Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
The Elko Daily Free Press is counting down the days until marijuana is legal in Nevada by answering questions concerning the law.
Q: Should I keep my medical marijuana card?
A: The simple answer is yes. Even though recreational marijuana use will be legal Jan. 1, people with medical marijuana cards should keep them.
First off, medical marijuana is protected by the U.S. Congress, unlike recreational use. When Donald Trump takes office as president, he could send his attorney general after all the recreational marijuana businesses.
Even if the federal government maintains its hands-off policy on state-legal recreational marijuana, people will still want to maintain their medical cards because of the price, said Tiffanie Huffman, owner of Green Acres Consulting. Her business helps people wade through the paperwork involved in getting a medical marijuana card.
"Medical has a 2 percent tax on top of state and county taxes," she said. "Recreational they're going to put a 15 percent tax on the wholesaler. So the wholesaler is going to be responsible for that tax, but you can bet they're going to have to recoup it somewhere down the line."
Oregon and Colorado have similar tax issues. The products available to medical and recreational users also change.
As a medical patient, a person can buy 500 mg lotion containing marijuana but a recreational user can only buy up to 100 mg in Colorado, Huffman said.
In Nevada, medical users can have more plants than recreational users. Medical users can grow 12 plants and recreational can have six.
"Medically you can have two and a half ounces of flower basically, versus the one ounce of flower," she said.
Marijuana flower is the usable part of the plant.
The state also has a year to set up the rules regarding recreational marijuana establishments, so the only place to buy marijuana legally Jan. 1 would be from a dispensary. However, marijuana dispensaries are for medical card holders.
Another complication is that the two types are overseen by different state departments. Medical marijuana is under the Department of Behavioral Health and recreational is under the Department of Taxation.
The dispensaries will have the first crack at becoming recreational use establishments in Nevada, but having a dual license won't happen overnight for any business.
Another benefit to having a medical card is that marijuana dispensaries can deliver the drug to a patient's home. However, the delivery fee can be costly. Most dispensaries charge $1 per mile and all the dispensaries are located in Clark and Washoe counties. This means the delivery charge is at least $300 to bring medical marijuana to Elko County, on top of the cost for the drug.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Countdown To Legal Pot - Should You Keep Your Medical Marijuana Card?
Author: Marianne Kobak
Contact: 775-738-3118
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: Elko Daily Free Press
Q: Should I keep my medical marijuana card?
A: The simple answer is yes. Even though recreational marijuana use will be legal Jan. 1, people with medical marijuana cards should keep them.
First off, medical marijuana is protected by the U.S. Congress, unlike recreational use. When Donald Trump takes office as president, he could send his attorney general after all the recreational marijuana businesses.
Even if the federal government maintains its hands-off policy on state-legal recreational marijuana, people will still want to maintain their medical cards because of the price, said Tiffanie Huffman, owner of Green Acres Consulting. Her business helps people wade through the paperwork involved in getting a medical marijuana card.
"Medical has a 2 percent tax on top of state and county taxes," she said. "Recreational they're going to put a 15 percent tax on the wholesaler. So the wholesaler is going to be responsible for that tax, but you can bet they're going to have to recoup it somewhere down the line."
Oregon and Colorado have similar tax issues. The products available to medical and recreational users also change.
As a medical patient, a person can buy 500 mg lotion containing marijuana but a recreational user can only buy up to 100 mg in Colorado, Huffman said.
In Nevada, medical users can have more plants than recreational users. Medical users can grow 12 plants and recreational can have six.
"Medically you can have two and a half ounces of flower basically, versus the one ounce of flower," she said.
Marijuana flower is the usable part of the plant.
The state also has a year to set up the rules regarding recreational marijuana establishments, so the only place to buy marijuana legally Jan. 1 would be from a dispensary. However, marijuana dispensaries are for medical card holders.
Another complication is that the two types are overseen by different state departments. Medical marijuana is under the Department of Behavioral Health and recreational is under the Department of Taxation.
The dispensaries will have the first crack at becoming recreational use establishments in Nevada, but having a dual license won't happen overnight for any business.
Another benefit to having a medical card is that marijuana dispensaries can deliver the drug to a patient's home. However, the delivery fee can be costly. Most dispensaries charge $1 per mile and all the dispensaries are located in Clark and Washoe counties. This means the delivery charge is at least $300 to bring medical marijuana to Elko County, on top of the cost for the drug.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Countdown To Legal Pot - Should You Keep Your Medical Marijuana Card?
Author: Marianne Kobak
Contact: 775-738-3118
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: Elko Daily Free Press
