Tourists and locals alike may soon be able to dine on tapas, sip cannabis-infused cocktails and spark a joint all while chilling under a chandelier made of bongs or taking pictures near a retro phone booth entryway.
It’s a snapshot of what Planet 13 plans to create for what company officials say will be one of Clark County’s first cannabis consumption lounges, the Dazed Lounge.
“We really have different takes on what a cannabis experience can be even at a retail level, and so for us, we wanted to really reimagine what a consumption lounge could be in the way it looks and the feel it could give off,” said David Farris, vice president of sales and marketing for Planet 13.
Last August, Planet 13 announced it would be converting the Trece restaurant into a cannabis consumption lounge. The 3,000-square-foot space —located in the company’s marijuana dispensary west of the Strip on Desert Inn Road—will be opening in the spring with a new, Instagrammable look and menu of treats with and without cannabis.
It will feature a phone-booth speakeasy secret entrance off the building’s grand hallway, colorful wall murals and VIP booths with TVs for parties or game day celebrations, said Farris. A statement said it will “redefine the cannabis experience” with a “high-end consumption lounge.”
“Whenever you’re seated within the consumption lounge, you’ll want to hand your phone to somebody and have them take a picture of you,” Farris said. “We think it’s part of our successes (that) we’ve spent a lot of resources making a beautiful facility. We want to show it off.”
MM Development Co., which owns Planet 13, was one of the first companies granted a conditional license in June for a consumption lounge by the Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board. It was also part of the initial 40 companies issued a prospective license in November 2022. In order to get a conditional license, the prospective license holders needed to submit all necessary documents—including a safety plan to deter driving under the influence—for a suitability investigation by the board.
Before receiving final licensure, board agents must conduct a final inspection of the facilities. Only after the final inspection will lounges be allowed to open. Lounges also have to follow any local ordinances and receive approval from local jurisdictions, compliance board officials said.
In 2016, voters in Nevada approved Question 2, which paved the way for legal recreational marijuana use at private residences. It officially went into effect on January 1, 2017, and counties within the state have since been updating their own rules on the drug and consumption lounges.
The Clark County Commission last December voted 6-1 in favor of allowing cannabis consumption lounges.
“I honestly view cannabis as part of the Las Vegas experience for tourism,” Commissioner Tick Segerblom said in a previous interview with the Las Vegas Sun. “You can come here, you can buy it, but you can’t use it, which I think is crazy.”
One cannabis consumption lounge, a tasting room operated by the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe at NuWu Cannabis Marketplace, already exists on tribal land north of Downtown. Another company, Thrive Cannabis Marketplace, was granted a conditional license in June, and expects to have its consumption lounge open on Sammy Davis Jr. Drive by December.
Planet 13’s Dazed Lounge will be one of the first to arrive in Clark County outside of tribal land, Farris noted.
“We’re thrilled to share our exciting plans for our trailblazing cannabis consumption lounge,” Larry Scheffler, co-CEO of Planet 13, said in a statement. “From day one, our goal has been to out-Vegas Vegas, and this is another big step in that direction. It’s an extraordinary space for cannabis novices, connoisseurs, tourists and locals to enjoy cannabis while experiencing world-class entertainment.”
Farris said Planet 13 has been working closely with the state and county to ensure the company understand the regulations, but it’s been “a learning process for everybody.”
Getting to this point was an uphill battle for companies like Planet 13. While Las Vegas voted to allow consumption lounges within city limits back in 2019, Clark County was more hesitant.
Concerns over the strong smell of marijuana—especially on the Las Vegas Strip—and people attempting to drive inebriated after spending time at lounges were discussed in depth at county commission meetings last year.
Farris said Planet 13’s safety plan has already been submitted, and the company is working on finding ways to ensure consumption lounge visitors get home or to their hotels safely.
With Trece Eatery & Spirits, the staff at Planet 13 already has some experience with identifying people who have consumed too much. Moreover, the company’s reliance on rideshare and taxis could be the saving grace.
The “vast majority of (Planet 13) customers” don’t drive there, instead opting to take a taxi, use rideshare applications or hop on the company’s free shuttles that pace the Strip, said Farris.
In fact, so many customers rely on other drivers that the company installed a rideshare and taxi lounge with resources like restrooms for drivers, Farris added.
Using the Planet 13 shuttle and these alternative ride sources are a large part of Planet 13’s safety plan for the lounge.
“It’s a work in progress, and I think (we) will be one of the first to kind of go through it, but it takes a village, I think, to spot people who may have over-consumed and make sure that they get home safely,” Farris said.
As for now, Farris and the Planet 13 team are aiming to get Dazed up and running by April 20.
“It’s taken a long time to get to this point, a lot of effort,” Farris said. “We want to really change the industry. We want to change the way people look at cannabis and I think this is just us following through on that vision.”
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