• Industry
    • Opinion
    • Features
      • iGaming Data
      • Sports Betting Data
    • Finance
    • Online Casinos
    • Podcast

      Opinion

      Marijuana And Gambling Doesn’t Exactly Feel Like A Profitable Combination

      Fifth Street Gaming CEO Seth Schorr thinks Vegas should loosen its laws when it comes to weed

      By Jeff Edelstein

      Last updated: May 23, 2025

      3 min

      cannabis-las-vegas

      In a case of “be careful what you wish for,” I’m going to go ahead and caution Seth Schorr, the CEO of Fifth Street Gaming, and say this: Eh, maybe lay off the weed.

      Schorr was at a panel discussion this week hosted by the Cannabis Policy Institute and International Gaming Institute on the campus of the University of Nevada Las Vegas, and he said that Sin City laws should be changed to allow casinos to have cannabis lounges and to make it legal for cannabis delivery to hotels.

      “Now it’s been a decade and the question is, is it time we push the envelope?” Schorr said, according to a CDC Gaming report. “In Las Vegas, we’re competing against other jurisdictions. Online gaming wasn’t a thing 10 years ago. Visitation is down in Las Vegas. We need every tool in the toolbox as a city to drive visitation. Maybe 10 years ago, you had to be conservative, but today it’s got to be on the table.”

      Recreational use of marijuana was legalized in Nevada 10 years ago, but, as the article points out, the laws in and around Vegas casinos are pretty strict. For instance, there is a mandated 1,500-foot separation between a cannabis business and a casino, and Clark County doesn’t allow legal cannabis operators to make deliveries to the Strip. 

      The reason for the caution, apparently, is because Mary Jane is still illegal at the federal level, and casino operators don’t want to tempt fate — and federal banking laws — by inviting it to the Strip.

      “I think there is a market, but you don’t know until you try it,” Schorr said on the panel discussion.

      Yeah … I mean, sure, I suppose some people would like it, but … uh … well, can I be frank for a moment? 

      The partaker’s point

      I don’t know about you, but when I partake — by the way, it’s a scientific fact that only marijuana aficionados use the word “partake” — pretty much the absolute last thing I want to do is gamble. 

      Put a few beers in me? I want to gamble.

      Put me on the casino floor, straight-up sober? I want to gamble.

      Give me some, shall we say, party drugs (in my youth)? Yeah, I want to gamble.

      Give me a 10 mg gummy? I want to put my head in my wife’s lap while she strokes my hair and we binge-watch The Four Seasons on Netflix.

      Maybe I’m old, maybe I’m not hip, maybe today’s marijuana hits me differently than when I was younger, but for real: When I’m high, if I think about gambling, I usually think, “Man, gambling is pretty dumb. Kind of a waste of time, and probably money. Do we have any ice cream left? And pretzels. I could eat some pretzels. Why am I in the kitchen? Oh yeah. Ice cream.”

      “People go on vacation and want to do the vices,” Schorr said. “We allow them to drink and gamble and when they take a vacation some want to smoke marijuana. Las Vegas is about creating an experience that’s better than the one you can have at home. As other jurisdictions find a way to introduce this into their experience, it’s a handicap.”

      I guess, but I’m also guessing people who want to get high in Vegas find a way. For instance, the Reef Dispensary is a mile from the Venetian. (I used Google Maps, that’s not from prior experience.)

      While I suppose having cannabis lounges inside a casino-hotel would be cool, I think most people — and again, I may be showing my age — but I think most people don’t need a lounge to smoke a joint in. Hotel rooms with a towel under the door and someone fanning the fire alarm works just fine. As do sidewalks. And the areas behind dumpsters. Plus, uh … vapes and gummies and edibles and whatever else is out there these days.

      Nevada's first state-licensed cannabis consumption lounge, Smoke and Mirrors from Thrive Cannabis Marketplace, has already closed its doors after just a year of operations. pic.twitter.com/lUWvmbTNyG

      — Las Vegas Locally 🌴 (@LasVegasLocally) April 18, 2025

      And, again, I’m not convinced allowing unfettered access to weed would be a boon to the casinos. I just don’t feel getting high and gambling are the peanut butter and chocolate Schorr may think they are.

      Of course, it is pretty silly that you can gamble all day, booze it up until your liver craps out, and legally put a tiger in your bathroom while in Vegas, but everyone gets persnickety about a little grass.

      So to Schorr and everyone else, I say this: Go ahead, get your cannabis lounges, live it up. Just don’t be surprised if, instead of blowing $1,000 at the craps table, I just hit up the mini-fridge for the $15 Toblerone.

      Get Weekly Email Updates

      Covering all aspects of regulated U.S. online casinos, iGaming, sweepstakes, and more

      Related Posts

      tip jar

      Schuetz: Let Me Give You A Tip — ‘No Tax On Tips’ Is Easier To Promise Than To Deliver

      Schuetz: Las Vegas Appears To Be Welcoming Back Organized Crime, Felons, Money Laundering, And California’s Bookies

      richard schuetz

      Schuetz: Cigarette Machine On Premises Reveals What Casinos Are Really Protecting

      asteroid earth

      When 2.3% Is Terrifying: A Gambler’s Guide To The Asteroid Apocalypse

      Recommended Read

      arm tattoo

      Opinion

      Schuetz: Tell Me Again Why I Need To Describe My Scars And Tattoos To Get A Gaming License?

      There’s More…

      security cam

      Opinion

      Schuetz: Where Is Matthew Holt And Who Is Watching The Store?

      November 4, 2024

      Richard Schuetz

      Opinion

      Schuetz: Monopolies Are Bad Economic Actors, And Unfortunately, Gaming Regulatory Agencies Are Monopolies

      Gaming regulatory agencies are monopolies, and as such, they feature high prices, are slow to innovate, and offer bad customer service.

      April 30, 2024

      Richard Schuetz

      welcome to fabulous las vegas sign

      Opinion

      Schuetz: The Nevada Regulatory Discussion, Part Deux — Good, Bad, And Ugly

      May 9, 2025

      Richard Schuetz

      billy walters richard schuetz

      Opinion

      Schuetz: Three Realities About Dealing Sports To Billy Walters

      There's an upside to taking action from bettors who are sharper than the bookmakers

      July 26, 2024

      Richard Schuetz

      Get Weekly Email Updates

      Covering all aspects of regulated U.S. online casinos, iGaming, sweepstakes, and more

      • About
      • Contact
      • Privacy
      • Terms
      • Disclosure
      • Responsible Gaming

      © 2025 Casino Reports. Web Design by Fhoke.