Pahrump Senior Center patrons will get a firsthand look at the operations of Nye County’s sole marijuana dispensary this week.
The senior center will provide transportation to the facility on East Basin Avenue. The first tour is already at capacity.
The Grove Manager Zachary Wright said the tours are designed to educate seniors about the benefits of the product.
He noted that Thursday’s event is just the first of other possible tours the facility will provide for the senior center.
“We will give them an entire full tour of the dispensary and the inner workings and how cannabis is effective in treating certain conditions,” he said. “We are going to go over each and every product with them and we will also give them information about obtaining a medical marijuana card if they are interested.”
Wright said since the dispensary opened earlier this year, business has exceeded his expectations.
“Actually, business is at an all-time high and we are way over what we initially expected,” he said. “As far as how much product we dispense each day, roughly we average probably anywhere from $ 4,500 to $6,000 worth. Currently, we serve about 52 patients each day here at the Grove so far.”
Additionally, Wright said Nye County actually has the highest number of medical marijuana cards issued, by county, in the entire state of Nevada.
“In Las Vegas, with 1.7 million people, they are at 6.9 percent with their population,” he said. “Here in Nye County, we are close to 16 percent per capita. We attribute that to the fact that Las Vegas and their industry is a little bit different. It’s very fast-paced and more competitive. We are little more private about our business here.”
Wright also spoke about the ballot question pertaining to the use of marijuana in Nevada, where voters will decide whether they want pot available to adults to use recreationally.
If passed, Wright said it would be a huge boost to the local economy.
“As far as ballot question 2 is concerned, regulating marijuana, like alcohol, would be a huge benefit to Nye County taxpayers in general,” he said. “Whether they are non-cannabis users or they are cannabis users, it would be a 16.9 percent excise tax on the actual recreational user.”
Wright also advised that ballot question aside, those with medical marijuana cards would be better off keeping them, rather than wait for it to become legal.
“We do actually encourage people to keep their medical marijuana card here because we don’t know how the law will be written if passed,” he said. “They might have access to more products if they are a medical marijuana card holder compared to a recreational user.”
Wright said anyone wanting to learn more about obtaining a medical marijuana card can drop into the lobby of The Grove during regular business hours.
“They are more than welcome to visit us in the lobby here,” he said. “They can speak to one of our intake specialists who will help them better understand how to get the card, because there are a couple of different processes, including an online process where people can actually download the paperwork from the state. We have new hours at The Grove. We were open Tuesday through Saturday but now we are open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.”
The Grove dispensary is located at 1541 E. Basin Ave.
For more information contact them at 775 556-0100, or visit them online at www.TheGroveNV.com.
Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes