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The state of Nevada opened its doors to legalized recreational marijuana back in 2017 meaning that anyone who is 21-years or older can purchase cannabis (buds, concentrates, edibles, etc) for recreational use and not just medicinal.
If you’ve visited Las Vegas in the last few years then you probably already know this because there are plenty of awesome dispensaries off the strip. I was there over Halloween and didn’t have time to make it to the newly-opened World’s Largest Dispensary but I plan on getting there next time in I’m the desert.
On the strip, you don’t really find weed anywhere. Sure, there are those drug dealers who chill by the elevators at the hotels/casinos and offer to sell you anything under the sun but the dispensaries are all off the strip and there’s nowhere to smoke your weed other than your hotel room balcony and I’m not even entirely sure if that’s allowed so don’t quote me on that. This will all change soon.
Marijuana Lounges are coming to Las Vegas. Sounds awesome, right? A place in Sin City where you can get lifted with Samson, poke your smot, rip some heady dabs, and enjoy everything Las Vegas has to offer! What isn’t there to love about that?!?! Well, these marijuana lounges won’t be nearly as fun as they sound on paper, at least not according to this report from ABC13.
The City Council approved ‘social use venues’ for marijuana joining cities like San Francisco, Denver, and a handful of others but the Vegas rules about these weed lounges and where they’ll be located seem pretty strict, especially by Las Vegas standards.
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — Legal marijuana smokers will soon be able to find lounges where they can light up in Las Vegas – but not in casinos, not in places serving alcohol, and not on the resort-lined Las Vegas Strip.
City spokesman Jace Radke said it could take several months for the 20 or so licensed recreational marijuana sales dispensaries in Las Vegas to get permits to open hookah-style consumption lounges.Lawmakers in surrounding Clark County who regulate the neon-lit Strip have considered allowing lounges but decided in February to await rules from the state.
Gov. Steve Sisolak, a Democrat, is proposing the state legislature create a Cannabis Compliance Board to oversee the industry. The governor’s spokeswoman, Helen Kalla, said Wednesday that consumption lounges would be an issue for the board to consider.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported the only City Council member to oppose the lounge idea was Stavros Anthony, a retired Las Vegas police captain.
The measure received police department support after a proposal to allow alcohol sales inside lounges was scrapped.State gaming regulators opposed the measure because of concerns about federal drug laws. The Nevada Gaming Commission has instructed casino license holders not to allow marijuana use on their properties.
The city measure says lounges can’t be near casinos, schools and churches. (via AP)
It sounds like the only locations these marijuana lounges will be able to legally open up will be next door to the existing dispensaries which I’m sure is great news for the dispensary owners. But I guess that also clarifies my point about smoking on your balcony at the hotel.
The Nevada Gaming Commission instructed casino owners to not allow marijuana use on their properties which definitely includes the hotel rooms. Will they enforce those rules if you’re smoking inside of a smoking room? HIGHLY DOUBTFUL but it’s still against the rules.
Even though the execution of these marijuana lounges in Las Vegas doesn’t sound as awesome as I’d like it to be I’m still stoked that cities are moving in the right direction and further away from prohibition each and every day. For more on this, you can click here for the report.