No Gambling while you are Stoned in Vegas
Bummer for the stoners who want to gamble in Las Vegas, reports Forbes’ Mike Adams, who tells us that Nevada is prohibiting “stoned cannabis users from going buck wild at the roulette wheel.”
The Nevada Gaming Commission amended its rules on gambling-while-intoxicated to include consumers who appear to be “visibly intoxicated,” from cannabis.
“It’s not smart to allow impaired people to gamble,” Gaming Commission Chairman, Tony Alamo, told KVVU. He said they want to make clear that their regulations don’t exclusively apply to drunk gamblers but those appear to be “impaired by drugs.”
One wonders who will be in charge of picking up on the telltale symptoms of the stoned gamblers? Uncontrollable giggling? Frequent Visine use? Steady stream of snacks? Apparently, casino staff is expected get some training on how to identify and deal with stoned gamblers. Good luck with that.
As we know, there are currently no effective testing methods to ascertain if one is stoned on weed.
It is also important to point out that the label “intoxicated” is broad and biased, especially when judging an individual’s behavior, without proper testing methods. Stoner behavior generally tends to be much more difficult to pinpoint as compared to drunk behavior. It is certainly quieter. When was the last time you heard of a fight breaking out in a cannabis coffee shop, a 4/20 event (and they are larger and larger each year) or any other weed-oriented event?
The Gaming Commission would be wise to step lightly when enforcing this new amendment to the casino law. While not nearly as profitable as gambling, the Las Vegas Review-Journal recently reported that the state’s one-year-old legal weed industry is bring in upwards of $35 million a month in revenue.
