May 6, 2022 • 30 mins
Local business DJ Trivia has for nearly a decade been hosting games at local bars. But the City of Reno recently decided those games qualify as live entertainment.
As a result, a handful of bars have been forced to quit hosting the games – or get an expensive cabaret license.
In this episode we hear from two of the business owners impacted by the city’s recent crackdown on trivia games.
Also: The recent leak of a U.S. Supreme Court draft ruling could overturn the longstanding Roe v. Wade decision that gave women the right to choose to have an abortion.
The potential change to Roe v. Wade drew swift rebuke in Reno as dozens gathered at the federal courthouse to express their outrage. We chat with the ACLU’s Holly Welborn and Lilith Baran to talk about what the potential overhaul will mean for Nevadans
Speaking of the ACLU, the civil liberties organization recently sued the state of Nevada for continuing to list cannabis as a schedule 1 controlled substance. That listing by Nevada’s board of pharmacy, according to the ACLU, violates the Nevada Constitution in part because the state has legalized cannabis for recreational and medicinal use.
Sadmira Ramic with the ACLU explains the reason for the lawsuit.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Unknown (00:00):
Well, two weeks right before our nine year
anniversary, on April 1, Ireceived a quote courtesy call
for someone from the city ofReno business and licensing
office, letting me know that DJtrivia is now considered live
entertainment, and that severalof my locations do not have the
(00:24):
cabaret license and since theyare now defining us as live
entertainment, that they neededto cease activities and apply
for and wait until they receivethe proper licensing before we
can continue games.
Local Business deejay trivia hasfor nearly a decade been hosting
(00:45):
games at local bars. But thecity of Reno recently decided
those games qualify as liveentertainment. As a result, a
handful of bars have been forcedto either quit hosting the Games
or to get an expensive cabaretlicense.
We've seen our nightlyWednesday, sales have gone down
(01:05):
on the average of $600 whichisn't good, especially for our
employees. Their tips have beencut in half and actually we're
gonna have to lay for notscheduled somebody. You only
have one person doing aWednesday now because there's no
need for that since we don'thave DJ trivia.
(01:26):
On Bob Conrad, your host of thethis is Reno radio show and
podcast. We are broadcasting onkW NK community radio in Reno at
97.7 FM as well as on all majorpodcast apps.
(01:46):
On today's show, we hear fromtwo of the business owners
impacted by the city's recentcrackdown on trivia games. But
first the recent leak of a USSupreme Court draft ruling could
overturn the long standing Roe vWade decision that gave women
the right to choose to have anabortion.
(02:14):
potential change to Roe v Wadedrew swift rebuke in Reno as
dozens gathered at the federalcourthouse to express their
outrage. I caught up with theACLU is Holly Wellborn and low
with Baron to talk about whatthe potential overhaul will mean
for Nevadans.
You know, the United StatesSupreme Court someone leaked an
opinion draft for a case thatcame out of Mississippi that
(02:38):
will essentially overalloverturn Roe vs. Wade, which has
protected abortion rights in theUnited States for over 50 years.
It's the first time in UShistory that the Supreme Court
has actually taken away a right.
So you know, a lot of people inneed of abortion care are very
afraid. And a lot of people aretalking about what this means
(02:58):
for all of the rest of theprivacy protections that protect
a whole other host of privacyrights that we enjoy as a result
of that Genesis of case law.
Nevada, fortunately, in theearly 90s, Nevada overwhelmingly
voted to affirm our abortionstatute. We use a process that
(03:20):
we're you know, a firm thatstatute and so in order to
change it, it has to go to thevoters the legislature is not
able to unilaterally make anychanges to abortion. So we do
have the protected right tochoose in this state. It you
know, it's always fragile, likelook at what we're seeing all
across the country. You know, wehave to continue to fight for
for that. Right. And but ofcourse, that's not where it
(03:43):
ends, we still have trouble withpeople accessing abortion care
in the state of Nevada, there isnowhere in rural Nevada to
receive an abortion, whetherit's medication, abortion, or
procedural abortion care,Lily Baron is also with the ACLU
of Nevada.
We think back on other SupremeCourt decisions, those are
(04:03):
things like interracialmarriage, you know, some really
serious progress that we've madeas a country. So this is not
just an attack on women. This isa religious group of white
supremacist that want to makedecisions about other people
whom they deem inferior.
(04:30):
Speaking of the ACLU, the civilliberties organization recently
sued the state of Nevada forcontinuing to list cannabis as a
Schedule One controlledsubstance. That listing by the
Nevada's Board of Pharmacy,according to the ACLU violates
the Nevada constitution in partbecause the state has legalized
cannabis for both recreationaland medicinal use. I spoke with
(04:52):
one of the ACL US attorneysabout the lawsuit.
Sure My name is submittedhomage. So I'm an attorney with
the ACE So you have Nevada basedhere out of Las Vegas. I am the
voting rights attorneyprimarily. But I also work in
other areas, depending ondifferent cases and interests we
have. And I also work with mycolleagues in different cases as
(05:16):
well.
Tell me about the most recentlitigation that you filed
regarding cannabis and how it'sclassified at the state level.
So the ACLU has filed for apetition for writ of mandamus
against the state of Nevada,particularly the Nevada Board of
Pharmacy, because they havefailed to remove cannabis from
(05:38):
its list of schedule onesubstances even though cannabis
was legalized medically andrecreationally in Nevada. If you
look back in 2001, that's whenmedical cannabis was legalized.
