Las Vegas Welcomes Its First Licensed Cannabis Consumption Lounge

LOS ANGELES- Las Vegas, a city famed for its vibrant nightlife and sprawling casinos, has reached a new milestone in its diverse entertainment offerings with the opening of “Smoke and Mirrors,” its first licensed cannabis consumption lounge. This development comes seven years after Nevada voters gave the green light to cannabis legalization, introducing a legal space for both tourists and locals to enjoy cannabis products.

Located within the Thrive Cannabis Marketplace near the iconic Las Vegas Strip, Smoke and Mirrors stands as the pioneer among 19 conditionally approved lounges slated to open across the state. The lounge commenced operations last week, symbolizing a significant shift in the state’s approach to cannabis consumption in public spaces.

The historic first retail transaction was made by Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerblom, a well-known advocate for the cannabis industry, precisely at 4:20 pm last Friday. Segerblom’s purchase marks a celebratory moment for the industry, reflecting years of advocacy and regulatory navigation to reach this point.

Nevada has been at the forefront of cannabis legalization, adopting recreational use early on. However, the absence of legal venues for consumption has been a notable gap, especially for the millions of tourists visiting Las Vegas annually. Previously, despite the legality of purchasing cannabis, there were no sanctioned places for consumers to use the product, particularly impacting tourists who could buy but not legally consume their purchases in public or hotel spaces.

Commissioner Segerblom expressed optimism about the lounge’s opening, highlighting the lengthy and complex journey to this milestone. “We’ve legalized cannabis back in 2017. It’s taken another seven years to get here. It’s time. I’m hoping this is the start of something big,” Segerblom remarked, emphasizing the potential for these lounges to become an integral part of the Las Vegas experience.

Mitch Britten, CEO of Thrive Cannabis Market, underscored the meticulous planning that went into the lounge’s infrastructure to ensure a comfortable and safe environment for consumers. The lounge features advanced air scrubbers and ensures ample air exchanges, a testament to the foresight and investment in making the consumption space as welcoming and responsible as possible.

As “Smoke and Mirrors” ushers in a new era for cannabis consumption in Las Vegas, it sets a precedent for the remaining conditionally approved lounges and potentially catalyzes a faster rollout of similar establishments across the state. This lounge not only offers a new venue for cannabis enjoyment but also symbolizes progress in the normalization and integration of cannabis into mainstream tourism and entertainment in Nevada.