ShareMarijuana lounges will soon be coming to Sin City after the Las Vegas Council approved the measure by a vote of 5-1. The consumption premises will be exclusively in Las Vegas and Clark County and will take the form of taverns but with no alcohol sale allowed.
The Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board said in June: “In addition to outlining the licensing and operation of consumption lounges, regulations approved today lay the groundwork for greater inclusion within Nevada’s cannabis industry. All applicants must submit a diversity plan, summarising actionable steps and goals for meaningful inclusion. Additionally, half of the independent consumption lounge licenses in the initial round must be awarded to social equity applicants.”
Victory for the Tourists
The fight for public areas to consume marijuana has taken six years since recreational use was legalised in 2016. The move was popular among locals but left the 40 million tourists arriving every year without any place to legally skin up. This led to many people complaining about the smell emanating from various places on public streets and from hotel rooms.Currently, Las Vegas has 17 licensed dispensaries and it is assumed that these businesses will be the first to provide comfortable smoking areas to prevent the public from chalking up any more infractions.
Throughout Nevada, there will eventually be 20 licenses issued to independent applicants with half going to “social equity applicants” who were adversely affected by marijuana laws before legalisation.
The Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board has said that a 10-day window for applications will open in October for Clark County and Las Vegas expects to follow on in 2023.
Councilwoman Olivia Diaz was positive about the changes, stating that development opportunities will help many local businesses.
“I think it’s important for the city to consider the business opportunity that consumption lounges will bring, and also some relief of issues we’re currently hearing about a lot because we’re not offering a place for folks to actually consume when they buy. We have still some way to go and some more work to do.”
It will be interesting to see how this all works out for the gambling industry. There are plenty of poker players who insist that partaking helps them relax and concentrate. We look forward to seeing how this plays out during major events such as the World Series of Poker when the cameras are rolling.
