Boulder City opts out

On a unanimous vote, the Boulder City Council banned medical marijuana dispensaries from its territory, choosing for the town's 30 patients with marijuana cards to rely on dispensaries in Henderson or in Clark County territory. BC councilmembers told residents the town, population 15,000, is not set up to handle such an operation. They did not specify what would be burdensome about it, though audience members raised speculative issues. There are already at least five pharmacies in the town.

Boulder City is a former company town, a federal reservation for Hoover Dam workers. In its early days, gambling and liquor were banned, and these practices bled over into self-government after the dam was finished. Liquor did not become legal until 1969. Gambling is still illegal there, though it is available outside city limits.

Meanwhile, the marijuana effort spreads outside Nevada. Seventeen state legislatures are considering outright legalization and regulation, in addition to Colorado and Washington, which already have it. Twelve states are considering decriminalizing, and D.C. has just eliminated jail time for use. That's in addition to the 16 states—Nevada among them—that have decriminalized it in various ways. Another 14 states are considering enacting medical marijuana laws. Twenty already have, counting Nevada's halting, 13-year efforts.