Cannabis Law Group HomeNevada
Medical Marijuana
- Up to 1 oz useable.
- 7 plants (3 mature).
- Enrollment in state registry.
- Written physician permission.
Criminal Penalties
Possession
< 1oz or less: Misdemeanor – $1,000 fine
< 1oz or less (fourth offense): Felony – Up to 4 years
Intent to distribute: Felony – 1 to 15 years
Sale/Delivery
< 10,000 pounds: Felony -- Up to 10 years
> 10,000 pounds: Felony – Up to life
Cultivation
< 10,000 pounds: Felony -- Up to 10 years
> 10,000 pounds: Felony – Up to life
Medical marijuana in Nevada has been legal since 64 percent of voters approved Question 9 in November 2000. The law permits qualified patients to possess up to 1 ounce of useable marijuana and 7 plants (including three mature).
Qualifying medical conditions include HIV/AIDs, AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, and other medical conditions as approved by the health division of the state Department of Human Resources. Assembly Bill 453 amended the law in 2001, creating a state registry and charging the Department of Motor Vehicles with issuing identification cards.
At the start of 2013, about 3,600 marijuana patients had registered with the state. About 100 new patients register each month. Proactive lawmakers continue to push for a legal system of dispensaries. However, patients and advocates continue the struggle to assert their rights more than a decade after the voter-backed initiative was approved by a significant margin.
Inaction or obstruction on the part of lawmakers has left Nevada among a growing number of states where there is no legal means of purchase, despite the fact that possession and consumption by qualifying patients has long been legalized.
Nevada Medical Marijuana – Criminal PenaltiesThe issue was headed to the Nevada Supreme Court in 2013, after Las Vegas police joined forces with federal authorities to conduct a series of high-profile raids against several medical marijuana dispensaries in the metro area. In the case of Sin City Co-op, a judge dismissed drug trafficking charges, saying state law was unconstitutional and “poorly contemplated or purposefully constructed to frustrate the implementation of constitutionally mandated access to the substance.”
On the road, Nevada law governing driving under the influence of a controlled substance, Nev. Rev. Stat. § 484.397, provides for a threshold of 10-15ng/ml of urine or 2-5ng/ml of blood. Having a valid medical marijuana prescription is not an affirmative defense to driving under the influence.
Nevada Medical Marijuana News ArchiveNevada state senator to push dispensary bill amid confusing medical marijuana law, Las Vegas Sun, Feb. 22, 2013.
Nevada medical marijuana group grows, Las Vegas Review-Journal, July 9, 2012.