And at that point in time, theNevada Constitution was amended
recognizing the medical value ofcannabis. And it also required
(06:01):
that it'd be distributed toindividuals with certain
illnesses. And if you fastforward over a decade later, in
2017, recreational cannabis waslegalized. And this was
primarily because Nevada votersno longer wanted government
resources to be used toprosecute cannabis related
offenses. And they wantedprofiling cannabis to be treated
(06:24):
in the same manner as alcohol.
And we filed this case, becausethere's a loophole exists
because cannabis is stillclassified as a schedule one
substance in Nevada. And it'smy understanding that well, let
me just ask, does that followthe federal designation of
cannabis as a clock beingclassified as a scheduled one
(06:47):
there as well.
So under federal laws, socannabis is scheduled as a
Schedule One Substance underfederal regulations. However,
Nevada has its separateregulatory with the Nevada Board
of Pharmacy. So the Nevada Boardof Pharmacy is the one that
(07:07):
schedules substances here inNevada. And they are the ones
that determine whether or notwant to schedule the substance,
and then to whether or not thatsubstance is put it within a
certain category. So whetherit's 1234 or five,
and what what do you think isthe reason why the board has not
(07:31):
updated its regulations? Is itwillful? Is it they just haven't
thought about it? Have you beenfighting this battle for a long
time? What what's happeningthere? You know, I
don't know why, um, I can'treally speak to as to why they
did certain things, you know, Ihave not spoken with them
directly. Regarding this issue,I do think it's a pretty well
(07:55):
known fact, here in Nevada, thatballs have been passed
legalizing marijuana,recreationally and medically.
So, you know, I don't have ananswer as to why they are doing
this. But I don't see how theywould not know in regards to the
changes in the laws.
And I noticed in your writ thatsome people are still being
(08:17):
prosecuted for possession ofcannabis in Nevada, despite it
being illegal. It sounds likethat's part of what you're
trying to address. Is that fairto say?
Oh, yeah, most certainly. So ifyou look in the reason, and the
way that we phrase that phrase,it is that we have this
loophole. So everyone thinks,yes, we have passed. We have
(08:39):
legalized marijuanarecreationally. They have
legalized marijuana medically,you know, we have nothing else
to do. But this loophole stillexists because we have cannabis
is classified as a schedule onesubstance. And some of Nevada's
laws rely on the scheduling whenthey criminalize certain
behaviors as it relates to that.
So you have instances wherepolice officers and prosecutors
(09:05):
are using those laws to chargepeople who are possessing
cannabis. And I can give you anexample, if that would help put
it in perspective. I knowsometimes it can be kind of
convoluted and in terms of howit exactly plays out. So as an
(09:25):
example, would help youunderstand the better I can give
you that as well. Yes, please.
So for example, right now, underNevada law, it is illegal to
possess a controlled substanceand it's a felony to possess for
(09:45):
sale, a controlled substance asa schedule one substance. So
given that that's illegal,police officers will charge
individuals with possession of acontrolled set Since for sale if
they possess marijuana. So anexample that I could give you
is, let's say that I purchasemarijuana and go to the
(10:13):
dispensary. I purchase it. Andat that point in time, I go to a
share that marijuana with afriend. And in return, they're
like, Okay, you spend $10 onthis and for sharing that I will
give you $5 That individual andpolice officers are charging
this can be charged withpossession of a controlled
(10:34):
substance for sale because theyhave marijuana. And I think the
big thing that needs to behighlighted with this is that
when when marijuana waslegalized recreationally in
2017, in the ballot initiative,and Nevada voters specifically
(10:54):
put this in there and voted onit, they indicated that they
wanted marijuana to be treatedthe same way as alcohol. So that
was the reason behind him. Theydidn't want resources spent on
prosecuting these cannabisrelated offenses. And it's most
certainly not being treated inthe same way as alcohol. If I
(11:15):
was to go and purchase beer at astore, and then go to my
friend's house, and you know,split the six pack with them,
and they're like, Hey, you spent$10 on the song, give me $5, I
would never be charged with afelony offense for doing that.
So I think that's a bigdifference. That that that's an
issue here now.
Yeah, how often is thathappening, that people are still
(11:37):
being prosecuted for cannabis,either possession or sale
or whatever?
You know, I don't know the exactstatistics on it on it. But I
can tell you that it ishappening in different ways.
It's not this example I gave youis not only one of the examples,
you know, if another examplewould be if, if I have, for
(12:03):
example, I go and I purchasecannabis from the dispensary.
And I want two different kindsof different types of weed. And
I have those two in separatebags or separate containers, and
I get pulled over. And thepolice officer determines Hey,
because this isn't two separatecontainers, it's an indication
of a sale. And that's when theycharged people with possession
(12:26):
of a controlled substance forsale. And that's a Class D
felony. And so I don't have theexact statistics of how many
people are being charged.
Particularly because sometimeswhen they're charged with
possession of a controlledsubstance, they don't specify
that it's marijuana, becauseit's any controlled substance,
including meth and heroin. Soyou have people being charged
with Class A felonies forpossessing cannabis, the same
(12:46):
way that they're being chargedwith possessing meth and heroin.
And it's an issueand do you think with your risk
that you will achieve oressentially help eliminate
disability for law enforcementto charge people for that? Is
that your end goal? Basically?
(13:08):
That is the end goal, becausewhat we're asking the court to
find is that the classificationof cannabis and its derivatives
are violates the Nevadaconstitution, particularly
because of that constitutionsays yes, cannabis does have
medical value. And yes, you dohave to distribute it to
individuals who have certainillnesses. And then we're also
(13:29):
asking the court to compel theState Board of Pharmacy to
remove cannabis from the list ofschedule one substances. So
police officers and prosecutorscan no longer rely on that
statute that states thatreferences the controlled
substances.
