The second and most painful lounge debacle came after Las Vegas city officials approved an ordinance two years ago only for gaming-backed politicians at the state level to step in and overrule it.
The new law allows for up to 70 lounges across the state—35 for current dispensary owners to attach to their stores, and 35 standalone venues for independent owners.
A separate bill to allow cannabis at concerts and festivals failed, but part of that bill merged into AB341.
Unlike every other type of marijuana establishment in Nevada, a cannabis lounge license is open to just about anybody who wants to apply for one.
“We decided to offer one lounge for each ownership group and match it one-to-one with independent lounges,” Yeager said.
The new law doesn’t go into effect until October 1, 2021.
The bill calls also for Nevada’s Cannabis Compliance Board to develop a regulatory framework for cannabis lounges.
They claim the new law is ripe for corruption similar to the infamous 2018 licensing scandal that, despite offering extra points for diversity, put all of the state’s remaining dispensary permits in the hands of less than 12% of companies that applied.
The law calls for “some” social equity applicants to receive “up to” a 75% reduction of those fees, though it doesn’t provide any specifics.
Interviewed dispensary owners in Sin City had little to say about their plans for the new lounges with the launch date still so far away.
Owner Frank Hawkins, a former NFL running back turned weed mogul, built out the lounge back in 2019 after getting the thumbs-up from the Vegas city council.
A dimly lit common room — with pub-style lights, a slew of TVs, and a mega-projector — will greet customers as they walk inside.
Life-size images of marijuana folk heroes Bob Marley, Willie Nelson, and Barack Obama fill the Reserve’s “boardroom” and leather executive chairs surround an oval-shaped wood-grain table in the center of the room.
A microphone with a matching pop filter hangs from the ceiling in the Reserve’s recording studio, and another room offers open space and a couple of sets of virtual-reality goggles for a stoned VR adventure.
He hopes officials won’t pull the rug out from underneath him again like they did in 2019.
Chris Kudialis is a Las Vegas–based cannabis reporter.