1. When any substance alleged to be a controlled substance, dangerous drug or immediate precursor is seized from a defendant by a peace officer, the law enforcement agency of which the officer is a member may, with the prior approval of the prosecuting attorney, petition the district court in the county in which the defendant is charged to secure permission to destroy a part of the substance.

2. Upon receipt of a petition filed pursuant to subsection 1, the district court shall order the substance to be accurately weighed and the weight thereof accurately recorded. The prosecuting attorney or the prosecuting attorney’s representative and the defendant or the defendant’s representative must be allowed to inspect and weigh the substance.

3. If after completion of the weighing process the defendant does not knowingly and voluntarily stipulate to the weight of the substance, the district court shall hold a hearing to make a judicial determination of the weight of the substance. The defendant, the defendant’s attorney and any other witness the defendant may designate may be present and testify at the hearing.

4. After a determination has been made as to the weight of the substance, the district court may order all of the substance destroyed except that amount which is reasonably necessary to enable each interested party to analyze the substance to determine the composition of the substance. The district court shall order the remaining sample to be sealed and maintained for analysis before trial.

5. If the substance is finally determined not to be a controlled substance, dangerous drug or immediate precursor, unless the substance was destroyed pursuant to subsection 7, the owner may file a claim against the county to recover the reasonable value of the property destroyed pursuant to this section.

6. The district court’s finding as to the weight of a substance destroyed pursuant to this section is admissible in any subsequent proceeding arising out of the same transaction.

7. If at the time that a peace officer seizes from a defendant a substance believed to be a controlled substance, dangerous drug or immediate precursor, the peace officer discovers any material or substance that he or she reasonably believes is hazardous waste, the peace officer may appropriately dispose of the material or substance without securing the permission of a court.

8. This section does not apply to any substance that is alleged to be marijuana which is seized from a defendant by a peace officer.

9. As used in this section:

(a) “Dangerous drug” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 454.201.

(b) “Hazardous waste” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 459.430.

(c) “Immediate precursor” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 453.086.

(Added to NRS by 1975, 1183; A 1987, 1547; 1989, 183; 1999, 2641; 2001, 3071; 2015, 865)