Las Vegas Marijuana Dispensary To Stay Open 24 Hours A Day, Others Likely To Follow

Recreational marijuana in Las Vegas will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week starting today. Approved by the city council earlier this week, Oasis Cannabis is the first marijuana dispensary in Sin City with no closing time.

Per the city’s ordinance, all marijuana dispensaries in Las Vegas, Nevada, have to close at 3 a.m. and cannot re-open until 6 a.m. However, language in the rule allows the city council to review requests for expanded hours on a case-by-case basis.

Every morning at 3 a.m., Oasis had to rush buying customers out of the door. At 6 a.m., buyers lined up around the block waiting to get in. With other local businesses open 24 hours, the cannabis dispensary’s co-founder, Benjamin Sillitoe, asked the city for expanded hours.

“We are on Industrial Road,” Sillitoe told the Las Vegas Sun. “There are 24-hour businesses all around us. … It makes sense operationally.”

While Oasis is the first Las Vegas dispensary to apply and receive approval for 24-hour operations, the city expects more requests to follow. Currently, there are nine other cannabis dispensaries within the city limits, and officials predict they will be next.

“We suspect now that one dispensary has [received approval], others will come forward,” said Las Vegas business licensing manager Mary McElhone, according to the Las Vegas Sun.

Eventually, the city may amend the ordinance to allow pot dispensaries to remain open 24 hours without the need for review. North Las Vegas already allows round-the-clock marijuana businesses, and Clark County, where Las Vegas is located, will likely do the same.

Overseeing 26 marijuana dispensaries in the county, the Clark County Commission met on Tuesday to discuss amending the rules to allow them to stay open 24 hours a day, instead of the current 20. Citing security issues, commissioners argue dispensary employees closing shop in the early morning hours can attract thieves. They also maintain it doesn’t make sense for weed businesses to close, count the money, leave, and then come back a couple of hours later just to start over.

Even if Clark County allows marijuana dispensaries to be open 24 hours, there is no requirement for them to do so. The revised rules will give cannabis stores the option, and they can decide if it fits their business model.

Clark County officials will vote on the revised measure on October 4. A public hearing will be held on October 17 if the measure is approved.

Las Vegas dispensaries can sell recreational marijuana to anyone over 21-years-old and medical cannabis to patients 18 and older. Some, like Oasis, even deliver weed for free to Las Vegas residents.

[Featured Image by Ethan Miller/Getty Images]