As states consider legalizing sports betting and recreational marijuana, NACS wants to ensure that our industry is included in these potential new markets. To be clear, NACS is not advocating for or against legalizing these products, but where legalization is happening or likely to happen, we want to ensure that our industry has the right to choose whether to compete in these areas. The convenience retailing industry not only has one of the largest industry footprints but also a record of success in enforcing age-verification as responsible retailers.
Recreational Marijuana
Lately, opportunities have emerged in the recreational marijuana market. This market has grown out of a nearly nationwide push by state governments to allow marijuana use for medicinal purposes. More than 30 states allow some form of medicinal use of marijuana, and 11 have legalized some form of recreational marijuana as well. The problem for our industry is that all 11 states have restrictive laws on who can sell marijuana products. They tend to follow the dispensary model created in medicinal-only jurisdictions: If you retail marijuana products, you can’t sell anything unrelated. That’s what we’d like to see changed.
NACS has developed model licensing legislation that would allow states to determine the requirements for a license as long as sales aren’t restricted to one particular channel. The legislation doesn’t single out any one channel but would allow any retailer that wants to participate in this market to apply for a license from the state. Licensing fees and age-restriction requirements would be left to the individual state regulators to determine. Essentially, the legislation is modeled off of most states’ alcohol sales licensing with which our industry is very familiar.
The NACS government relations team, in coordination with state associations and retailers, has begun to pitch this licensing language as an addition to recreational marijuana legalization legislation that is moving in some states. One of our biggest challenges has been learning about a state’s legislation before it’s too far along in the process to influence the outcome. That is where you come in. If you find out that any of the states where you operate are considering legislation to legalize recreational marijuana, please reach out to Jon Taets, NACS director of government relations, at (703) 518-4224 or [email protected] to share information
Sports Betting
NACS also is undertaking a similar effort in the sports betting area. Last year, the Supreme Court decided that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) violated the 10th Amendment. The 6 to 3 opinion came in Murphy vs. National Collegiate Athletic Association, a case based on New Jersey allowing sports betting. PASPA originally became law in 1992, but the court decided last May that it was unconstitutional because the 10th Amendment reserves any authority not explicitly granted to the federal government via the Constitution to the states themselves. While this decision doesn’t automatically make sports betting legal everywhere in the United States, it does allow any state that wants to enact a sports betting statute to do so. It’s also important to note that it did not touch on the impact of the Wire Act, which prohibits all online gaming.
While the proverbial opening of the floodgates of states legalizing sports betting hasn’t fully come to fruition, it is something that states have been and will continue to look at as a way to raise revenue through licensing fees and taxation. Like legalized recreational marijuana, this is another market where we feel our industry should be allowed to participate. Several states, notably Nevada and Illinois, have allowed some form of gaming to take place in retail establishments for some time. This is something we would like to see continue should an individual retailer wish to partake.
NACS has developed model licensing legislation in this space as well. For sports gaming, the model envisions the convenience retailer partnering with an established brick-and-mortar casino to operate kiosk-style games in the store. The model would establish a two-tiered licensing system where the brick-and-mortar casino operator would obtain the gaming establishment license, and the retailer would obtain a retail sports betting establishment license. Much like the recreational marijuana model, most of the requirements and fees associated with these licenses would be left to the individual states to determine. There also is nothing in the model that would prohibit retailers from getting their own gaming establishment license.
NACS could use your help in identifying when states are looking to move toward legal sports betting. If you believe this is something your state legislators are considering, please let us know by contacting Jon Taets (contact information above).
With a national footprint of more than 153,000 retailers and a successful track record of responsible retailing, our industry is a natural partner as states look to raise revenue through these emerging markets. In many cases, we simply need to educate legislators who are driving these bills in their state capitols, and with your help, we can be successful.