Nevada’s marijuana lounge experiment is facing some growth pains. According to reports, one of the two licensed venues in Nevada closed after just over a month. Las Vegas Weekly.
Mitch Britten said that the regulatory framework and compliance costs, as well as product restrictions, do not allow for a business model to be sustainable. Britten plans on converting the space into a venue in order to wait until laws are relaxed.
Planet 13’s Dazed Consumption Lounge, the state’s only cannabis lounge that is currently operating in Nevada, will now close. Blake Anderson, Dazed’s manager estimates around 250 tourists visit the lounge daily. Sky High Lounge is another establishment that has been operating on land owned by the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe since 2019. It’s exempted from all state regulations.
Even with Nevada regulators conditionally approving 21 more lounge licenses, potential owners are struggling to meet the $200,000 liquid assets requirement – particularly social equity applicants from communities hit hardest by prohibition.
The recreational use of marijuana in Nevada is now legal, however public consumption continues to be prohibited. This has created a clear disconnect between the tourists that visit Las Vegas every year and the legal places where they can use their products. The 2024 fiscal period saw a total of $829 millions in sales.
It’s always about money. And it’s hard to find a place if you don’t have the funds to purchase a building. “Getting insurance and finding landowners who are willing to rent to a cannabis company is difficult in and of itself,” Christopher LaPorte told Las Vegas Weekly. His consulting firm Reset Las Vegas assisted Smoke and Mirrors with its launch.
Many think the key to future success lies in legislative changes that would allow lounges to integrate with food service and entertainment – playing to Las Vegas’s strengths as a hospitality innovator. The industry will adapt to the changes and continue moving forward.
LaPorte stated that “things take time”. There’s still a long way to go in terms of educating people about the culture we must continue to adopt. At the end of it all, smokers need somewhere to go. That’s exactly what these spots are.