Las Vegas pot-friendly hotel hopes cannabis law changes
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LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A hotel that will allow patrons to smoke marijuana in some rooms opens on Friday, despite questions if it’s actually legal to smoke on the property.
The Lexi Hotel is located near Sahara and the I-15 and is considered the flagship property of Elevation Hotels and Resorts.
Elevation developed the concept of a marijuana-inclusive hotel at its first property in Phoenix.
“We do not intend to sell cannabis at our hotels, we intend to permit the use of cannabis wherever the local or jurisdiction allows us to do so,” Alexandre Rizk, the chief executive officer and founder of Elevation Hotels, said.
Under state law, people can only consume marijuana in a private place unless they have a consumption lounge license. The Lexi doesn’t have such a license and wouldn’t even be able to get one since it’s within 1,500 feet of the Palace Station Hotel and Casino.
During a media tour of the Lexi, executives showcased the hotel’s air-filtration system that eliminates the marijuana smell.
“We have a cannabis hotel in Phoenix, and we use this,” Daron Brotherton, the operating partner of the Lexi, said pointing to the air-filtration system. “It just makes the rooms crisp and smell really fresh.”
The Lexi is allowing those who stay on the fourth floor to smoke inside their rooms. Nevertheless, attorney Amanda Connor told 8 News Now last week that the Lexi is operating in a gray area.
“I think most people would argue that hotel rooms are public places that are open for business for the public to rent those rooms,” Connor, who specializes in the state’s cannabis law, said on May 25.
Rizk said he hopes current the marijuana law changes.
“We just don’t want to see it change, we’d love to participate in those talks and we are as we speak,” Rizk said.
The Lexi is an adult-only hotel for those 21 years old and older, and Elevation Hotels is also looking to open more properties, including four in California.
Although the Lexi opens Friday, the hotel will work on renovations for another two to three months.
