How will legalized pot affect the gaming industry?
By Richard N. Velotta, Las Vegas Review-Journal
Depending on which side of Question 2 you sat, you’re either embracing Jan. 1 or dreading its arrival.
How we treat the arrival of recreational marijuana is going to be the subject of continuing debate through 2017 as leaders sort out all the regulatory details of public policy. And it’s not a debate restricted to Nevada. Other states that generate tourism and gaming revenue are fielding the same types of questions.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board and Gaming Commission got the ball rolling with a pair of public hearings last month and it was clear from those sessions that there will be some interesting twists and turns on the horizon.
The line in the sand drawn by gaming regulators is based on federal law. The control board and the commission say that because the federal government views marijuana use as illegal, so do state gaming regulators.
