NV city fighting to keep MMJ business owner identities secret

A suburb of Reno, Nevada, is fighting a local newspaper in court in an attempt to keep its medical cannabis licensee identities a secret.

The city of Sparks, which is just east of Reno, has asked a district court judge to stay his ruling that it must immediately divulge the identities of multiple MMJ license holders to the Reno Gazette-Journal, according to a report by the same paper. The city is arguing for a stay so it can appeal to the state Supreme Court.

The city maintains that the same confidentiality that applies to state applicants should apply to city applicants, the paper reported. But the Gazette-Journal sued under public records laws for the names of the licensees in Sparks, and a district court judge sided with the newspaper.

The case began after the Gazette-Journal asked for copies of the licenses of all the dispensaries, grows and production operations in Sparks. The city provided copies of the licenses, but redacted the names of the owners.

The case is pending.