Lyon commissioners ban marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated areas of county
Medical marijuana dispensaries will not be allowed in unincorporated areas of Lyon County, commissioners decided Thursday.
In a 4 to 1 vote, the board approved the ordinance that outlaws dispensaries, laboratories and grow operations in the mostly rural county. The ordinance was proposed by Sheriff Allen Veil and brought forward by Commissioner Virgil Arellano.
The ordinance prohibits medical marijuana establishments as a matter of land use throughout the unincorporated areas of Lyon County. Leaders in the incorporated cities of Fernley and Yerington will be able to vote whether or not they want dispensaries.
Lyon Manager Jeff Page said the county does not have the staff or the money to enforce marijuana dispensaries, labs and cultivation farms.
"How do you secure a 60-acre marijuana growing field?" Page asked rhetorically. "The reality is we don't have the personnel to properly enforce or uphold the portions of the Senate Bill. It would be a significant fiscal impact to us to follow the regulations of state."
With 11 homicides in Lyon County over the past three years, Page said law enforcement doesn't have the time or resources to enforce marijuana dispensaries, pot fields and labratories.
"We have the highest unemployment in the state and 70 sworn officers covering 2,100 square miles. We have to put our dollars on public safety first and not toward babysitting marijuana fields," he said.
There are about 3,600 medical marijuana cards issued in the entire state of Nevada. Page said sales tax collection for Lyon County would be minimal and wouldn't be nearly enough to pay for the enforcement side.
Voting for the ordinance were Commissioners Ray Fierro, Bob Hastings, Vida Keller, and Virgil Arellano. Voting against it was Commissioner Joe Mortensen who said he mostly agreed with the ordinance but disagreed with some of the language it, said Page.