Nevada saw two significant marijuana policy developments on Wednesday, with a judge ruling that the Board of Pharmacy’s classification of the drug as a Schedule I substance violates the state Constitution—a decision that comes as regulators separately announced that they will soon begin accepting applications for on-site consumption lounge licenses.
The ACLU of Nevada filed a lawsuit earlier this year, alleging that despite voter-approved legalization police have continued to make marijuana-related arrests because the Board of Pharmacy has refused to remove cannabis from its controlled substances list. That has effectively created a legal “loophole” that the civil rights group says conflicts with long-standing constitutional protections for medical marijuana patients.
On Wednesday, Clark County District Court Judge Joe Hardy ruled that the board’s designation does, in fact, violate the state Constitution, though he’s still reserving judgment on whether the governmental body has regulatory authority over marijuana until both sides submit draft orders for him to review on that matter.
State had argued the standard should be “accepted medical use in treatment” in the U.S. and that the medical marijuana provision in the NV Constitution did not count.
“Medical use or value is enshrined in our Constitution,” the Judge said.
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