Weed delivery, samples, pesticides: what you should know about Nevada’s new pot regulations

A year into Nevada's legal recreational marijuana market, more new rules are coming online.

They likely won't be the last.

The Nevada Tax Commission on Tuesday approved 256 pages of permanent marijuana regulations expected to go into effect on March 1. The regulations dictate standards for the adult-use marijuana industry, including how businesses should label, package, deliver, test and store marijuana.

The regulations address many gray areas not covered by the November 2016 ballot measure, Question 2, which legalized recreational marijuana but left many questions about how a legal market would operate. Since the language of the law cannot be changed for three years, the state has to create regulations that fill in the blanks.

"In talking to my counterparts, and just what I have learned over the past year, this process will be evolving," said Deonne Contine, director of the Nevada Department of Taxation. "There will likely be legislative and regulatory change to these regulations for years to come."

Although the regulations discussed Tuesday mainly affect the industry, here's what you should know about how they might affect consumers:

* More complicated than pizza delivery

The regulations will allow retailers, or dispensaries, to work with contracted employees to deliver product to individuals' homes, but they cannot deliver to any other establishment, especially not a casino. During the delivery, only an ounce of weed can be delivered to a single customer and no more than five ounces can be delivered at any one time. Customers too will have to prove that they are the individuals who ordered the product. The regulations have prohibited any kind of third party from delivering weed primarily because there would be issues in keeping track of legitimate delivery services. In other words, don't expect UberEats to bring a pot brownie to your doorstep.

* Want to work at a pot shop? You'll have to learn a few things, and be super clean

If you want to work for a marijuana establishment, you must go through extensive training in which you will be required to know about the state and federal laws of marijuana, the different strains of marijuana, the many uses of marijuana, the signs of marijuana use and impairment, the effects of marijuana on health and the roles of law enforcement surrounding marijuana industry oversight. You also may have to wear a hair net, keep your fingernails clean (and in some cases, no nail polish), and wash your hands all the time.

* You have the right to know what's in your weed

The Nevada Department of Taxation has a long list of toxins that all products must be tested for, including molds, bacteria and pesticides, at a licensed laboratory. The department additionally requires products be tested to ensure that products have consistent levels of THC and CBD throughout. An edible, for example, should not have all of its THC in one bite. Laboratories may not be invested in any other marijuana establishment so as to avoid any conflict of interest while testing. Additionally, all dispensaries will be required to hand over the lab results for a product upon a customer's request. Note that there are certain pesticides that growers can use, and the retailers are required within the regulations to tell the consumer what pesticides were used on the product. Also, if a product has an "organic" label it must adhere to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's standards for organic products; otherwise, that's false advertising, which is illegal under the regulations as well.

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* Weed samples (It's not like Costco, at all.)

While a marijuana cultivator or grower may provide free samples to a dispensary to share with customers, the customers may only smell the product through a sample jar that has a plastic or metal mesh screen. The sample can be no more than 3.5 grams and cannot be left unattended.

* Vending machines

No marijuana products can be sold via a vending machine.

* How much for that pot?

The regulations dictate how the fair market value for recreational marijuana will be determined. While the Nevada Department of Taxation has an equation that it incorporates in the process, the department primarily determines the fair market value by regularly surveying all marijuana establishments on the wholesale and retail cost of product. The wholesale price is the price at which growers sell marijuana to dispensaries, and the retail price is what consumers buy it for. A tax at the wholesale level and the retail level is additionally meant to keep businesses from reducing or increasing prices unreasonably. The state will re-evaluate the price every six months to ensure that it remains competitive with the black market, according to department spokeswoman Stephanie Klapstein.

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* Keep out of reach of kids

Per legislation passed during the 2017 Nevada legislative session, regulations specify that labeling of marijuana products cannot have any images that would attract children. That means no cartoon characters, toys or balloons. It also must read "THIS IS A MARIJUANA PRODUCT."

* Don't take your license for granted

The Nevada Department of Taxation has issued nearly 100 cultivation licenses, more than 60 dispensary licenses, more than 70 production licenses and eight laboratory licenses in the recreational marijuana industry. If, however, a business violates the terms of a license, the department can suspend a license and based, on the offense, penalize the business. Additionally, if a licenseholder has not put a license to use, i.e., opened an establishment, within a year of getting a license, the department can take a license back.

* Everything must be on tape

All marijuana establishments must have a video camera with coverage of all entrances, exits and areas of limited access. All video footage must be high-quality and capable of recording 15 frames per second and be accessible for law enforcement in real time upon request. All points of sale also must be videotaped, and the image must allow for the identification of any person purchasing product.

* Thief! Thief!

If a marijuana establishment notices that there is less pot than it started with in a process, it must document and account for the reduction in product. If a cause cannot be determined and is suspected to be due to criminal activity, the establishment must report it within 24 hours to both the state and to law enforcement. All establishments are required by the regulations to implement the state's contracted seed-to-sale program technology (which includes tracking devices on all plants, and tracking of all products) to prevent diversion.

* Who wins the golden licenses?

In the application process for a marijuana establishment license, state law allows only medical marijuana establishments to apply for the first 18 months of legalized recreational marijuana. The regulations expand on the process, noting that the state must favor applicants whose application indicates that they are in good financial standing, they have enough money to cover the operation for at least a year, they have a detailed plan and budget and an environmental impact plan. In the case that the applicants are applying for a limited, high-demand license, the state can look at everything from the business's diversity of owners to their educational, philanthropic achievements to the amount of taxes they've paid.