Medical Marijuana 101: The Law and Your Rights

If you are a medical marijuana patient it is important to be educated on medical marijuana laws and your rights to you avoid criminal prosecution. Here are the basics on purchasing, possessing and storing your medical marijuana.

How Much Medical Marijuana Can I Purchase and Store?

A medical marijuana patient must have a registry identification card (also known as a “patient card”). With this card, you are able to legally purchase marijuana from a medical marijuana dispensary. A patient with a valid card is able to purchase up to 2.5 ounces of usable marijuana per two-week period. The same quantity, 2.5 ounces, applied to edible medical marijuana products.Luckily, dispensaries will keep track of your purchases and amounts for you to ensure that you are not over the legal limit. A patient may also possess up to 12 plants, regardless of whether they are mature or immature.

Medical marijuana patients may possess, transport, deliver, or assist another patient (who also has a valid registry card)in any of the above acts. However, patients may not consume medical marijuana on the premises of a dispensary. It’s also important to note that patients may not grow their own marijuana unless they meet certain exceptions under Nevada law.

Medical Marijuana Patient Tip:

• Do not grow your own marijuana unless you qualify for one of the clearly defined exceptions under Nevada law.

• Do not make marijuana products using a method that involves butane or explosives.

• Keep your marijuana and marijuana products in discreet packaging and out of the view of the public.

Storing Medical Marijuana

Nevada law requires a patient to ensure that usable marijuana and marijuana plants are safeguarded in an enclosed, secure location.

There is no specific law in Nevada that requires patients with children to keep medicine locked away, but to be on the safe side, parents should purchase devices specifically designed to keep medicine away from children. In any event, parents should ensure that children do not access any amount of medical marijuana in any form.

Medical Marijuana Patient Tip:

• Lock up marijuana and products that contain marijuana so that they cannot be accessed by children.

Driving Under The Influence

DUI laws apply to medical marijuana patients the same way they do to non-patients. Medical marijuana is treated like alcohol in Nevada, as opposed to being treated as a prescription drug, with regards to DUI. For example, if a person is found to have more than a certain amount of marijuana in their system, they can be found guilty of DUI, whether or not the person was actually impaired. Below are the “per se” limits; any amount of marijuana detected in a driver’s system, within two hours of driving,that is over the limits below, constitutes DUI.

• A marijuana concentration of two nanograms per milliliter of blood or more.

• A marijuana metabolite concentration of five nanograms per milliliter of blood

Especially important to remember is that while a driver could be under the limits above, if they are considered “impaired,” they will also will be considered guilty of DUI. There are various ways law enforcement officials determine whether or not someone is considered to be “impaired,” some of which may include field sobriety tests.

Medical Marijuana Patient Tip:

• Do not consume medical marijuana in your car. If you are detected by law enforcement, you will run the risk of being arrested for a DUI.

• Do not consent to a search of your person or your vehicle. If you are asked by law enforcement to search you or your vehicle, politely state, “I do not consent to search.”

It is critical to know your rights as a medical marijuana patient. If you do not have a valid medical marijuana card and are using cannabis, you could be subject to criminal prosecution in Nevada.