Once again, county commissioners have tabled an issue dealing with granting or denying license requests for growing marijuana in Lincoln County.
The item on the Feb. 19 meeting was a request for a marijuana grow license by Weatherly Farms. No one representing Weatherly Farms was present to speak on the matter.
After discussion by the board, and upon the recommendation of District Attorney Dylan Frehner, the item was tabled until the March 4 meeting.
Commissioner Bevin Lister said he was concerned that the board should not deny the license request “without having any protocol in place that would protect us from liability. If we don’t have any rules to approve or deny, then we should wait until we have those rules.”
The commission’s moratorium on marijuana establishments within the county expired in June 2018 and was not renewed.
Frehner recommended waiting and said, “I think it’s safer to wait until you have a structure and reasons in place.”
Commissioners have discussed creating a new ordinance, but have not yet done so. Board member Nathan Katschke was assigned to work along with the district attorney’s office to create an ordinance that includes three options of how to deal with license requests. Katschke said he expected to be able to have a first reading of the ordinance at the March 4 meeting.
Commission Chair Varlin Higbee said he did not believe that the state law legalizing medical and recreational marijuana in Nevada, passed in 2017, was absolutely mandatory for all counties. He said, “If we don’t want it, we don’t have to have it.” He countered arguments by those in favor by saying, “Prostitution is legal in Nevada, but we don’t have that in Lincoln County either.”
Frehner said it is legal for people to grow small amounts of marijuana in their own homes, but not legal to dispense it within the county.
