Nevada, Clark County may clear way for recreational pot delivery services

Gov. Brian Sandoval’s Marijuana Task Force is mulling a proposal that would allow marijuana companies to deliver recreational cannabis, letting customers order pot products like they do with pizza or Postmates.

The proposal will go before the state task force next week. The Clark County Commission is slated to hear a presentation on Tuesday that will include the prospects of marijuana home deliveries.

Medical marijuana companies can deliver products to card-holding patients in Nevada. But other states with legal marijuana have varying approaches to recreational deliveries.

Colorado and Washington have bans on recreational marijuana deliveries, but both state legislatures are mulling bills that could change that. Oregon and Alaska allow deliveries.

The proposal in Nevada to allow deliveries for the recreational market is supported by the marijuana industry and law enforcement.

Chuck Callaway, director of intergovernmental services for Metropolitan Police Department and a member of the governor’s task force, said Friday that having a regulated and restrictive service would help curb illegal delivery services that advertise online.

Those illegal services aren’t just peddling weed, Callaway said. Often they are connected to larger criminal groups that sell heroin or methamphetamine or human trafficking rings that force underage girls into prostitution.

Those services often present themselves as legitimate businesses on sites like Craigslist.

“You can’t even tell that they’re illegal,” said Riana Durrett, the task force member who authored the delivery recommendation. “If they can go on Craigslist, then they’re going to do that unless you make it legal.”

Durrett, executive director for the Nevada Dispensary Association, said she envisions the delivery system being as tightly regulated for the recreational market as it is medical.

Contact Colton Lochhead at clochhead@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638. Follow @ColtonLochhead on Twitter.