Great. Well, thank you so much.
Is there anything else that youwould like to add that that we
can maybe use for the story?
(13:52):
I think it's just very importantto highlight that. Nevada has
come a long way todecriminalized cannabis, and to
kind of roll back the harmscaused by the war on drugs. And
yet, we still have this loopholebeing used by prosecutors and by
police officers to chargeindividuals with felonies. And
(14:13):
they're essentially acting as ifthey know about agenda voters
who actually elected them inindividuals are being arrested,
they're being held in jail.
They're dealing with the conceptconsequences of having a felony
on their record, because theypossess cannabis while the state
and business is profiting fromits sale. And you know, this is
just wrong and it'sunconstitutional. And we hope
(14:33):
that by filing this lawsuit andby having cannabis and
derivatives, and if the root isremoved from the list, it will
it will solve the issue and itwill actually achieve what
Nevada voters and people to livein the state wanted to see
happen.
(14:57):
trivia games according to thecity over You know are
classified as liveentertainment. And as such local
bars must have an expensivecabaret license in order to host
trivia games. Vicki must he ownsDJ trivia which hosts such
games. She's been in thebusiness since 2013. But in
April, the city cracked down onboth her business and the bars
(15:19):
where she hosts trivia.
Well, two weeks right before ournine year anniversary, on April
1, I received a quote courtesycall for someone from the city
of Reno business and licensingoffice, letting me know that DJ
trivia is now considered a liveentertainment. And that several
(15:42):
of my locations do not have thecabaret license. And since they
are now defining us as liveentertainment, that they needed
to cease activities and applyfor and wait until they receive
the proper licensing before wecan continue games. So we're
(16:02):
about three quarters of the waythrough our league season for
this year. And it affected sevenof my existing clients as well
as the client that was slated tostart on the first Tuesday of
the month. Well, from what I cantell, they decided to reclassify
us, and I can only assume it'sbecause of budget shortfalls due
(16:26):
to COVID. And, and it is aninteresting coincidence, if you
will, but I happen to get thecall on April 1. reading between
the lines, it feels likesomebody was sitting in a queue
one budget meeting, and wastrying to figure out what they
could do to generate morerevenue. Their official
statement, though, said thatthey had been receiving
(16:47):
complaints. I don't know exactlywhat that means. And I have
submitted a public recordsrequest to try to find out what
those complaints are or worse,and how that affects
us. In fact, it was one businessthat drew complaints. But it
soundslike because we are an organized
business, that it was just aneasy thing to go through my
(17:09):
website and find all of our listof games where we were running
trivia leagues and say, Nope,this one needs the license. This
one needs a license. And thedomino effect has been really
painful and unfortunate.
I asked Vicki, how many barswere impacted. Three of them had
to stop. Others were able to,you know, scratch together the
(17:33):
money and go in and pay thefees. But some of especially the
smaller ones, they can't justifyin the neighborhood of $5,000,
when they're still barelyrecovered, you know, from the
two years of COVID impact. Andfrankly, those kind of ease seem
really high for tiny little barsthat are just trying to run a 90
(17:54):
minute game once a week. I thinkit's completely different than,
you know, concerts or bands orthings like that. There are a
few that I think are operatingwithin a gray area. And I know
everybody's trying to do whatthey think is right. And I don't
want to get anyone in trouble.
What changed?
One of the things they told meon the phone, when I asked the
(18:17):
why question that what changed,they said it was because my host
who's organizing the games usesa microphone. And that is why
they weren't determining it andlabeling it as live
entertainment instead of a game.
So I actually have a couple ofplaces that have changed formats
and are doing a DJ bingo game,because we can do that one
(18:39):
without a microphone. But again,not they're not they're afraid
to promoted on social media.
They don't know of bingos andall of a sudden be you know, oh,
no, you can't do that either.
And, but we're just, you know,scrambling to try to find
something to fill the need formidweek programming to help
encourage people to come out andspend money at these smaller
(19:03):
businesses on slower weeknights.
But but also that doesn't reallyhelp the people that have been
so loyal to their teams andtheir leagues that are wanting
to you know, qualify for for theplayoffs. The end of may do have
some games in Spark, thankfullythat we're not affected. We're
(19:23):
expanding out into Fernley, butreally my heart aches for the
clients that we've been workingwith that all of a sudden we're
thrown yet another hurdle. Youknow, I was talking with Brett
from The 395 this morning. Andhe said that their their income
on their sales on Wednesdaynight is down by two thirds
(19:48):
since they've had to stoptrivia, which for them means
they had to cut staff. They wentfrom two bartenders working to
just one that means that herincome is dramatically affected
because her tips are less. AndI've seen the same thing at
brewers cabinet. When you know,even though they tried to switch
to a different game they hadthey quit promoting it on social
(20:09):
media. And they went from 80players for trivia on average on
a Thursday night to, you know,45 the first week to about 20
Last week, because they can'tpromote.
City officials said the changewas driven by a complaint
against a business hostingtrivia nights. But Vicki said
(20:29):
her complaints have not beenconsidered. She's emailed the
city spoken during publiccomment at a city council
meeting. And the city hasdoubled down on requiring
cabaret licenses.
