Medical marijuana and the Nevada casino industry don’t mix, gaming officials said at a conference today, and that’s not likely to change anytime soon.
The Gaming Control Board made it clear in a May notice that casinos must stay out of the state’s budding medical marijuana business since the drug is illegal at the federal level. But it’s still a hot-button issue for the industry, and it was a recurring subject at Friday’s Gaming Law Conference at Red Rock Resort.
Nevada’s two top gaming regulators, Control Board Chairman A.G. Burnett and Gaming Commission Chairman Tony Alamo, spoke on a panel together where they reaffirmed that the board made the right call.
Alamo, whose father was a prominent Las Vegas casino executive, expressed some disbelief that the mixture of medical marijuana and gambling became a serious regulatory concern.
“In my wildest dreams, I never thought I’d be dealing with something like this in gaming,” he said.
Alamo, a physician, stressed that there is a role for marijuana as a drug of “last resort.” Yet he criticized the state’s requirements for prescribing the drug for not being strict enough.
More importantly, he said, “It’s against federal law. Period. The end.”
Similarly, at an earlier panel about gaming and the Legislature, state Sen. Greg Brower said he supported the regulators’ stance. He said Nevada finds itself in a “very messy situation” with regard to marijuana, and unless the federal government changes its views on the drug, casino officials need to stay away from it.
Not all the panelists spoke in favor of keeping marijuana and casinos separated. State Sen. Tick Segerblom and Assemblyman William Horne both indicated they wouldn’t mind some crossover between the industries.
Even Elaine Wynn, the ex-wife of casino mogul Steve Wynn who remains a director of his resort company, revealed her feelings on the issue. It was by no means the focus of her comments — most of her lunchtime comments revolved around her passionate views on education (she is also the president of the state Board of Education).
But after Wynn’s main remarks, an audience member asked Wynn for her opinion about medical marijuana.
“I do not like that drug,” Wynn said, evoking concern about marijuana’s impact on young people. “I think we have a ways to go before we can really sort it all out.”