VegasChatter

A few things you should know about scoring weed in Vegas before you begin your mission: the weed in Vegas is extraordinarily good, as much of it comes in from California; the 702 weed is in good, cheap supply, as resort layoffs have created a vibrant, (literally) overgrown sellers market (think $50/an eighth, $100/a quarter, $150/a half ounce); finally, the weed in Vegas isn't that illegal: if you're over the age of 21, anything less than an ounce carries a $600 fine, and maybe some court-mandated drug treatment. That said, they can get you for up to six months for paraphernalia possession, but honestly, Vegas cops and courts have way more important shit to deal with than stoners. Just be discreet. Oh, and also, we're not endorsing the sale, purchasing, or smoking of weed, or doing anything illegal. Right. So:

1. Ask around, and not in casinos. Almost every major resort in town drug-tests employees, and in this delicate economy, none of them are going to risk their jobs over getting some tourist a bag of dope. But the service industry is known to partake in libations, as they work in them: check out clubs, bars, and restaurants not in resorts with looser vibes, especially ones around the UNLV campus (located a stone's throw from the Hard Rock Hotel, incidentally).

2. Follow the trail of head shops. You can buy some of the best bongs, vaporizers, pipes, chillums, and other weed-smokin' apparati in Vegas, bar none. But call a bong anything other than a "water pipe," and they'll kick your ass to the curb. Ask for weed, and they'll do the same. But check out some of the clientele: if you can convince some local hippies that (A) you're not a cop, man and (B) you're willing to cough up a significant finders' fee in order to secure some dank, you should be good to go. Places to start? Diversity, a tattoo/tobacco shop with several locations around the Valley. Again, the UNLV location is one of the better ones: located across the street from UNLV and a lesser-frequented In-N-Out Burger, among other stoner-happy places, there's no better ground-zero for Vegas stoners. But remember: it's a water pipe, NOT a bong.

3. Concerts. Does it look like a weed-smoker, talk like a weed-smoker, and rock out like a weed-smoker? Then yes: they partake. And there's often no better place than a good concert, especially reggae, hip hop, jam band rock, or any other kind of music that isn't, say, punk's sobriety, the whiskey-soaked nature of much metal, or the shoe-gazingly downcast gloom that is indie rock. Since you can still smoke indoors at some places, weed smoking is often turned away at, and fact, I may know someone who may have been sold weed by a D.O.P. (dealer on premises) at a hip hop show at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel recently. Just smell them out, literally. And don't ask for "grass" or "weed" or anything that make you sound anything remotely like a cop, man. "Hey, got any bud?" might be a good, casual place to start. This goes for the House of Blues at the Mandalay Bay, too. People in Vegas: love their concerts, love their weed at their concerts.

4. Friends. Just get some friends from L.A. to bring you some. They all know somebody with a Medical Marijuana card, which they're apparently giving away like after-dinner mints in Calfornia. Tell them you'll put them up for the night or something. And, heh, tell them to bring some of those weed lollipops. Nice and discreet.