Casinos versus Cannabis: Nevada Gaming Regulators to Review Stance on the Cannabis Industry

The Nevada Gaming Policy Committee is currently meeting at the Clark County Government Center to discuss the effect of Nevada’s newly legalised cannabis market on the gaming industry in the state.

In 2016 the State of Nevada voted to make the sale of medical marijuana legal joining a total of 44 out of the 50 states that are united under the US Federal Government. That government however still holds that marijuana is an illegal substance and has no medical application.

The Nevada Gaming commission's took steps after the vote to ensure that the use of cannabis within Nevada casinos was outlawed, not wanting to get involved in something that retained a questionable legality at the national level. That means no smoking, no vaping, no dispensaries in any part of a licensed casino.

The Law and The Law

This tension in US legislation between Federal Law (that applies to the whole nation) and State Law (that is applied and written within the individual states) is a constant tension is known generally as ‘States Rights’. It has some parallels to the tensions between EU and National law in Europe.

As an industry cannabis has done extremely well in Nevada, selling over $27.1 million dollars worth of the drug through its 47 vendors in July of this year, which was the first month in which the new law took effect. For comparison that is more than sports books – and industry that is subject to a similar states rights debate at the moment – handled in turnover that month.

In response to this booming industry and the apparent lack of big-government interference in the industry the 12 members of the NGPC are looking to “gather information, engage in discussion, and provide recommendations on policies”.

The group's findings have a deadline of June next year and may result in a rewriting of the regulations that govern the dealings of the purveyors of gambling and the growing “adult-use marijuana” industry. You might say the stakes have never been higher.