Amended marijuana bill could give Nevada police video access

The access to live footage in marijuana establishments is part of Senate Bill 329, which deals with several aspects of the medical marijuana industry.

The bill was heard Monday in the Senate Finance Committee, which did not take immediate action. Sen. Tick Segerblom introduced an amendment to the bill that he described as part of a compromise.

“We’re trying to take out all the controversial parts,” Segerblom, D-Las Vegas, told the committee.

The Metropolitan Police Department said the measure would allow a dispatcher to give a responding officer “real time information.” The feed could only be accessed when police are responding to incidents, said Metro lobbyist Chuck Callaway.

“We would not just be be able to go in and look at what’s going on in there randomly,” he said. “We would have no desire to do that.”

Although the rule would apply to the medical marijuana industry, the measure would likely adopt recreational facilities as well.

Other provisions in the bill’s amendment:

• The state would only allow home grows for those who had obtained a license to grow before July 1, 2013. Those without licenses could only have home grows by meeting criteria that includes living in a county without a dispensary, if the nearest dispensary lacks the strain needed to treat a particular ailment, of if the patient has no transportation to a dispensary.
• The state would take steps to encourage diversity among licensees, including requiring employers to report to the state the race, gender and ethnicity of employees to the state Department of Taxation.
• Employees of third-party companies that work for marijuana establishments could get a more encompassing background check. Under current law, a third-party company must be licensed by each marijuana business it works with. An example of a third-party company would be a landscaping business that trims marijuana plants.

Contact Ben Botkin at bbotkin@reviewjournal.com or 775-461-0661. Follow @BenBotkin1 on Twitter.