Lyon County is in the spotlight because county commissioners are considering a zoning ordinanceto ban stores that would dispense medical marijuana in the unincorporated county. By population, Lyon County is permitted under new state law to authorize one such dispensary.
Bu Lyon County Sheriff Allen Veil, who requested the ordinance, says a dispensary would be a crime target because of its valuable inventory, and his sheriff's department is already stretched thin due to budget cuts. Lyon County's economy has continued slow since 2008, he adds.
Despite the attention focused on Lyon County, Storey County already passed a similar ban against the dispensaries, which are intended to serve only customers who are medically qualified to use marijuana to reduce chronic pain.
State Sen. Tick Segerblom (D-Las Vegas) told the Las Vegas Review-Journal it's ironic that Lyon County allows brothels but doesn't want to allow marijuana sales to medical patients.
"I've never seen someone that goes to a brothel then goes out and commits crime, or hits somebody" with a vehicle, Veil told KNPR. "There's no 'driving under the influence of being at a brothel.'"
Allen Veil, Sheriff of Lyon County