Lyon County’s first marijuana dispensary opened Saturday in Yerington despite the city’s frustration at its location.
The Yerington Paiute Tribe’s Pesha’ Numma Dispensary features an array of products including edibles, tinctures and smoking accessories for both medical and recreational use.
“We’ve gotten good and bad feedback, but our concern is serving the medical patients,” said Cassandra Dittus, co-founder of Reno-based Tribal Cannabis Consulting. The consulting firm worked with the tribe for months on the opening of the shop. “All opinions aside, we’re here to help on the medical side. The tribe is really interested in helping tribal members pursue alternative medicine.”
The tribe has plans to develop cultivation and production facilities as well, Dittus said.
“We do expect this to be good economic development for the tribe,” she said.
Customers at the dispensary step into a small but modern lobby with a window similar to a bank teller’s. After a customers’ ID is checked, a magnetic lock opens a door into the sales room, where all transactions take place. A separate exit streams people away from the entrance.
The dispensary has a staff of six employees, both tribal and non-tribal members, and includes three bud tenders.
Pesha’ Numma Dispensary is the third tribal dispensary to open in Nevada. The first was opened by the Las Vegas Paiute and the second was opened by the Ely-Shoshone.
The dispensary is located at 605 W. Bridge St. in a building that formerly served as tribal offices and is open from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. daily. Remodel work started on the building around the time the tribe and the city of Yerington signed a marijuana compact in October, Dittus said. The compact grants the tribe sole rights to operate a dispensary in the city in exchange for payment in lieu of tax revenue from all marijuana sold to non-tribal members at the dispensary.
The city has not been involved in the process since signing the compact, Dittus said. At the last city council meeting, Mayor George Dini said opening the dispensary without communicating with the city was “kind of a violation of trust. I think they pulled the wool over our eyes. I think it’s proper to rescind this (the compact) if this is how they’re going to go about it.”
After the meeting, Dini continued to say that consultant Joe Dice, also of Tribal Cannabis Consulting, had “assured us they wouldn’t build it on Bridge Street. We’re not very happy with the way this transpired. It’s all documented. He assured us it wouldn’t be on Bridge Street and that’s what makes me upset. I’m discouraged with their follow up.”
