When Washington became the first U.S. state to legalize recreational pot possession earlier this month, scores of Seattle residents gathered to celebrate by lighting up in public places across the city. But Seattle’s not alone when it comes to enjoying newly permitted vices: With more marijuana-legalization measures, a growing number of casinos and an increasing list of relaxed nightlife laws, new Sin Cities from St. Louis to Oakland are on track to give Vegas a run for its money.
In Seattle, the revelry over the Washington law followed voter approval of a ballot measure in November, allowing adults 21 and over to possess up to an ounce of pot. How it will be sold and regulated is still to be determined.
“It’s an anti-prohibition law,” says Rick Steves, the Edmonds, WA-based travel guru who was a co-sponsor of the marijuana reform law in Washington, though he says he’s not a pot smoker. “I just believe marijuana should be a civil liberty for responsible adults, and that it should be treated as an education and a health challenge rather than a criminal one. I inject a European sensibility into the issue.” Steves, whose Europe Through the Back Door now produces more than 50 travel guides, along with travel shows on public TV and radio, has been a board member of NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) since 2003. He sees Washington’s new law as just the beginning of a “rising tide of understanding” on the issue.
That seems to hold true in Colorado, where voters just approved a similar measure that goes into effect in January; that, combined with a strong and ever-growing casino culture bolstered by a 2009 law allowing high-stakes gambling, puts the state’s twin towns of Black Hawk and Central City—historic gold-mining spots that are back in the jackpot business—on our list.
St. Louis, MO, is also included, due to several pro-vice factors: A growing gambling scene that includes a Harrah’s and the newly expanded River City, along with a 2011 change in law that eased restrictions on problem gamblers by allowing those on the state’s lifetime ban list to remove themselves after five years. Missouri also has permissive alcohol laws, which allow, among other behaviors, public intoxication and drinking in cars by passengers.
In Oakland, CA, meanwhile, folks in need of weed can visit several medical-marijuana dispensaries, which operate under what are comparatively relaxed regulations and allow for treating a wide array of ailments. The city also has particularly lax nightlife laws, with later last-call hours and other eased-up particulars following a 2010 change to the local cabaret codes.
Finally, one city that’s already long famous for its sins—New York, NY—has made our list, but not for reasons you might think. This time, it’s for gambling, a growing business thanks to Aqueduct race track’s year-old Resorts World Casino, which is saving many New Yorkers a trip to that other famous hub for hedonists: Atlantic City.
