Nevada’s medical marijuana law. While the 2011 Nevada legislative session started out with excitement and optimism about possibly expanding Nevada’s law, ultimately, most of the substantive medical marijuana-related bills were left in committee when the legislature adjourned last June.
One of those positive bills was Asm. Paul Aizley’s A.B. 235, which would have amended Nevada’s medical marijuana law to make the registry identification card optional and allow for collective cultivation and possession between patients and caregivers. A.B. 438, which would have created a regulated dispensary system in Nevada, and S.B. 336, which would have created a pilot program for regulated medical marijuana distribution using compound pharmacies, cultivation sites, and safety compliance testing laboratories, both died in committee.
As it currently stands, Nevada’s law provides no means by which patients can legally obtain their medicine other than home cultivation or from caregivers who cannot receive compensation. In early March, District Court Judge Donald Mosley declared Nevada’s marijuana distribution law unconstitutional and dismissed a drug trafficking case against two men charged for supplying marijuana to patients. Judge Mosley’s decision contradicted an earlier decision by District Judge Douglas Smith, who denied a motion to dismiss the case. Because of the ambiguity in the current law, the state Supreme Court is expected to resolve the conflict of legal opinions. More than a dozen defendants in Nevada are facing criminal charges for supplying medical marijuana to patients unable to grow it themselves.
Nevada voters passed the state’s medical marijuana law, Ballot Question 9, into law on Nov. 7, 2000, with an impressive 65% of the vote. The legislature implemented the initiative, passing A.B. 453 on June 14, 2001 and A.B. 519, on July 1, 2005. Nevada's current medical marijuana law can be found in Nevada Revised Statutes 453A. Summaries of it and other state laws are available at MPP’s library.
Learn about Nevada's marijuana laws
Nevada is one of the 14 states that has decriminalized personal use marijuana possession. First offense possession of one ounce is punishable by a $600 fine instead of jail time, but it remains a misdemeanor and the individual is subject to arrest and drug addiction screening that could lead to mandatory treatment and rehabilitation. A second offense carries a $1,000 fine and the drug addiction screening, and the penalties for third and fourth offenses continue to worsen. Possession of two ounces could land Nevadans in jail for four years!
In 2007, there were nearly 8,000 marijuana-related arrests in Nevada, more than 90% for marijuana possession, which is 19th in the nation. You can learn more about Nevada's marijuana penalties and enforcement by reading this report by Jon Gettman, Ph.D.
In 2006, 44% of Nevada voters voted to replace marijuana prohibition with a system of taxation and regulation after an MPP-led initiative campaign. You can ask your legislators to enact sensible marijuana laws and encourage them by downloading and distributing our tax and regulate marijuana brochure.
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