Biloxi City Council Rejects Health-related Cannabis Dispensary Close to Beau Rivage
Posted on: September 9, 2022, 01:05h. 
Final updated on: September 9, 2022, 01:21h.
A Biloxi casino has won more than nearby city officials in its considering that Mississippi’s forthcoming health-related cannabis industry shouldn’t be permitted to open dispensaries close to the beachfront resorts.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) signed the state’s Medical Cannabis Act into law in February. The statute makes it possible for folks diagnosed with particular healthcare circumstances to obtain medical marijuana from a licensed cannabis dispensary.
The Mississippi Division of Revenue and Department of Wellness are handling dispensary applications and the issuance of licenses. To date, 10 companies in Harrison County, house to Biloxi, have received cannabis dispensing privileges.
Along with the state agencies, applicants must receive local approval prior to opening a medical cannabis dispensary. A single such applicant sought to open a marijuana facility directly across from MGM Resorts’ Beau Rivage Resort & Casino. The Biloxi City Council this week rejected that place following fielding opposition from the gaming house.
Casinos and Cannabis Do not Mix
Commercial casinos are essential to adhere to all federal laws. And with cannabis remaining a Schedule 1 narcotic on the federal level, casinos must remain far away from the expansion of legal marijuana use and states’ decriminalization of the plant.
The Gulf Coast is where the bulk of the Mississippi gaming industry’s annual income is realized. Of the nearly $two.67 billion won final year by the 26 casinos in the state, the 11 coastal casinos accounted for $1.six billion of the cash.
Beau Rivage is the Gulf Coast leader, and home Vice President and Common Counsel Anthony DelVescovo says legal marijuana sales shouldn’t be permitted in such close proximity to the MGM casino. Speaking before the Biloxi City Council this week, the MGM official urged the regional government to preserve healthcare cannabis dispensaries additional away from the resorts.
We do believe they [health-related cannabis dispensaries] belong in specific regions,” DelVescovo stated. But one particular of those regions, he explained, isn’t proper in front of the Beau Rivage.
Regional Biloxi businessman and restauranteur Field Nicaud is in search of to enter the state cannabis sector with a health-related dispensary on property he owns across Beach Boulevard from Beau Rivage. Nicaud at present runs the Fill-Up with Billups restaurant on the home.
MGM opposed the place of the proposed dispensary since it’s directly across from its casino and adjacent to MGM Park, residence of the Biloxi Shuckers Minor League Baseball team. DelVescovo told the council that the ballpark is loved ones-oriented, and persistent smells of cannabis would be a detriment to the encounter.
MGM Touts Community Value
Beau Rivage is Biloxi’s largest employer and largest taxpayer. MGM says its effect extends far beyond its resort walls. DelVescovo told the council that MGM spends $40 million to $50 million a year on advertising and marketing Mississippi’s Gulf Coast to travelers across the southern states.
Donovan Scruggs, an lawyer representing Nicaud, believes MGM successfully employed scare tactics to win more than the Biloxi City Council. Scruggs stated the state’s health-related marijuana program prohibits public consumption, meaning these worries with regards to cannabis odors don’t carry weight.
State lawmakers would need to pass additional laws in order to allow medical marijuana participants to consume their legal purchases anyplace other than in their private residences.