It seems like every person weask at the city, they dig their
heels in deeper and say, Nope,this is the way it is. And I
think the part that hurts themost is I'm seeing the ripple
(20:53):
effect. It's this is not justabout my business, although it
obviously affects me and myhusband and our family, and our
ability to take care of our kidsand our bills, and the money
that we spend here in ourcommunity where we live and
work. It affects my employeeswho have lost their shifts, and
that affects their ability topay their bills and their
(21:16):
ability to continue to spendmoney in that community. But the
impact it's having on ourclients, who are the bars and
restaurants that are strugglingto just bring people back and
literally just still in recoverymode, financially, dealing with
some labor and staffingshortages, but just really
(21:38):
trying to recover. And it's justreally sad to me. And I think
that the domino effect of fewerpeople going out on these
weeknights, and spending moneyat these places, is going to
affect other revenue streamslike sales tax, and, you know,
the people that are no longergetting paid for those nights
and are we're all spending lessmoney because we have less money
(22:00):
coming in. So there's somethingabout this decision. That seems
very counterproductive to me.
And I'm not an economic expert,but it doesn't make sense to
continue to swatch smallbusinesses. And the fact that
Rena was the only city left inNevada that still has a cabaret
license requirements. It's it'san outdated thing. It was
(22:23):
designed to target smallbusinesses so that the casinos
could have less competition. Itdoesn't make any sense. Now,
these are businesses thatalready paid for a liquor
license and already paid. I'vedone all of their zoning fees.
You know, they already havetheir business licenses. You
know, why does it matter thatthey're running a trivia League?
(22:46):
Bret Schafer is co owner of 395craft beer and spirits in the
north valleys, his pub open justprior to the pandemic.
We had DJ trivia every Wednesdaynight for the last three years
and I know they've been inbusiness the last nine years.
And it was last month or earlierthis month, late last month that
(23:09):
the city of Reno came in and letthe business trivia people know
Vicky that we can no longer doDJ trivia because they fall
under live entertainment now. Iguess I was told by the city of
Reno and Ashley tourney, thatthey have always fell under this
(23:30):
and that there was a complaintabout DJ trivia. And that's what
brought this up. And now I knoweight bars that are not doing
it. But of those eight fiveshave now applied for getting a
cabaret license. The cabaretlicense aren't very cheap. There
(23:50):
was $3,731 for conditional usepermit a minor so you'd have to
be done by 9pm each night. Thatwould include other things with
your live entertainment. BesidesDJ trivia, you get music and
karaoke. Or you can get one thatyou can go past nine o'clock and
(24:14):
that one is almost $400 more andyou have to be seen by the city
of Reno which takes up some timeto
he said that he has lost 1000sof dollars because of the city's
recent decisionwith us ourselves. We've seen
our our nightly Wednesday. Saleshave gone down on the average of
(24:38):
$600 which isn't good,especially for our employees.
Their tips have been cut in halfand actually we're going to have
to lay for not scheduledsomebody. You only have one
person doing a Wednesday nowbecause there's no need for that
since we don't have DJ triviaAnd besides that, the another
(25:00):
financial issue of with DJ nothaving DJ trivia as we have four
food places in the center, andevery Wednesday, everybody gets
some food from these places andcome over. So now their sales
have decreased. And along withhaving to cut back on shifts and
(25:22):
not enough, the tips are cut inhalf now, these employees don't
have enough money to go out andspin in, out and about in the
city.
Schafer said the city's decisionactually negatively impacts
local governments in lostrevenues to the tune of 10s of
1000s of dollars.
(25:42):
Besides just you know, you cancomplain about stuff. But I was
like, Well, why can't we dothings like maybe those eight
businesses can have begrandfathered in, or, you know,
a license a cabaret license,sitting cost the same for a 1200
square foot bar as a casino.
$4,000 for a small bar is a lotcompared to $4,000 for a casino.
(26:04):
So maybe they could start doingit by square footage. When you
have to buy the license, ormaybe they categorize these a
trivia under League and not liveentertainment. Or maybe give us
some more time, we just got outof the pandemic, within two
(26:25):
months that we've been fullyopen without any restrictions at
all. And already we're gettingstuff taken away. And if you do
the math, this is going to beit's going to be $191 A quarter
times of eight, we're talkingabout, you know, $6,100 for the
year, we're going to lose out onalmost $32,000 in sales. So the
(26:52):
sales tax, that's $2,600. That'sjust us. So if you multiply that
even the by eight those now thecounty, I don't know how
Washington County feels notgetting $21,000 in tax revenue
over $6,100. At the beginning,it's going to be more because if
it's about $4,000, just to getthis license. So that's 32,000
(27:14):
in the year plus your 6100.
You're you're talking 38,000.
And that's just the first yearthat the city will get but then
after that it's $61. Well, thecounty doesn't get 21,000. And
then now the state of taxation.
(27:36):
Right now, I don't have anemployee that's working on
Wednesday night, and the tipsare cut in half. So now that's
less taxes going out foremployee taxes.
Yeah. So you're saying that bysuddenly finding this regulation
to enforce the government itselfis now going to lose revenue?
(28:00):
Direct and indirect?
Yeah, to do the whole, if youstart from the state level and
work your way down, it just it'sthat old saying stepping over $1
to save a penny. Right. And ifthe city is in such a bad spot
where $40,000 is gonna breakthem, you know, I get going
(28:20):
forward. So that's why that waskind of like, yeah, maybe we
grandfathered in. And if youread the statutes, it doesn't
fall underneath the city ofReno, what, what they defined
for live entertainment, it'llfall under the neath the state.
It says that if you have liveTV, and or live sporting events,
(28:44):
so are we going to just keepopening up, just peeling back
these layers and next thing youknow, everybody's gonna have to
have one of these. We were toldby this, the city that we say
they're not enforcing that,well, I'm probably cutting off
my own head but it's like, well,you can't pick and choose what
you're going to force youenforce it all you don't enforce
it at all.
(29:05):
Schaefer said the process to getthe license is both cumbersome
and expensive.
