Pot and Casinos Don’t Mix (Or Do They?)

Sun, Jun 29, 2014

What do medical marijuana and gaming have in common? As it turns out, some players in the casino industry are trying to gain licenses to peddle legal pot. But Nevada regulators are warning them to steer clear of the emerging industry, as pot remains illegal under federal law.

Three of 18 license applicants are casino-related

There does not seem to be an obvious link between the gaming industry and the trend toward legalization of medical marijuana in the United States.

But a report in the Las Vegas Review-Journal notes that three of the 18 medical marijuana dispensary permits awarded in Clark County have been tied to someone in gaming, despite warnings from state gaming regulators that industry representatives steer clear of the pot-peddling business.

Under federal law, distribution, possession and sale of the drug remains a crime.

At a recent public hearing, Clark County Commission Chairman Steve Sisolak said gaming license holders actually would be better operators of medical marijuana businesses because they have already been thoroughly vetted. The regulators disagreed. Even so, reports the Review-Journal, dispensary permit applications have been awarded to businesses whose owners or management include:

• Jane Tobman Moore, wife of Barry Moore, who owns a restricted gaming license for several slot taverns

• Troy Herbst, whose family runs JETT Gaming, a slot machine route operator

• Armen Yemenidjian, son of Alex Yemenidjian, president of the Tropicana Las Vegas, and a vice president of the same property

Gaming Control Board members are “reportedly incensed,” the Review-Journal reported. Another gaming license holder who sought entry into the medical marijuana business but later bowed out was M Resort CEO Anthony Marnell III.