Las Vegas casinos are now required to kick out anyone they think is high

Legal cannabis will soon be hitting its first anniversary in Nevada. While many people might celebrate their birthday tearing up the Vegas Strip—seeing some magic shows, hitting a buffet, harassing a wedding Elvis and playing some craps—Las Vegas’ casinos want nothing to do with Nevada’s newest decadence. Now in writing, casino workers are expected to kick out anyone they suspect to be high.

Last year, casino spokespeople emphasized they want to keep weed off the premises. Some believe that being stoned will actually make people less inclined to gamble. Longstanding policy made by the Nevada Gaming Commission already forbid ‘intoxicated’ or ‘visible impaired’ individuals from gambling or hanging around in casinos, but the rules have now been amended to explicitly include weed. So if your eyes are as red as diamonds, or you stare at a roulette table for marathon lengths of time, security may ask you to leave.

“Previously we used the word intoxication,” said Tony Alamo, a chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission, “and intoxication sometimes gives the feeling that it’s just alcohol. We want to make it crystal clear across the board under all our regulations that impairment isn’t just impairment by alcohol, it’s impairment by drugs.”

Las Vegas is still grappling with how legal cannabis will fit into its bright and glitzy ecosystem. Cannabis could be a real draw for a new demographic of tourists for Sin City, but where these tourists can smoke the good herb is still a tricky question since so many casinos and resorts hope to keep weed out.

“Decades ago, you would never think that anybody who was impaired was [impaired] from anything but alcohol,” said Alamo. “Not anymore. Society changes, Las Vegas changes and we change with it.”

I would like to reiterate. Cannabis. Buffets. Vegas, think of the potential.