(Helen H. Richardson, Denver Post file)

Pot-and-slots connection called out by Nevada gaming board

When I wrote a story last month about casinos having to track wagers from those with connections to the legal marijuana trade, there were an assortment of eyes rolling, as if it was an unlikely thing.

Turns out not so far-fetched.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board last week apparently gave its approval for a small restaurant to license five slot machines — but said it would only do so if it found a different operator.

Seems that the company that was to run those slots has a tangential connection to the medical marijuana trade. The owner’s wife has an 8-percent interest in a medical-MJ business, and that’s enough for the control board to wave its red flags, according to published reports.


Poll: Americans prefer legal pot over online gambling


It’s not at all clear what the operator — Nevada Gaming Partners — is to do about the 40-or-so other locations where it runs slot machines.

The control board apparently said its decision was based in part on the fact that marijuana remains illegal under federal laws.

Wrote one board member: “Unless the federal law is changed, the board does not believe investment or other involvement in a medical marijuana facility or establishment by a person who has received a gaming approval or applied for a gaming approval is consistent with the effective regulation of gaming.”

One-arm bandits remain legal, and as long as there’s no doobie anywhere nearby, there shouldn’t be any trouble.

This story was first published on The Balance Sheet