Wait begins for medical marijuana business applicants

Now comes the wait for medical marijuana businesses applicants and the cities and county jurisdictions where they will be located.

The Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health reported receiving 370 applications for medical marijuana establishments at its Carson City office by 3 p.m. Monday, two hours before the final state deadline. The state began accepting applications Aug. 5, and had received 191 by the start of business Monday.

Final number for applications received by the deadline in the Carson City office will be released Tuesday, with applications sent by mail and postmarked by 5 p.m. Monday expected by the end of the week.

Chad Westom, division bureau chief, said the state is anticipating nearly 500 applications for dispensaries, cultivation facilities, production facilities of edible and infused products, and testing laboratories. Each application comes with a $5,000 nonrefundable fee.

The number of the license by types and where the applications are generally located throughout the state will likely be available by the end of the week. Not surprisingly, most applications are from the Clark County area.

“The applications we’ve gotten so far are very consistent with what you’d expect for the population and the demand for the medical marijuana,” he said.

David Storrs, who has assisted Las Vegas applicant Dan Lutz of M’ Life Wellness with his application, said the state process “was extraordinarily well designed.”

“They are very well organized,” said Storrs, who has also worked through the medical marijuana application process in California and Oregon. “Highly efficient and very courteous team, very professional. It was a great experience.”

Storrs said applicants turned in two packets: one with personal identifying information for financial background reviews, and one without the personal information. While his larger packet was more than 600 pages, other applicants submitted far larger packets.

“People would actually back-up with small U-Haul trucks full of applications,” Storrs said. “Come to find out, most of them were consultants submitting for their clients out-out-of-state.”

The state’s application review process began Aug. 5, the first day the state began accepting applications. The state’s review focuses on public health and safety, and delivering marijuana as medicine. Westom said the applications are being reviewed by seven three-person specialist teams comprised of state employees, and contracted staff with experience and formal education relevant to the medical marijuana industry.

“Each team looks at a specific section of the application,” said Westom of the 250-point process. While some of the teams will be reviewing financial backgrounds, other teams will review operational plans and policies with the company name and people involved redacted.

“There is no single opinion in the scoring and ranking,” he said. “It’s as objective and non-biased as humanly possible.”

The state will announce the results of its application reviews in early November, and the applicants who are approved for provisional certification will go to the various municipalities for additional permits and licensing, including approval for site plans, zoning and proximity to other medical marijuana businesses or facilities.

The Legislature in 2013 approved Assembly Bill 374 authorizing 66 dispensaries to operate in Nevada, 40 of them in Clark County. Clark County allocated itself 18, five for Henderson, 12 for Las Vegas and four for North Las Vegas. Mesquite City Council approved one and Boulder City opted out of the industry. The state didn’t set numbers for cultivation, labs or manufacturing sites.

Dispensary owners will have to pay a $30,000 fee to the state if approved for provisional certificate.

Westom said the state anticipated the first dispensaries to open early next year.

Contact Arnold M. Knightly at aknightly@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3882. Find him on Twitter: @KnightlyGrind.