A lot of businesses will go upin an uproar if they had to get
rid of live entertain as livesports without having this
license. And then it could takethree to six months to to get
this license after you pay forit. You have to wait until you
(29:27):
you get heard by the citydepending on which one you get
if you get the reminder youdon't have to but let's say you
have a sports bar that's 24hours. They're gonna just turn
off the TVs at nine it's just alittle bit more than just DJ
trivia and I need to pay to youknow a couple more years. Now
(29:48):
this falls under it now thisfalls under it
or this is Reno I am Bob Conrad.
Please Visit us online at thisas reno.com
Well, two weeks right before our nine year
anniversary, on April 1, Ireceived a quote courtesy call
for someone from the city ofReno business and licensing
office, letting me know that DJtrivia is now considered live
entertainment, and that severalof my locations do not have the
(00:24):
cabaret license and since theyare now defining us as live
entertainment, that they neededto cease activities and apply
for and wait until they receivethe proper licensing before we
can continue games.
Local Business deejay trivia hasfor nearly a decade been hosting
(00:45):
games at local bars. But thecity of Reno recently decided
those games qualify as liveentertainment. As a result, a
handful of bars have been forcedto either quit hosting the Games
or to get an expensive cabaretlicense.
We've seen our nightlyWednesday, sales have gone down
(01:05):
on the average of $600 whichisn't good, especially for our
employees. Their tips have beencut in half and actually we're
gonna have to lay for notscheduled somebody. You only
have one person doing aWednesday now because there's no
need for that since we don'thave DJ trivia.
(01:26):
On Bob Conrad, your host of thethis is Reno radio show and
podcast. We are broadcasting onkW NK community radio in Reno at
97.7 FM as well as on all majorpodcast apps.
(01:46):
On today's show, we hear fromtwo of the business owners
impacted by the city's recentcrackdown on trivia games. But
first the recent leak of a USSupreme Court draft ruling could
overturn the long standing Roe vWade decision that gave women
the right to choose to have anabortion.
(02:14):
potential change to Roe v Wadedrew swift rebuke in Reno as
dozens gathered at the federalcourthouse to express their
outrage. I caught up with theACLU is Holly Wellborn and low
with Baron to talk about whatthe potential overhaul will mean
for Nevadans.
You know, the United StatesSupreme Court someone leaked an
opinion draft for a case thatcame out of Mississippi that
(02:38):
will essentially overalloverturn Roe vs. Wade, which has
protected abortion rights in theUnited States for over 50 years.
It's the first time in UShistory that the Supreme Court
has actually taken away a right.
So you know, a lot of people inneed of abortion care are very
afraid. And a lot of people aretalking about what this means
(02:58):
for all of the rest of theprivacy protections that protect
a whole other host of privacyrights that we enjoy as a result
of that Genesis of case law.
Nevada, fortunately, in theearly 90s, Nevada overwhelmingly
voted to affirm our abortionstatute. We use a process that
(03:20):
we're you know, a firm thatstatute and so in order to
change it, it has to go to thevoters the legislature is not
able to unilaterally make anychanges to abortion. So we do
have the protected right tochoose in this state. It you
know, it's always fragile, likelook at what we're seeing all
across the country. You know, wehave to continue to fight for
for that. Right. And but ofcourse, that's not where it
(03:43):
ends, we still have trouble withpeople accessing abortion care
in the state of Nevada, there isnowhere in rural Nevada to
receive an abortion, whetherit's medication, abortion, or
procedural abortion care,Lily Baron is also with the ACLU
of Nevada.
We think back on other SupremeCourt decisions, those are
(04:03):
things like interracialmarriage, you know, some really
serious progress that we've madeas a country. So this is not
just an attack on women. This isa religious group of white
supremacist that want to makedecisions about other people
whom they deem inferior.
(04:30):
Speaking of the ACLU, the civilliberties organization recently
sued the state of Nevada forcontinuing to list cannabis as a
Schedule One controlledsubstance. That listing by the
Nevada's Board of Pharmacy,according to the ACLU violates
the Nevada constitution in partbecause the state has legalized
cannabis for both recreationaland medicinal use. I spoke with
(04:52):
one of the ACL US attorneysabout the lawsuit.
Sure My name is submittedhomage. So I'm an attorney with
the ACE So you have Nevada basedhere out of Las Vegas. I am the
voting rights attorneyprimarily. But I also work in
other areas, depending ondifferent cases and interests we
have. And I also work with mycolleagues in different cases as
(05:16):
well.
Tell me about the most recentlitigation that you filed
regarding cannabis and how it'sclassified at the state level.
So the ACLU has filed for apetition for writ of mandamus
against the state of Nevada,particularly the Nevada Board of
Pharmacy, because they havefailed to remove cannabis from
(05:38):
its list of schedule onesubstances even though cannabis
was legalized medically andrecreationally in Nevada. If you
look back in 2001, that's whenmedical cannabis was legalized.
And at that point in time, theNevada Constitution was amended
recognizing the medical value ofcannabis. And it also required
(06:01):
that it'd be distributed toindividuals with certain
illnesses. And if you fastforward over a decade later, in
2017, recreational cannabis waslegalized. And this was
primarily because Nevada votersno longer wanted government
resources to be used toprosecute cannabis related
offenses. And they wantedprofiling cannabis to be treated
(06:24):
in the same manner as alcohol.
And we filed this case, becausethere's a loophole exists
because cannabis is stillclassified as a schedule one
substance in Nevada. And it'smy understanding that well, let
me just ask, does that followthe federal designation of
cannabis as a clock beingclassified as a scheduled one
(06:47):
there as well.
