Nevada regulators reaffirm wall between casinos, marijuana

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LAS VEGAS - Nevada’s gambling regulators are grappling with how to deal with the state’s latest legal vice — recreational marijuana— and they’ve made it clear that pot doesn’t belong in casinos.

In the first of a series of policy discussions on Thursday, the Nevada Gaming Commission reiterated that as long as marijuana consumption and possession is viewed as a felony by federal authorities, it will have no place in Nevada casinos.

Commissioners said the reputation of the gaming industry is at stake and there needs to be clear separation.

“On one hand you have the gaming industry and on the other hand you have the marijuana industry … The two shall not meet,” Commission Chairman Tony Alamo said.

Commissioners did, however, spend more than an hour discussing what Alamo said would be the least controversial aspects of potentially bringing marijuana into casino resorts — third-party and business associations between licensees and individuals and companies involved in the marijuana industry.

That aspect was shot down, though. No votes were taken, but commissioners unanimously concluded that licensees should be discouraged from hosting shows or conferences that promote the use, sale, cultivation or distribution of marijuana.

Licensees also shouldn’t maintain business relationships with marijuana companies, including landlord-tenant arrangements.

Commissioners also said licensees should not receive financing from or provide financing to an individual, entity or establishment that sells, cultivates or distributes marijuana.

In that discussion, commissioners agreed that there is not enough separation in spousal relationships for a gaming company to be allowed to conduct business with the wife or husband of anyone involved in the marijuana business.

Marijuana policy will be discussed over a series of commission meetings in future months, Alamo said.