Politics
Nevada Supreme Court Allows State Pharmacy Board To Keep Marijuana In Schedule I Despite Legalization
The Nevada Supreme Court is allowing the state Board of Pharmacy to continue classifying marijuana as a Schedule I drug under state law, despite the fact that cannabis is legal there for medical and recreational purposes.
On Monday, the Supreme Court reversed a 2022 ruling from the Clark County District Court that had deemed the board’s designation of marijuana as a Schedule I drug to be unconstitutional. All seven high court justices agreed that, procedurally, the lower court shouldn’t have been able to make their judgement outside of a criminal case.
ACLU of Nevada filed a lawsuit over the state’s cannabis classification in 2022, alleging that despite voters approving a legalization ballot measure in 2016, police have continued to make marijuana-related arrests because the Board of Pharmacy has refused to remove cannabis from its controlled substances list.
The organization was representing the Cannabis Equity and Inclusion Community (CEIC) and Antoinette Poole, a Nevada resident who was found guilty of a Class E felony for cannabis possession in 2017, in the case.
“As a threshold matter, while the declarations establish that Poole and at least one of CEIC’s members sustained a possession-of-marijuana conviction after medical marijuana was legalized, they do not tie the conviction(s) to the Board’s classification of cannabis as a Schedule I substance,” the justices said.
Therefore, they found, it was improper for the district court to declare the classification unconstitutional.
Athar Haseebullah, executive director of ACLU NV, said in a statement that the justices’ latest decision “doesn’t actually resolve this constitutional controversy and doesn’t advance justice for all.”
“We have tremendous respect for the Nevada Supreme Court, but while cannabis corporations rake in hundreds of millions of dollars in profits, ordinary Nevadans like Mr. Poole could face potential felony-level prosecution for possessing cannabis,” he said, adding that they will be pursuing other legal options in hopes that the case will reach the merits.
Brett Kandt, general counsel for the Board of Pharmacy, which filed a notice of appeal just one month after the district court’s ruling, said he was “confident the Nevada Supreme Court would vindicate the Pharmacy Board and reverse the district court’s erroneous ruling,” the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
He declined to answer a question about whether federal marijuana rescheduling, as the Biden administration is actively pursuing, would affect the board’s position on the state-level scheduling.
This latest ruling comes about five months after Nevada’s first legal marijuana consumption lounge officially opened it doors, with Clark County Commission Chairman Tick Segerblom smoking the inaugural joint at 4:20 pm.
(Disclosure: Segerblom supports Marijuana Moment’s work with a monthly Patreon pledge.)
The state’s marijuana laws changed in another meaningful way at the beginning of this year, with a policy put in place that more than doubles the amount of cannabis that a person can buy and possess to 2.5 ounces.
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Recreational retailers will also become authorized to serve medical cannabis patients as well, without having to get a separate license.
The new law came into effect under a large-scale marijuana reform bill that Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) signed into law last year. The legislation also broadens eligibility for participation in the market by people with prior felony convictions.
Meanwhile, Nevada officials recently adopted a proposal to amend hiring standards for police officers to allow job candidates who were previously disqualified for certain marijuana-related offenses to now be eligible for law enforcement positions.
Separately, as Nevada advocates continue the push for psychedelics reform, a joint legislative committee held a hearing in January with expert and public testimony on the therapeutic potential of substances like psilocybin.
Last May, the state Senate also approved a resolution urging Congress to federally legalize marijuana, and the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) voted to send a proposed regulatory amendment to the governor that would formally protect athletes from being penalized over using or possessing marijuana in compliance with state law.
Read the full Nevada Supreme Court ruling below:
Photo elements courtesy of rawpixel and Philip Steffan.