So under federal laws, socannabis is scheduled as a
Schedule One Substance underfederal regulations. However,
Nevada has its separateregulatory with the Nevada Board
of Pharmacy. So the Nevada Boardof Pharmacy is the one that
(07:07):
schedules substances here inNevada. And they are the ones
that determine whether or notwant to schedule the substance,
and then to whether or not thatsubstance is put it within a
certain category. So whetherit's 1234 or five,
and what what do you think isthe reason why the board has not
(07:31):
updated its regulations? Is itwillful? Is it they just haven't
thought about it? Have you beenfighting this battle for a long
time? What what's happeningthere? You know, I
don't know why, um, I can'treally speak to as to why they
did certain things, you know, Ihave not spoken with them
directly. Regarding this issue,I do think it's a pretty well
(07:55):
known fact, here in Nevada, thatballs have been passed
legalizing marijuana,recreationally and medically.
So, you know, I don't have ananswer as to why they are doing
this. But I don't see how theywould not know in regards to the
changes in the laws.
And I noticed in your writ thatsome people are still being
(08:17):
prosecuted for possession ofcannabis in Nevada, despite it
being illegal. It sounds likethat's part of what you're
trying to address. Is that fairto say?
Oh, yeah, most certainly. So ifyou look in the reason, and the
way that we phrase that phrase,it is that we have this
loophole. So everyone thinks,yes, we have passed. We have
(08:39):
legalized marijuanarecreationally. They have
legalized marijuana medically,you know, we have nothing else
to do. But this loophole stillexists because we have cannabis
is classified as a schedule onesubstance. And some of Nevada's
laws rely on the scheduling whenthey criminalize certain
behaviors as it relates to that.
So you have instances wherepolice officers and prosecutors
(09:05):
are using those laws to chargepeople who are possessing
cannabis. And I can give you anexample, if that would help put
it in perspective. I knowsometimes it can be kind of
convoluted and in terms of howit exactly plays out. So as an
(09:25):
example, would help youunderstand the better I can give
you that as well. Yes, please.
So for example, right now, underNevada law, it is illegal to
possess a controlled substanceand it's a felony to possess for
(09:45):
sale, a controlled substance asa schedule one substance. So
given that that's illegal,police officers will charge
individuals with possession of acontrolled set Since for sale if
they possess marijuana. So anexample that I could give you
is, let's say that I purchasemarijuana and go to the
(10:13):
dispensary. I purchase it. Andat that point in time, I go to a
share that marijuana with afriend. And in return, they're
like, Okay, you spend $10 onthis and for sharing that I will
give you $5 That individual andpolice officers are charging
this can be charged withpossession of a controlled
(10:34):
substance for sale because theyhave marijuana. And I think the
big thing that needs to behighlighted with this is that
when when marijuana waslegalized recreationally in
2017, in the ballot initiative,and Nevada voters specifically
(10:54):
put this in there and voted onit, they indicated that they
wanted marijuana to be treatedthe same way as alcohol. So that
was the reason behind him. Theydidn't want resources spent on
prosecuting these cannabisrelated offenses. And it's most
certainly not being treated inthe same way as alcohol. If I
(11:15):
was to go and purchase beer at astore, and then go to my
friend's house, and you know,split the six pack with them,
and they're like, Hey, you spent$10 on the song, give me $5, I
would never be charged with afelony offense for doing that.
So I think that's a bigdifference. That that that's an
issue here now.
Yeah, how often is thathappening, that people are still
(11:37):
being prosecuted for cannabis,either possession or sale
or whatever?
You know, I don't know the exactstatistics on it on it. But I
can tell you that it ishappening in different ways.
It's not this example I gave youis not only one of the examples,
you know, if another examplewould be if, if I have, for
(12:03):
example, I go and I purchasecannabis from the dispensary.
And I want two different kindsof different types of weed. And
I have those two in separatebags or separate containers, and
I get pulled over. And thepolice officer determines Hey,
because this isn't two separatecontainers, it's an indication
of a sale. And that's when theycharged people with possession
(12:26):
of a controlled substance forsale. And that's a Class D
felony. And so I don't have theexact statistics of how many
people are being charged.
Particularly because sometimeswhen they're charged with
possession of a controlledsubstance, they don't specify
that it's marijuana, becauseit's any controlled substance,
including meth and heroin. Soyou have people being charged
with Class A felonies forpossessing cannabis, the same
(12:46):
way that they're being chargedwith possessing meth and heroin.
And it's an issueand do you think with your risk
that you will achieve oressentially help eliminate
disability for law enforcementto charge people for that? Is
that your end goal? Basically?
(13:08):
That is the end goal, becausewhat we're asking the court to
find is that the classificationof cannabis and its derivatives
are violates the Nevadaconstitution, particularly
because of that constitutionsays yes, cannabis does have
medical value. And yes, you dohave to distribute it to
individuals who have certainillnesses. And then we're also
(13:29):
asking the court to compel theState Board of Pharmacy to
remove cannabis from the list ofschedule one substances. So
police officers and prosecutorscan no longer rely on that
statute that states thatreferences the controlled
substances.
Great. Well, thank you so much.
Is there anything else that youwould like to add that that we
can maybe use for the story?
(13:52):
I think it's just very importantto highlight that. Nevada has
come a long way todecriminalized cannabis, and to
kind of roll back the harmscaused by the war on drugs. And
yet, we still have this loopholebeing used by prosecutors and by
police officers to chargeindividuals with felonies. And
(14:13):
they're essentially acting as ifthey know about agenda voters
who actually elected them inindividuals are being arrested,
they're being held in jail.
