Nevada accepting medical pot license applications

CARSON CITY — Nevada’s nascent medical marijuana licensing process has bounced back to the state from local government entities starting Tuesday.

The Division of Public and Behavioral Health is accepting applications for medical marijuana establishments from Tuesday through Aug. 18. The application form can be found on the agency’s Medical Marijuana Program webpage: http://health.nv.gov/medicalmarijuana.htm.

Applications must be submitted with a $5,000 nonrefundable fee. Applicants are eligible to apply to the state and be ranked whether they have applied at a local government level or not.

Those seeking to operate medical marijuana dispensaries, cultivation facilities, independent testing labs or to produce edible marijuana products in Nevada must go through the state application process whether they have received local government approval or not.

The agency will post the number of applications received each day at 3 p.m. Final numbers will be posted on Aug. 19.

Medical marijuana dispensaries could begin operating in Nevada by early next year.

The state licensing process is different from local jurisdictions. Cities and counties look at such issues as site plans and zoning. The state process, as mandated in Senate Bill 374 passed by the 2013 Legislature, focuses on public health and safety issues.

There are over 40 pages of text that applicants will need to understand as they submit their applications.

In addition to the merit criteria outlined in the law, applicants will need to submit notarized forms attesting they do not have any disqualifying felony convictions and declaring whether they are subject to a court order for child support. If they are, they must declare whether they are in compliance with the court’s order. If they are not in compliance with the court’s order, they are not eligible to receive a medical marijuana registration certificate.

Property owners must also declare on a form provided in the application that they are authorizing an establishment to use the property for medical marijuana.

To ensure there are no biases as applications are reviewed and scored, applicants are prohibited from submitting their response on company letterhead. Individual names of owners, officers, board members, or key staff are not to be used in certain parts of the application. There is an “identifier form” that will be required and is essential for applicants to use as they write their responses.

Applicants will be provided an opportunity to waive confidentiality if they want information in their applications to be shared with local government jurisdictions.

Contact Capital Bureau reporter Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900. Find him on Twitter: @seanw801.