Legal marijuana use comes with some obvious problems, but the Las Vegas Strip has an additional problem that raises concerns.
When Nevada legalized recreational cannabis, people expected the normal variety of problems when Las Vegas tourists overindulge. It’s not that Sin City’s tourism industry lacks experience when it comes to people who have had too many drinks or perhaps made another bad consumption decision.
Each Las Vegas Resort Casino operator has a safety and medical procedure in place for everything from belligerent patrons to health-related issues. You can drink all you want in Vegas and/or consume all the cannabis you can handle, but cross that line and you will be managed, not old school Vegas broken legs and thrown in a managed alley, but security (or the police) will make sure that your bad decisions don’t affect others.
DON’T MISS: Las Vegas Braces for Big Cannabis Rule Change
Legalized cannabis, however, has come with its own set of unique problems. First, the casino operators, including the largest operator on the Las Vegas Strip, Caesars Entertainment. (CZR) – Get a free report and MGM Resorts International (MGM) – Get a free report it cannot play any role in the cannabis industry.
Since they are regulated by federal law, casino operators cannot host newly approved cannabis dispensaries or lounges in Las Vegas. That means people not only have to leave their Strip or downtown resort to buy marijuana, but they also have to go outside to legally smoke it.
That forces people into cars, hopefully rideshares and taxis, but not always and that’s creating fears as fatal car crashes have been on the rise in Nevada. That’s stoking fears that legal cannabis lounges, which, in most cases, will be at least a mile from the Las Vegas Strip, could lead to more people driving under the influence.
planet 13
How Cannabis Use Works Now in Las Vegas
Currently, Nevada’s cannabis laws have created a problem that may actually have kept some people safer than they otherwise might have been. At this time, individuals can legally purchase and carry recreational marijuana, but legally it can only be smoked in a private residence.
That has forced people who prefer to smoke their cannabis (rather than ingest it in other ways) to smoke somewhat clandestinely in Strip casino parking lots and other somewhat low-key locations. Police won’t arrest someone just for lighting a cigarette, which is why there is a lot of smoking along the Las Vegas Strip and throughout the city near people’s hotel rooms.
In a weird way, that quirk of the law prevents tourists from smoking and driving. That could change later this year when new rules allow dispensaries like Planet 13. (PLNHF) add consumption rooms to your locations. Instead of people shopping at a dispensary and then smoking somewhere near their hotel room, more tourists may choose to partake in a consumer lounge and then get behind the wheel.
That’s something Las Vegas police have been preparing for.
Las Vegas police brace for drugged drivers
With the imminent consumption halls, the police of Las Vegas have been participating in training programs designed to help them detect drunk drivers, the Las Vegas Review Magazine informed.
This comes as the number of fatal accidents where the driver is high on marijuana has been on the rise. In 2021, there were 38 fatal crashes on state highways involving marijuana, roughly double the numbers for 2016, the last full year before recreational cannabis was legalized. In addition, marijuana was a factor in another 70 fatal accidents that also involved other drugs and/or alcohol, that newspaper shared.
Adding cannabis lounges may increase that number and that’s something the police have been preparing for. The problem, and it’s a big one, is that there is a lack of standardized enforcement practices for cannabis in the same way that there are protocols for detecting and arresting drunk drivers.
“To help prevent drug-driving, Clark County regulations require salons to create drink-driving prevention plans and adopt a minimum 24-hour no-tow policy for patrons.” who wish to leave their cars and return when they are sober. Establishments must also stop selling marijuana products two hours before closing,” the Review-Journal reported.
The challenge is that alcohol-related DUIs have specific standards tied to the level of intoxication, the same standard does not exist for marijuana intoxication.
“It can be challenging to determine what is considered under the influence,” The Law Offices of Garrett T. Ogata shared in its Web page. “Without the amounts specified as thresholds, a prosecutor would have to use additional evidence (not just blood results) to show that there was actual impairment.”
That could include the arresting officer’s report, arrest video, eyewitness testimony, and the results of the required blood test.
