EDITORIAL: In the way of weed

A reminder to state and local government officials about medical marijuana: It’s legal. In fact, it’s been legal in Nevada for more than 14 years.

So why are they still making it so hard for patients to obtain the drug?

The state’s first medical marijuana dispensaries should have opened by now. It’s been more than two years since the Legislature passed the bill that allowed retail sales of marijuana to registered patients with a doctor’s prescription. And it took 13 years for lawmakers to get that far — after voters approved medical marijuana in 2000, the Legislature prohibited sales of the drug, permitting patients only to grow and possess a few plants for their personal use. That policy amounted to de facto criminalization of a drug that Americans clearly want decriminalized.

The 2013 law was supposed to change that. But an unnecessarily drawn-out application and licensing process and burdensome regulations have prevented dispensaries from opening and threaten to make their products so expensive that patients will have to turn to street dealers to relieve their symptoms.

As reported last week by the Review-Journal’s Eric Hartley, one Clark County dispensary, Euphoria Wellness, has been ready to open since February. But growing marijuana takes time — crops from commercial cultivation centers won’t be ready for months. So the owners of Euphoria Wellness were counting on a provision in state law that allows dispensaries to buy marijuana from a registered patient.

However, patients are allowed to possess just 2½ ounces of “usable” marijuana every two weeks. And the state’s rigorous testing requirements are so expensive — $750 to $1,500 per batch — that submitting each 2½-ounce purchase to a laboratory would make it impossible for dispensaries to recover their costs. And no sales mean no sales taxes for the state and local governments.

Dispensaries have attracted millions of dollars in investments, but those investors aren’t seeing any returns. The more capital they spend to stay in business with closed doors, the fewer jobs are created. And patients with everything from cancer to chronic pain are enduring needless suffering.

Another reminder to government: Next year, Nevada voters will be asked to legalize recreational use of marijuana, a question that will be favored to pass.

A rigorous regulatory structure isn’t worth a weed if it doesn’t have any businesses to regulate. At some point, government needs to get out of the way.