The way Nevada casinos regulate gamblers who exhibit signs of impairment was updated last week to include verbiage on drug use.
Playing off guidelines that already existed in the nightclub industry, the regulation was amended by the Nevada Gaming Commission to change “intoxicated” to “incapacitated” and include the effects of using drugs and not just alcohol, Commission Chairman Tony Alamo said.
Legal sales of recreational marijuana began last summer statewide.
“It was making congruent from the changes we made to the nightclub regulations form a couple of years ago,” Alamo said. “Intoxication implies the use of alcohol. We added the word incapacitated… because of the use of drugs. Society has changed.”
There is no guide to the subjective determination of whether someone is incapacitated and “common sense goes along way,” Alamo said. Those who show signs of being incapacitated shouldn’t be allowed to gamble or be served drinks.
Andrew Jolley, owner of The+Source dispensary and president of the Nevada Dispensary Association, supports the decision.
“I think that’s a responsible step,” Jolley said. “I don’t see that directly impacting the customers we see at our stores on a day-to-day basis.”