Medical Cannabis Is Legal in Las Vegas, but Nobody Sells It

Fifteen years ago the citizens of Nevada voted in favour of regulating medicinal marijuana. However, it was not until 2013 that laws were passed to authorise and regulate dispensaries in order to distribute medical cannabis.

Patients that need to consume medical cannabis pay annual fees for the right to have identity cards and thus be able to purchase the products, however in Las Vegas and the surrounding area there are no dispensaries. This is the complaint made by John Doe, one of those affected: his doctor prescribed him cannabis as a remedy for his migraines; however, he has been unable to purchase it anywhere.

Therefore, Doe has decided to sue the state, the governor and the Department of Health and Human Services, the body that has the power to grant permits to open dispensaries. However, it has granted no such authorisations in Clark County. This area, the location of Nevada’s most important city, Las Vegas, is home to two million people. Therefore two thirds of the region’s population are affected by the absence of dispensaries providing medical cannabis.

The patient is denouncing the fact that the state is thus forcing Nevada residents that have prescription cards, to go and buy cannabis in the street. He believes this amounts to fraud, is an infringement of equal protection and leads to unjust enrichment, and irregular taxation.

According to Doe, the state is "involved in fraud by collecting funds from the fees and the issuance of registration cards when it had not authorized nor planned to give licences to the dispensaries during the period covered by the cards.”

Next year, it is expected that the citizens of Nevada will vote to legalise cannabis for recreational purposes, at a time when its consumption for medical purposes is still an unresolved matter, more than ten years after its regulation.