By Visitors to Las Vegas will soon have a place to smoke cannabis legally, as Nevada regulators issued the state’s first three conditional licenses to cannabis consumption lounges. The Nevada Cannabis Control Board (CCB) has issued two permits to businesses in the Las Vegas Valley and one permit for a lounge in Washoe County in northwestern Nevada.
Before inviting guests to light up, the three Nevada businesses must first obtain local approval and undergo a final inspection by a CCB board representative. However, with a conditional license in hand following approval by the board on June 20, the lounge can complete planning and site construction and prepare to open.
“Receiving this approval from the state will allow us to proceed with the final design and construction of the consumption lounge.” Larry Scheffler said, Co-CEO of Planet 13, a pharmacy complex near the Las Vegas Strip, with one of two licenses issued in Clark County. “Consumption lounges will be a big step forward in unlocking the full potential of superstores as cannabis destinations. You’ll be able to eat and drink in a social setting that meets Planet 13’s amazing experiential design standards.”
Planet 13 vice president of sales and marketing David Faris said the company is still in the planning and construction stages of the lounge. The company initially considered a lounge-to-restaurant concept, but at a CCB meeting, Planet 13 general counsel Leighton Koehler told the board that the company is looking to expand from a “low-key” tasting room to a more expansive nightclub experience. He said he was looking at a wide range of ideas.
“It’s a tough business,” Koehler said during the meeting. It’s the place,’ he said.
Representatives of vertically integrated cannabis companies said they will submit their plans to Clark County in the coming weeks and could take months to be reviewed by county officials. Neither Planet 13 nor Thrive Cannabis Marketplace, the second company to host a cannabis consumption lounge in Clark County, have set an opening date. Thrive hopes to open a lounge on Sammy Davis Jr. Boulevard to coincide with the MJ Biz Con cannabis industry trade show in late November.
Chris Laporte, managing partner of Thrive’s flagship cannabis consultancy Reset, said the company’s nearly 3,000-square-foot lounge venue, “Smoke and Mirrors,” will attract “curious” tourists to the pharmacy. He said it would be a place where he could showcase a range of marijuana products without going there.
“It’s just the atmosphere,” LaPorte says. “It’s similar to other Las Vegas nightlife treats, but instead of a booze bar, cannabis is used as a social lubricant.”
Edward Alexander, owner of Washoe County’s SoL Cannabis, said he envisions his business as a community gathering place, but why many patrons consume products freshly purchased at the pharmacy. He said he had doubts about whether it would be allowed.
“We have music activities at our facility every weekend during the summer.” Alexander said During Tuesday’s CCB meeting, as quoted by Las Vegas Review Journal. “And every weekend there’s this grumpy, tattooed old hippie saying, ‘I know he’s at Disneyland, but he can’t take the rides.'”
At its June 20 meeting, the CCB said it would reduce the required number of air changes per hour from 30 to 20 in smoking areas and from 20 to 6 changes per hour in non-smoking areas. It also amended air quality regulations for cannabis consumption lounges. region. According to the board, the change will “make ventilation requirements for cannabis consumption lounges more flexible and further reduce barriers to entry for all potential licensees, including social justice applicants.” The agency made the change after applicants for lounge licenses said it would be too expensive to build air-conditioning systems to meet more stringent requirements.
“Moving the air every minute or two is a huge power draw,” says LaPorte.
Late last year, the CCB conducted a digital lottery, “through a random number selector to determine the issuance of independent cannabis consumption lounge licenses to non-social equity applicants and social equity applicants.” selected 40 companies eligible for cannabis consumption lounge licenses. according to the statement from an agency. Prospective license holders will be required to submit all required documentation for compliance review by representatives of the CCB Commission in order to receive a conditional license.
