<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=192888919167017&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
Friday, March 29, 2024
March 29, 2024

Linkedin Pinterest

Clark County renews medical pot ban

Prohibition of gardens had expired

By Stephanie Rice
Published: November 6, 2014, 12:00am

Clark County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to readopt a ban on medical marijuana collective gardens that had expired.

The gardens are permissible under a 2011 state rule allowing patients and designated providers to plant a collective garden with no more than 45 plants.

After the 2011 rule was approved, county commissioners, who set land-use policies for unincorporated areas, initially had temporary moratoriums on the gardens. At the time, commissioners said they needed time to set guidelines about where the gardens could be located.

Over time, that stance changed into a ban, and commissioners stopped talking about regulation.

Chris Horne, the county’s chief deputy civil attorney, said Tuesday that the new ordinance doesn’t have an end date, but commissioners will be welcome to revisit the issue.

The ordinance notes that commissioners are concerned that if county employees issue permits for collective gardens, they could be considered accessories to federal crimes.

The ban can stand unless the state Supreme Court strikes down local bans or the federal government reschedules marijuana or commissioners change their minds, Horne said.

Two people testified Tuesday against the ban.

Statewide, voters, including those in Clark County, approved marijuana for medicinal purposes in 1998.

Recreational use

Commissioners have also banned the growing, processing and selling of marijuana in unincorporated areas under the state’s law allowing recreational use of marijuana.

The initiative legalizing recreational use was passed by voters statewide in 2012, but the measure failed in Clark County.

Loading...
Tags