85°F
weather icon Cloudy
Boulder City, NV
City Government

City to consider ban on medical marijuana facilities

By Jack Johnson Boulder City Review
February 20, 2014 - 5:05 am
 

The City Council is scheduled Tuesday to discuss and possibly vote on a staff recommendation that Boulder City ban medical marijuana establishments.

The proposed ban, which the council introduced Feb. 11, would prohibit medical marijuana establishments in Boulder City through a new zoning ordinance.

City Attorney Dave Olsen said the proposal is the result of staff discussions and interest from an individual and a casino studying opening medical marijuana establishments in Boulder City.

“We know there’s interest in doing it and rather than reacting we’re being proactive on this particular matter,” he said.

Henderson and Las Vegas recently placed moratoriums on medical marijuana establishments. But if Boulder City bans the establishments, it will be the first Clark County city to do so.

The city and state define medical marijuana establishments as testing laboratories, cultivation facilities, facilities for the production of edible marijuana products or marijuana-infused products, and marijuana dispensaries.

In a written report from Olsen to the council and city manager, he states that “there are a wide and varied range of pro and con opinions about marijuana use,” but he concludes that allowing medical marijuana establishments in Boulder City “does not promote public health, safety or welfare.”

The report contains information about the dangers of driving while using marijuana and its negative health effects.

“Based upon my personal research, marijuana as a substance you smoke is many times more dangerous to human health than tobacco smoke,” Olsen told the Boulder City Review.

However, the report contains no information about the positive health effects of the plant, which can be ingested, and has been used to treat a multitude of ailments, including loss of appetite in cancer patients and seizures.

The report also mentions that marijuana is illegal under federal law, but fails to mention the federal government’s stance on not challenging states that permit the drug for medicinal or even recreational purposes.

Olsen said marijuana dispensaries could provide “tremendous revenue opportunities” for the city, but this information is not in the report either.

The report states cities that have allowed marijuana dispensaries have witnessed an increase in crime, including burglaries, robberies and illegal drug sales in the areas surrounding facilities.

Despite the tone of the report, Olsen claims he has “no dog in this fight.”

“I’m just doing what I’ve been tasked to do,” he said.

Police Chief Bill Conger said crime increased around dispensaries in California, where some cities such as Riverside have banned the businesses, and he is concerned it could happen in Boulder City.

Conger said he believes that medical marijuana establishments would attract people from outside the city and state, especially because there are only 20 registered medical marijuana patients living in Boulder City.

“We would have an influx of people who have marijuana cards to buy marijuana,” he said.

“I don’t have the policemen to regulate that.”

Medical marijuana has been legal in Nevada since 2001 for qualifying individuals with a prescription, who have been permitted to grow a limited number of plants for personal use.

However, until the state Legislature passed Senate Bill 374 last year, which goes into effect April 1, there was no law allowing for the commercial growth and sale of marijuana.

The new law will allow 40 dispensaries in Clark County. Medical marijuana patients and their caregivers will be required to purchase marijuana from a dispensary unless they live more than 25 miles from one or are physically unable to do so. In that case, they will be permitted to grow as many as 12 plants for personal use.

The Boulder City Planning Commission was scheduled to discuss the ban Wednesday after this paper’s deadline.

MOST READ
LISTEN TO THE TOP FIVE HERE
THE LATEST
Screenshot Three of the lot plans put forward by Toll Brothers. While planned setbacks range fr ...
Toll Brothers gets split decision
By Bill Evans Boulder City Review

The development of the area near Boulder Creek Golf Course known as Tract 350 (the sale of which is slated to pay for the majority of the planned replacement for the aging municipal pool) may have hit a snag last week as the planning commission voted 5-1 to deny the developers’ request to build houses closer to the street than is allowed under current law.

bcr default image
Council gives nod to 185 new hangars
By Bill Evans Boulder City Review

There is at least one part of Boulder City that is set to see growth in the coming years. A lot of growth.

Review file photo by Ron Eland Eleven-year-old Travis Donohue reads to one of the dogs in the B ...
BC can ban backyard breeders
By Bill Evans Boulder City Review

Although there is nothing on any city agenda yet, the resolution of the issue of whether pet breeding will be allowed in Boulder City took a huge step forward last week as Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford released an official opinion on the intent and limitations of state law that had been requested by city staff last year.

Courtesy photo Plans for Linear Park including the construction of an access road.
Completion dates for two road projects pushed back
By Bill Evans Boulder City Review

Mayor Joe Hardy tacitly acknowledged that Boulder City gets, perhaps, more than its fair share of funding from the Regional Transportation Commission, given the city’s size.

Screenshot The city council voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve Option 2A for reconfiguring ...
Parallel parking approved
By Bill Evans Boulder City Review

Like so many other things in the world of Boulder City government, the issue of reconfiguring parking in the historic downtown area along Nevada Way, which generated enough heat to cause council members to delay a decision up until the last possible moment, ended with more of a whimper than a bang.

Jarvis recognized by city council
By Bill Evans Boulder City Review

Salome Jarvis was involved in planning activities for seniors in long-term care before she started doing that in Boulder City. In fact, she helped create the Southern Nevada Activity Professional Association (SNAPA) in the late 1980s.

Ron Eland/Boulder City Review If all goes as planned, the Boulder City Fire Department could ha ...
Fire chief search down to 3
By Ron Eland Boulder City Review

Now that Ned Thomas has had time to unpack a few things in his office and attend a couple of meetings as the new city manager, there’s been a list of things to tackle waiting for him in his new role.

Screenshot One positive touted in the budget is Boulder City's relatively low property tax rate ...
City adopts fiscal year ‘26 budget
By Bill Evans Boulder City Review

It is hands down the most consequential action taken by the city council each year and yet it often happens without much in the way of public comment.

Screenshot Property at 3 Linda Lane
Council reverses planning commission split decision
By Bill Evans Boulder City Review

A permit for building a single home on a lot that has sat empty (though graded and utilities run and ready for development) for some 40 years would not usually be fodder for a news story.