They're dealing with the conceptconsequences of having a felony
on their record, because theypossess cannabis while the state
and business is profiting fromits sale. And you know, this is
just wrong and it'sunconstitutional. And we hope
(14:33):
that by filing this lawsuit andby having cannabis and
derivatives, and if the root isremoved from the list, it will
it will solve the issue and itwill actually achieve what
Nevada voters and people to livein the state wanted to see
happen.
(14:57):
trivia games according to thecity over You know are
classified as liveentertainment. And as such local
bars must have an expensivecabaret license in order to host
trivia games. Vicki must he ownsDJ trivia which hosts such
games. She's been in thebusiness since 2013. But in
April, the city cracked down onboth her business and the bars
(15:19):
where she hosts trivia.
Well, two weeks right before ournine year anniversary, on April
1, I received a quote courtesycall for someone from the city
of Reno business and licensingoffice, letting me know that DJ
trivia is now considered a liveentertainment. And that several
(15:42):
of my locations do not have thecabaret license. And since they
are now defining us as liveentertainment, that they needed
to cease activities and applyfor and wait until they receive
the proper licensing before wecan continue games. So we're
(16:02):
about three quarters of the waythrough our league season for
this year. And it affected sevenof my existing clients as well
as the client that was slated tostart on the first Tuesday of
the month. Well, from what I cantell, they decided to reclassify
us, and I can only assume it'sbecause of budget shortfalls due
(16:26):
to COVID. And, and it is aninteresting coincidence, if you
will, but I happen to get thecall on April 1. reading between
the lines, it feels likesomebody was sitting in a queue
one budget meeting, and wastrying to figure out what they
could do to generate morerevenue. Their official
statement, though, said thatthey had been receiving
(16:47):
complaints. I don't know exactlywhat that means. And I have
submitted a public recordsrequest to try to find out what
those complaints are or worse,and how that affects
us. In fact, it was one businessthat drew complaints. But it
soundslike because we are an organized
business, that it was just aneasy thing to go through my
(17:09):
website and find all of our listof games where we were running
trivia leagues and say, Nope,this one needs the license. This
one needs a license. And thedomino effect has been really
painful and unfortunate.
I asked Vicki, how many barswere impacted. Three of them had
to stop. Others were able to,you know, scratch together the
(17:33):
money and go in and pay thefees. But some of especially the
smaller ones, they can't justifyin the neighborhood of $5,000,
when they're still barelyrecovered, you know, from the
two years of COVID impact. Andfrankly, those kind of ease seem
really high for tiny little barsthat are just trying to run a 90
(17:54):
minute game once a week. I thinkit's completely different than,
you know, concerts or bands orthings like that. There are a
few that I think are operatingwithin a gray area. And I know
everybody's trying to do whatthey think is right. And I don't
want to get anyone in trouble.
What changed?
One of the things they told meon the phone, when I asked the
(18:17):
why question that what changed,they said it was because my host
who's organizing the games usesa microphone. And that is why
they weren't determining it andlabeling it as live
entertainment instead of a game.
So I actually have a couple ofplaces that have changed formats
and are doing a DJ bingo game,because we can do that one
(18:39):
without a microphone. But again,not they're not they're afraid
to promoted on social media.
They don't know of bingos andall of a sudden be you know, oh,
no, you can't do that either.
And, but we're just, you know,scrambling to try to find
something to fill the need formidweek programming to help
encourage people to come out andspend money at these smaller
(19:03):
businesses on slower weeknights.
But but also that doesn't reallyhelp the people that have been
so loyal to their teams andtheir leagues that are wanting
to you know, qualify for for theplayoffs. The end of may do have
some games in Spark, thankfullythat we're not affected. We're
(19:23):
expanding out into Fernley, butreally my heart aches for the
clients that we've been workingwith that all of a sudden we're
thrown yet another hurdle. Youknow, I was talking with Brett
from The 395 this morning. Andhe said that their their income
on their sales on Wednesdaynight is down by two thirds
(19:48):
since they've had to stoptrivia, which for them means
they had to cut staff. They wentfrom two bartenders working to
just one that means that herincome is dramatically affected
because her tips are less. AndI've seen the same thing at
brewers cabinet. When you know,even though they tried to switch
to a different game they hadthey quit promoting it on social
(20:09):
media. And they went from 80players for trivia on average on
a Thursday night to, you know,45 the first week to about 20
Last week, because they can'tpromote.
City officials said the changewas driven by a complaint
against a business hostingtrivia nights. But Vicki said
(20:29):
her complaints have not beenconsidered. She's emailed the
city spoken during publiccomment at a city council
meeting. And the city hasdoubled down on requiring
cabaret licenses.
It seems like every person weask at the city, they dig their
heels in deeper and say, Nope,this is the way it is. And I
think the part that hurts themost is I'm seeing the ripple
(20:53):
effect. It's this is not justabout my business, although it
obviously affects me and myhusband and our family, and our
ability to take care of our kidsand our bills, and the money
that we spend here in ourcommunity where we live and
work. It affects my employeeswho have lost their shifts, and
that affects their ability topay their bills and their
(21:16):
ability to continue to spendmoney in that community. But the
impact it's having on ourclients, who are the bars and
restaurants that are strugglingto just bring people back and
literally just still in recoverymode, financially, dealing with
some labor and staffingshortages, but just really
(21:38):
trying to recover. And it's justreally sad to me. And I think
that the domino effect of fewerpeople going out on these
weeknights, and spending moneyat these places, is going to
affect other revenue streamslike sales tax, and, you know,
the people that are no longergetting paid for those nights
and are we're all spending lessmoney because we have less money
(22:00):
coming in. So there's somethingabout this decision. That seems
very counterproductive to me.
