The weed business is booming in Las Vegas, with eventual plans for cannabis-friendly hotels opening in the city, and one of the biggest cannabis expos held there every year. But elsewhere in the state of Nevada, things aren’t so rosy due to a loophole in the law of the state.
Despite possession being legalized in 2016, marijuana is still considered a Schedule I drug in the state’s Board of Pharmacy classification system where it’s bedfellows consist of heroin and methamphetamines.
The loophole comes in the form of reimbursement from friends. Per the Nevada Current:
“For example, if an individual purchases cannabis from a dispensary, shares it with a friend, and the friend reimburses them, an officer could charge that individual with possessing for sale a Schedule I substance, a felony that could come with at least a year in prison, because police officers view being reimbursed for cannabis as a sale. Compare this with an individual purchasing alcohol at a store for a friend and being reimbursed. That individual would not be charged with a criminal offense, and certainly not a felony.”
Sales between friends or acquaintances are a way for the police force to pounce, and it seems like a simple fix to the law would alleviate this problem.
As for how often this loophole is enacted upon, it is unclear. But the author of the Nevada Current article, Sadmira Ramic insists that it is occurring at a steady rate.
Read the original piece at Nevada Current.
