Sandoval: Marijuana clubs are a bad idea, could jeopardize Nevada

Gov. Brian Sandoval is not happy that pot clubs could be on Nevada's horizon.

An opinion released earlier this week by the Legislative Counsel Bureau suggested local governments could license businesses such as hotels and bars to allow on-site marijuana consumption, but the the governor said Tuesday that he disagreed with the opinion entirely.

"I am concerned with these establishments popping up piecemeal throughout the state with differing rules and regulatory structure," Sandoval said in an email Tuesday to the Reno Gazette-Journal. "I also question why legislation was proposed during the 2017 legislative session if legal authority already existed. Since passage of the initiative, I have called for Nevada’s regulatory structure to be responsible, restricted, and respected."

The opinion released by the bureau on Sunday does what Senate Bill 236, proposed by Sen. Tick Segerblom, D-Las Vegas, could not do since the bill failed during this summer's session. The intent of the bill was to give hotels, restaurants, bars and concert venues the freedom to allow marijuana consumption at their establishments.

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The opinion released this week, written by Legislative Counsel Brenda Erdoes and Principal Deputy Legislative Counsel Asher Killer, states that county and city governments already are able to license businesses to allow marijuana consumption. The businesses must be 21 and over and consumption cannot be visible to the public.

"My concern with different localities creating different regulatory structures and being limited to their general business licensing authority is that we would jeopardize the strict regulatory structure that is required by the Cole Memo and could invite enforcement by the federal government," Sandoval said.

The Cole Memorandum is a document that since 2013 has guided federal authorities on how to handle the cannabis industry in states where marijuana has been legalized. The memo directed U.S. Attorneys to leave the industry alone assuming it follows strictly regulated state law.

In the past year, however, the industry has been on edge given the mixed messages of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has been vocal about his opposition to marijuana use.

The Department of Taxation, which oversees Nevada's recreational marijuana program, has requested guidance from the Attorney General’s Office on this issue, according to Sandoval.

Segerblom, who has been a staunch advocate of allowing consumption at everything from coffee shops to festivals, said that this could be a major boost to Nevada's tourism industry.

"You have to think about what’s happening right now: It’s underground," Segerblom said, noting that tourists currently have nowhere to consume pot legally. "We'll have to do trial and error of what does work and what doesn’t work."

Segerblom, who initially requested the opinion, said Tuesday that the opinion of the Legislative Counsel Bureau is the "gold standard" of legal opinions in the state.