And I'm not an economic expert,but it doesn't make sense to
continue to swatch smallbusinesses. And the fact that
Rena was the only city left inNevada that still has a cabaret
license requirements. It's it'san outdated thing. It was
(22:23):
designed to target smallbusinesses so that the casinos
could have less competition. Itdoesn't make any sense. Now,
these are businesses thatalready paid for a liquor
license and already paid. I'vedone all of their zoning fees.
You know, they already havetheir business licenses. You
know, why does it matter thatthey're running a trivia League?
(22:46):
Bret Schafer is co owner of 395craft beer and spirits in the
north valleys, his pub open justprior to the pandemic.
We had DJ trivia every Wednesdaynight for the last three years
and I know they've been inbusiness the last nine years.
And it was last month or earlierthis month, late last month that
(23:09):
the city of Reno came in and letthe business trivia people know
Vicky that we can no longer doDJ trivia because they fall
under live entertainment now. Iguess I was told by the city of
Reno and Ashley tourney, thatthey have always fell under this
(23:30):
and that there was a complaintabout DJ trivia. And that's what
brought this up. And now I knoweight bars that are not doing
it. But of those eight fiveshave now applied for getting a
cabaret license. The cabaretlicense aren't very cheap. There
(23:50):
was $3,731 for conditional usepermit a minor so you'd have to
be done by 9pm each night. Thatwould include other things with
your live entertainment. BesidesDJ trivia, you get music and
karaoke. Or you can get one thatyou can go past nine o'clock and
(24:14):
that one is almost $400 more andyou have to be seen by the city
of Reno which takes up some timeto
he said that he has lost 1000sof dollars because of the city's
recent decisionwith us ourselves. We've seen
our our nightly Wednesday. Saleshave gone down on the average of
(24:38):
$600 which isn't good,especially for our employees.
Their tips have been cut in halfand actually we're going to have
to lay for not scheduledsomebody. You only have one
person doing a Wednesday nowbecause there's no need for that
since we don't have DJ triviaAnd besides that, the another
(25:00):
financial issue of with DJ nothaving DJ trivia as we have four
food places in the center, andevery Wednesday, everybody gets
some food from these places andcome over. So now their sales
have decreased. And along withhaving to cut back on shifts and
(25:22):
not enough, the tips are cut inhalf now, these employees don't
have enough money to go out andspin in, out and about in the
city.
Schafer said the city's decisionactually negatively impacts
local governments in lostrevenues to the tune of 10s of
1000s of dollars.
(25:42):
Besides just you know, you cancomplain about stuff. But I was
like, Well, why can't we dothings like maybe those eight
businesses can have begrandfathered in, or, you know,
a license a cabaret license,sitting cost the same for a 1200
square foot bar as a casino.
$4,000 for a small bar is a lotcompared to $4,000 for a casino.
(26:04):
So maybe they could start doingit by square footage. When you
have to buy the license, ormaybe they categorize these a
trivia under League and not liveentertainment. Or maybe give us
some more time, we just got outof the pandemic, within two
(26:25):
months that we've been fullyopen without any restrictions at
all. And already we're gettingstuff taken away. And if you do
the math, this is going to beit's going to be $191 A quarter
times of eight, we're talkingabout, you know, $6,100 for the
year, we're going to lose out onalmost $32,000 in sales. So the
(26:52):
sales tax, that's $2,600. That'sjust us. So if you multiply that
even the by eight those now thecounty, I don't know how
Washington County feels notgetting $21,000 in tax revenue
over $6,100. At the beginning,it's going to be more because if
it's about $4,000, just to getthis license. So that's 32,000
(27:14):
in the year plus your 6100.
You're you're talking 38,000.
And that's just the first yearthat the city will get but then
after that it's $61. Well, thecounty doesn't get 21,000. And
then now the state of taxation.
(27:36):
Right now, I don't have anemployee that's working on
Wednesday night, and the tipsare cut in half. So now that's
less taxes going out foremployee taxes.
Yeah. So you're saying that bysuddenly finding this regulation
to enforce the government itselfis now going to lose revenue?
(28:00):
Direct and indirect?
Yeah, to do the whole, if youstart from the state level and
work your way down, it just it'sthat old saying stepping over $1
to save a penny. Right. And ifthe city is in such a bad spot
where $40,000 is gonna breakthem, you know, I get going
(28:20):
forward. So that's why that waskind of like, yeah, maybe we
grandfathered in. And if youread the statutes, it doesn't
fall underneath the city ofReno, what, what they defined
for live entertainment, it'llfall under the neath the state.
It says that if you have liveTV, and or live sporting events,
(28:44):
so are we going to just keepopening up, just peeling back
these layers and next thing youknow, everybody's gonna have to
have one of these. We were toldby this, the city that we say
they're not enforcing that,well, I'm probably cutting off
my own head but it's like, well,you can't pick and choose what
you're going to force youenforce it all you don't enforce
it at all.
(29:05):
Schaefer said the process to getthe license is both cumbersome
and expensive.
A lot of businesses will go upin an uproar if they had to get
rid of live entertain as livesports without having this
license. And then it could takethree to six months to to get
this license after you pay forit. You have to wait until you
(29:27):
you get heard by the citydepending on which one you get
if you get the reminder youdon't have to but let's say you
have a sports bar that's 24hours. They're gonna just turn
off the TVs at nine it's just alittle bit more than just DJ
trivia and I need to pay to youknow a couple more years. Now
(29:48):
this falls under it now thisfalls under it
or this is Reno I am Bob Conrad.
Please Visit us online at thisas reno.com
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