Foxwoods Resort Casino could soon hold a unexampled amenity, allowing locals and guests to de jure purchase and consume marijuana.

Connecticut legalized medical marihuana inward 2012. The tell expanded ganja employment to recreational forms earlier this twelvemonth when Gov. Ned Lamont (D) in June signed Senate Bill 1201.

Adults inward Connecticut River are now allowed to possess up to 1.5 ounces of marijuana piece inwards public, and upward to V ounces if securely contained at their home. Beginning July 1, 2023, Nutmeg State residents testament also be permitted to raise as many as VI hemp plants indoors.

For now, residents must purchase their weed from a licensed dispensary. Such retail establishments aren’t expected to clear until next year, but single such location is expected nigh Foxwoods. Nutmeg State is place to II big tribal casino resorts, Mohegan Sun being the other property.

According to Leafly, an online resource for cannabis, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation is planning to opened a ganja dispensary to a lesser extent than a half-mile from its Foxwoods casino.

“The dispensary, which could clear as ahead of time as the spring, testament live located to a lesser extent than a half-mile from the gambling casino holiday resort — adding to the Mashantucket Pequots’ portfolio of nearby tourer attractions that include a golf course, picture show theater, retail shopping mall, triple of spas, and dozens of restaurants,” revealed Leafly’s Chris Kudialis, a Las Vegas-based marihuana journalist.

Tribal Casinos Less Restricted

Commercial casinos inwards the United States must remain far aside from marijuana. Cannabis remains a Schedule 1 narcotic on the federal level — the same categorization as diacetylmorphine and LSD. Licensed commercial casinos are required to stick to to the highest degree federal laws, including those relating to illegal drugs.

Tribal casinos that run on supreme dry land are afforded fewer regulations. Being independent governments, recognised Native American tribes doh not need to adhere to say orders, nor sure federal laws.

The US governing has an underlying declaration with the tribal nations that the tribes possess unalienable powers of sovereignty,” the Southeastern OK State University explains.

The US Justice Department announced in tardily 2013 that it would non interfere with a state’s wishes to decriminalise marijuana, either medicinally or recreationally. That, along with Connecticut allowing adult-use weed, and Foxwoods is reportedly readying to get a dispensary to its 1,250-acre qualification inward Southeastern Connecticut.

Market Competition

A marihuana dispensary near Foxwoods Resort Casino testament present the tribal destination yet another vantage o'er its competition inwards nearby Massachusetts. Though MA also has medical and recreational marijuana, being commercial-grade enterprises, Encore Hub of the Universe Harbor, MGM Springfield, and Plainridge Mungo Park must persist in to manoeuvre crystalize of weed.

Recreational marijuana usage in Massachusetts Bay Colony is also special to common soldier residences. Consuming inward public places, including hotel rooms, is prohibited. That isn’t the typesetter's case inward Connecticut, where its full general rein regarding cannabis economic consumption is that it tin live smoked or vaped anywhere cigarettes are permitted.

Connecticut’s ii tribal casinos — Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun — have seen their expansion slot machine gross gaming revenue gradually wane over the yesteryear 15 years because of commercial-grade casinos continuing to spread out crosswise New England. But with the recent legalization of marijuana, plus iGaming and sports betting, the tribes go for to reversal that trend.