By Brian Bahouth
West Wendover, for a medical marijuana patient, is a long day’s drive away in either direction to the the nearest legal dispensary in Reno or Las Vegas. But as Nevada lawmakers and regulators continue to draft the regulations for adult use marijuana businesses in Nevada, the City of West Wendover has been working with state officials in an effort to bring medical and possibly adult use cannabis to West Wendover. Currently there isn’t any access for any medical patients in the West Wendover area. A medical card holder has to drive either to Reno or Las Vegas, both of which are over 350 miles away to be able to purchase medical marijuana. It’s quite a big hoop for folks with medical marijuana cards to jump through in this area to try to get their medicine.
West Wendover is in Elko County, where there’s been a moratorium on medical marijuana businesses in unincorporated parts of the county since 2015, and the Elko County Board of Commissioners’ aversion to any form of legal cannabis is the reason why there are no medical marijuana businesses in West Wendover.
“When the whole medical marijuana came about, Elko County was given a medical license, the County Commissioners decided not to do anything with that medical license. And because of it the Department of Taxation took that license and moved it down south, and so now there’s no avenue for cities to request a license if they wanted one. They would have to go through the counties. And currently Elko County sees no interest in requesting a medical marijuana license.
Two bills now active in the Nevada state Legislature, SB 487 and SB 329, contain language that would allow cities like West Wendover to “request the registration of additional medical marijuana dispensaries within the jurisdiction of the local government,” without going through the host county. Mayor Corona said he has been working with Nevada state Senator Tick Segerblom (D-Las Vegas) on the provision, and should the state grant West Wendover the authority to issue a medical marijuana business license, the City Council would be more likely than ever to approve it.
“Some of the people that we’ve heard from are actually pretty surprising. They’re not people that you would think are using medical marijuana and that actually need it for pain or anxiety or the other symptoms that it helps treat,” Corona said. There is a lot of public support and a lot of those marijuana card holders reached out to the council members and really express their need.
Last November, Nevada voters approved a ballot initiative that legalizes the adult use and possession of marijuana and further instructs the Nevada Department of Taxation to develop and implement a set of rules to regulate all variety of marijuana businesses from cultivators to processors and retailers by January 1, 2018, and under
the provisions of Ballot Question 2, Elko County has a population of roughly 52,000 people and would be entitled to two adult use marijuana business licenses.
Wendover voters did vote yes on Question 2. Wendover is the only city in Elko County where the voters actually voted yes. The rest of Elko County completely turned it down.” So far, the Elko County Board of Commissioners has not moved to block the issuance of adult use marijuana licenses nor have they adopted any form of cannabis business regulations, but despite the county’s ambivalence, Daniel Corona is confident either SB 487 or SB 329 will enable medical marijuana to come to West Wendover.
“It seems like more and more each day that hope gets bigger and stronger, and I think that medical marijuana is coming to West Wendover, it’s just a matter of how quickly we can get the ordinance passed and the following resolution that would specify for medical dispensaries and then also our license from the state. I think the chances of it happening are very very likely.”
When asked about the potential for tax revenue, Mayor Corona wouldn’t venture a guess and said his primary focus is not on money.
Under the provisions of Ballot Question 2, if an adult in Nevada lives farther than 25 miles from a dispensary, they can legally grow up to 6 plants, with a limit of 12 plants per household, so to prohibit taxed and regulated cannabis businesses is to endorse unregulated and untaxed home cultivation.
If anyone is able to just grow, any household could grow 12 plants, that’s a lot of marijuana in a town of 5,000 that could end up on the street. That could end up in Wendover children’s hands. Mayor Corona added that cannabis is a particularly valuable crop that could, if inadequately protected, inspire crime.
That would opens up the door to burglaries, more crime, and so allowing dispensaries to operate would prevent some of that.
But cities require money to operate, and Mayor Corona said he and other mayors are watching the progress and details of legislation active this session to ensure cities get their fair share of marijuana tax revenue, the details of which are yet to be finalized, though Corona acknowledges there is an end point to marijuana taxes.
“And that’s where some of the fear with the counties now wanting a piece of the tax,” Corona said. “If everyone gets a piece of the tax, there’s not going to be enough of the tax to go around, or we’re going to tax ourselves out of the market, and that’s just going to allow the illegal market to flourish.”
Several of Nevada’s current cannabis business license holders have inquired about doing business in West Wendover, and a dispensary or two could spell a big jump in already robust tourist numbers. West Wendover is closer to Salt Lake City than Colorado and some 290,000 people already visit the region every month.
