According to a nationwide poll conducted by the Cannabis Policy Institute at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, roughly 70% of people surveyed said they favor a casino-resort having a cannabis smoking lounge or a designated area for consumption.
The survey of 620 people nationwide ages 21 and older comes as some in the gaming industry are asking for a reevaluation of Nevada’s practice of not permitting any ties between casino gaming and cannabis.
The Cannabis Policy Institute produced a report for the Nevada Legislature about the separation, in state law and in gaming regulations, of cannabis from the casino industry. It recommended that the Nevada Gaming Control Board and Cannabis Compliance Board produce a joint report discussing the future relationship of gaming and cannabis, according to CPI Director Riana Durrett.
“That was adopted in Assembly Bill 203 and if it passes, it requires input from relevant academic institutions,” Durrett said. “We all agree that 10 years ago, it was right to be cautious, given how important gaming is to Nevada’s economy. The cannabis industry understood that, but now, with sales dipping and opportunities lost, how can the gaming and regulatory worlds have these conversations?
“The motivation behind the study was that if people are consuming cannabis, their gaming desires would be depressed,” Durrett said. “We haven’t found literature to support that and that’s why we wanted to do research on whether people are gambling less or more or if it doesn’t change their gambling habits.”
Of the 70% of survey respondents in favor of casinos enabling cannabis use, just over 25% agree, 25% strongly agree, and ust under 20% somewhat agree. Fewer than 20% disagree and about 13% neither agree nor disagree. The survey also asked if hotel guests wanted cannabis smoking rooms similar to cigarette smoking rooms and about 68% agreed.
About 60% said they wouldn’t have cannabis delivered to their hotels, while about 27% said they would. It’s currrently illegal in Nevada. The rest didn’t express an opinion.
“Right now, it cannot be delivered to the Strip legally. But people do get it delivered (via the black market),” said CPI Research Director Marla Royne Stafford.
Some 40% said they would be more likely to gamble at a resort if they were allowed to consume cannabis while gambling. Another 29% said they would be unlikely to gamble there.
About 23% said they would use it less while gambline; 50% said their usage wouldn’t change. Only about 5% said they would use it more. About 58% said their gambling habits wouldn’t change consuming cannabis. About 25% said they would gamble more and 18% said they would gamble less.
“We do see a relationship between these two activities,” Stafford said. “If we want to dig deeper in future research, you’re going to see differences. It’s interesting that nearly 60% said their gambling habits wouldn’t change. Maybe there’s not as strong a relationship as we thought there might be.”
Just over one-third of those surveyed said they have consumed cannabis while gambling, with the biggest chunk of that saying it’s less than half the time. Nearly two-thirds said they’ve never used cannabis while gambling.
“We know that cannabis isn’t allowed in casinos, but the difference between cannabis and smoking is that cannabis can be ingested in various forms,” Stafford said. “Think what that would mean if it’s legal. It’s an interesting finding that deserves a little more investigation.”
About 24% said it makes gambling more enjoyable, 12% less enjoyable, and about 12% said it doesn’t affect it at all.
“More research is needed to understand what’s driving this perception,” Stafford said.
Stafford said the survey was intended as an exploratory study using paid respondents and further work is forthcoming. “We did find a very strong correlation between perceptions of gambling and perception of cannabis in terms of their harmfulness. If you think that gambling is harmful, you also think that cannabis is harmful.”
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