Here's your Forbes Daily Briefing for Saturday, June 21st.

Today on Forbes, why Las Vegas casinos won't gamble on cannabis.

In June 2023, real estate entrepreneur Alexander Risk opened the Lexi on West Sahara Avenue,

just off the Las Vegas Strip, as Sin City's first

cannabis-friendly hotel. The 46-year-old risk thought he had a, quote, genius, million-dollar idea.

Smoking weed is only allowed on the Lexi's fourth floor, where every room is outfitted with

air filters, and every suite is numbered 420.

The Lexi was the second Cannabis-friendly Hotel Risk had opened after the Clarendon in Phoenix, Arizona,

and he had ambitious plans to expand his Wheat Hotel concept under his Elevations brand across the West,

from California to Oregon, and become the so-called Kempton of cannabis.

Risk soon realized that being cannabis-friendly was not really an edge in Las Vegas.

While cannabis consumption is officially banned in casinos and on the strip, enforcement is very

lax.

Risk says many well-known properties turn a blind eye to their patrons

vaping and other pot use. Within five months of launching the Lexi, Risk knew he had made a mistake,

his occupancy topped out at 30%, and he started losing bids to host weddings and other group

events to competitors who don't cater to cannabis consumers.

Risk sold the Clarendon and is in the process of rebranding the Lexi.

After he stopped advertising the property as cannabis-friendly, occupancy jumped 15%.

Risk had personally invested $5 million into the 64-room Adults-only Hotel, which he bought with other investors

for $12 million in 2022. He says, quote,

Unfortunately, this venture could cost me my entire career. It brings a stigma to the property

...