Focus Group lands marijuana dispensary license

The Grove Wellness Center, a group backed by Focus Property Group founder John Ritter, received the sole provisional license from the state for a medical marijuana dispensary in Nye County in a vacant shopping strip mall at 1541 E. Basin Ave.

The applicants chose to keep their name confidential, as allowed by law, but Focus Group attorney Mark Fiorentino, when contacted, confirmed he received a certified letter Wednesday informing them their dispensary application was approved.

Otherwise, the state approved 11 of the 12 applications for medical marijuana cultivation facilities, where there is no limit.

“They’re very grateful for the confidence Nye County and the state has placed in them and they’re looking forward to getting the place open,” Fiorentino said.

The building is well suited for a dispensary, Fiorentino said, being close to the Ian Deutch Justice Facility housing the sheriff’s department and the Pahrump jail, a fact that led County Commissioner Frank Carbone to joke about whether the sheriff wanted the dispensary there, during a presentation before county commissioners in July. The Grove Wellness Center application for a dispensary was ranked second by county commissioners who awarded special use permits.

“Part of the criteria developed for both the county and the state required you to make a showing you wouldn’t increase crime in the area and you wouldn’t negatively impact the surrounding neighborhoods. That was one of the reasons our location worked so well. It’s very visible from the roadway and every deputy that is coming and going will pass us twice,” Fiorentino said.

The Grove Wellness Center only applied for a dispensary.

MM Development Co. LLC was the first choice of county commissioners for a dispensary, the state didn’t award them a dispensary license but they received approval for a cultivation and production facility. The company plans to build a new building at 1530 E. Mesquite Ave. on property owned by Creekside Investments LLC, a company run by Pahrump Valley Disposal owner John Shea.

Bob Groesbeck, president of MM Development Co. LLC, said the company also was successful in getting a dispensary and cultivation license in unincorporated Clark County. Unlike the other applicants, MM Development will have to pull the building permits and start construction. The cultivation and production aspects will be separated by a barrier as required by state law, he said.

“Our facility at actual build-out, we’ll have square footage about 40,000 square feet, two levels. We’re obviously going to phase it, it’s going to be much smaller originally,” Groesbeck said.

A state advisory committee recently suggested eliminating a provision in the state law passed in the 2013 legislative session banning the shipment of medical marijuana across county lines, which could open up the Clark County medical marijuana market, where state law permits 40 dispensaries. Of those 40 dispensaries, 18 are permitted in unincorporated areas of Clark County, 12 in the city of Las Vegas, five in Henderson, four in North Las Vegas and one in Mesquite.

“Obviously the market is very new. It’s hard to determine what type of supply is out there based on the limited number of licenses on the market. We know that will continue to grow. We’ll continue to monitor that and make sure we meet those supply demands,” Groesbeck said.

Asked why the county’s No. 1 choice for a dispensary wasn’t selected as the top choice by the state, Groesbeck said, “your guess is as good as mine. Look, they were all good applicants. I was very impressed with the quality of presentations. I hoped we would rank No. 1 at the state but we didn’t.”

MM Development LLC didn’t object to releasing their name in the state application.

Companies that were identified by name that received state licenses for cultivation include Nevada Natural Medicines LLC, which includes basil grower Champ Roach, at 9680 S. Oakridge Ave.; Nye Natural Medicinal Solutions LLC, dba NuVeda LLC, which includes former Health Care Partners’ Dr. Pejman Bady, at 2801 E. Thousandaire Blvd.; Green Life Productions LLC, an application by Mike Floyd for a building behind the old Ace Hardware store at 1201 S. Loop Rd. and Wellness Orchards, owned by managing member Paul Wells, who plans to build a new building at 801 S. Panorama Rd.

MM Development LLC, Nye Natural Medicinal Solutions LLC, Nevada Natural Medicines LLC and NCMM, LLC were all approved for production licenses to produce medical marijuana products.

NuVeda also received provisional state licenses for medical marijuana dispensaries in the city of Las Vegas and North Las Vegas.

“They have to get a water impact report approved by the water district and a safety and transportation plan approved by the sheriff’s office. They’re both going to have to come back to us first before they can get the licensing,” Nye County Planning Director Darrell Lacy said. “We’re not going out for background checks, anything like that. I think we’ll be in good shape to move quickly.”

The Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health released the following criteria for judging medical marijuana establishments: the impact the establishment will have on the community; the testing and verifying of medical marijuana; specifics on labeling of products; use of independent testing albs for product safety; transportation plans for moving medical marijuana from cultivation to other establishments; procedures to ensure adequate building and product security; education plans for staff and consumers and environmental impact mitigation plans.

Medical marijuana by law can be used to treat AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), cachexia or a general wasting disease, persistent muscle spasms including multiple sclerosis, seizures including epilepsy, severe nausea and severe pain.