Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of persons and establishments involved in the cannabis industry in this State by the Cannabis Compliance Board. (Title 56 of NRS) Section 1 of this bill creates the Social Equity Liaison within the Board. Section 1 requires the Executive Director of the Board to appoint a person to serve in the position of Social Equity Liaison and sets forth the duties of that position.
Existing law authorizes the Board to adopt regulations setting forth requirements relating to the packaging and labeling of cannabis and cannabis products. (NRS 678A.450) Section 2 of this bill prohibits those requirements from requiring a package of cannabis or cannabis products which is sold at wholesale to contain any label other than a label necessary for the functionality of any computer software used for the seed-to-sale tracking of cannabis adopted by the Board.
Existing law prohibits a person from engaging in the business of an adult-use or medical cannabis establishment unless the person holds an adult-use or medical cannabis establishment license, as applicable, issued by the Board. (NRS 678B.210, 678B.250) Sections 5-7 of this bill provide an exception from that prohibition for certain cannabis-related businesses operated pursuant to a joint-venture agreement with a licensed cannabis cultivation facility or cannabis production facility. Section 5 authorizes a person who does not hold a license issued by the Board and who has been adversely affected by provisions of previous laws which criminalized activities relating to cannabis to enter into such a joint-venture agreement with such a cannabis establishment to operate a cannabis-related business on the premises of the establishment. Section 5: (1) authorizes such a business to engage in any activity in which the cannabis cultivation facility or cannabis production facility that is a party to the joint-venture agreement is authorized to engage; and (2) sets forth various requirements for such a joint-venture agreement and the operation of such a business. Sections 12 and 17 of this bill provide an exception from state prosecution for certain crimes relating to cannabis for a person who has entered into a joint-venture agreement that has been approved by the Board pursuant to section 5. Section 16 of this bill provides that the fact that a person has entered into such an agreement does not, alone: (1) constitute probable cause to search the person or the person's property; or (2) subject the person or the person's property to inspection.
Existing law imposes certain excise taxes on certain wholesale and retail sales of cannabis and cannabis products. (NRS 372A.290) Section 23 of this bill exempts from those excise taxes any sale of cannabis or a cannabis product that was produced by a business operating pursuant to a joint-venture agreement pursuant to section 5.
Existing law requires an applicant for an adult-use cannabis establishment license to submit to the Board, among other things, evidence that the applicant controls certain liquid assets. (NRS 678B.250) Section 7 exempts from that requirement a social equity applicant who is applying for the issuance of an adult-use cannabis establishment license for an independent cannabis consumption lounge. Section 8 of this bill removes provisions requiring the Board to set forth certain restrictions on the transfer of an adult-use cannabis establishment license for an independent cannabis consumption lounge.
Section 9 of this bill authorizes a cannabis production facility to produce and sell to a cannabis sales facility a non-infused pre-roll.
Existing law requires the Board to adopt certain regulations to carry out the provisions of existing law governing the licensing and control of cannabis. (NRS 678B.650) Section 10 of this bill prohibits those regulations from requiring: (1) a cannabis sales facility to maintain a visitor's log; and (2) a cannabis establishment to maintain records concerning sales transactions for more than 3 years. Section 10 additionally requires those regulations to allow certain employees of a cannabis establishment to conduct a quarterly inventory, if such a quarterly inventory is required by the Board. Sections 13-15 of this bill make conforming changes to refer to provisions that have been renumbered by section 10.
Section 11 of this bill revises the definition of “usable cannabis” to exclude the seeds of a plant of the genus Cannabis.
Existing law authorizes a cannabis sales facility to contract with a third party or intermediary business to deliver cannabis or cannabis products. (NRS 678C.440, 678D.430) Section 4 of this bill authorizes a cannabis sales facility or a third party or intermediary business with whom the cannabis sales facility has contracted to deliver cannabis or cannabis products to a consumer at any location so long as the location is not within a certain distance from a school, community facility or gaming establishment. Section 4 additionally prohibits the Board from requiring a vehicle used for such deliveries to be inspected by the Board before making such a delivery.
Existing law authorizes a law enforcement agency to destroy marijuana that has been seized from a defendant without prior court approval under certain circumstances. (NRS 52.400) Section 18 of this bill specifies that the Board constitutes a law enforcement agency for the purposes of that authorization.
Existing law imposes upon each retailer a sales tax measured by the gross receipts of the retailer from the retail sale of tangible personal property in this State. (NRS 372.105, 374.110, 374.111) Sections 19 and 25 of this bill clarify that the provisions of existing law governing the imposition, collection and remittance of the sales taxes apply to a retailer who makes a retail sale of cannabis or cannabis products regardless of whether the retailer holds a license issued by the Board.
Section 20 of this bill authorizes the Department of Taxation to impose upon any person who does not hold a license issued by the Board and who sells cannabis or a cannabis product an administrative fine in the amount of the excise tax on cannabis for which the person would have been liable had the person engaged in the sale as an adult-use cannabis cultivation facility or adult-use cannabis retail store. Sections 21, 22 and 24 of this bill make conforming changes to provide that the definitions in existing law apply to section 20 and to clarify that certain provisions of existing law apply to section 20.
Existing law sets forth the primary functions and responsibilities of the Investigation Division of the Department of Public Safety. (NRS 480.140) Section 26 of this bill makes the Division primarily responsible for the enforcement of criminal laws relating to unlicensed cannabis activities.
Existing law requires employees of a cannabis establishment to complete certain training courses relating to occupational health and safety. (NRS 618.9940-618.9950) Section 27 of this bill excludes a cannabis sales facility from the definition of the term “cannabis establishment” for the purposes of the provisions of existing law governing those requirements, thereby exempting an employee of a cannabis sales facility from those requirements.
Section 28 of this bill requires the Board and the Nevada Gaming Control Board, on or before December 31, 2026, to jointly prepare and submit a report concerning the relationship between the gaming industry and the cannabis industry in this State to the Governor and the Director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau.
Statutes affected: As Introduced: 678A.450, 678B.210, 678B.250, 678B.380, 678B.520, 678B.650, 678C.100, 678C.200, 678C.400, 678C.410, 678C.440, 678C.600, 678D.200, 52.400, 372A.200, 372A.260, 372A.290, 372A.380, 480.140, 618.9941
BDR: 678A.450, 678B.210, 678B.250, 678B.380, 678B.520, 678B.650, 678C.100, 678C.200, 678C.400, 678C.410, 678C.440, 678C.600, 678D.200, 52.400, 372A.200, 372A.260, 372A.290, 372A.380, 480.140, 618.9941