An issue which continues to arise in each new state that legalizes or depenalizes marijuana is where those who wish to gather with others who enjoy smoking marijuana are legally permitted to do so.
This seems like an easy problem to solve — we’ve done it before. At the end of alcohol prohibition, the majority of states legalized and licensed bars and lounges where any adult could legally go to meet friends and enjoy their choice of legal alcohol drinks, and to spend some time with others who enjoy drinking.
This model of allowing bars and lounges where drinkers can socialize is so universal today that it is somewhat surprising it has not been permitted by any of the first few legalization states. Apparently the social stigma surrounding marijuana smoking had become so significant as a result of the decades of “reefer madness” propaganda, that even those proponents of ending marijuana prohibition have feared a political backlash were they to permit marijuana salons. To me it feels like they are saying “it’s OK to smoke, as long as you stay in the closet”!
Unfavorable View of Recreational Marijuana Smokers
This disapproval of recreational marijuana smokers, even by many who favor ending prohibition, was measured in a recent poll commissioned by a group called Third Way, in a national poll conducted in October 2014. This poll found the country nearly equally divided on legalizing recreational marijuana for adults, with 50 percent supporting legalization and 47 percent opposed to it. Bur ominously, the same poll found only 36 percent of respondents said they viewed recreational marijuana users favorably, versus 54 percent unfavorably. Meanwhile, a solid majority (55 percent) viewed medical marijuana users favorably — nearly 20 points higher than recreational users.
This segment of the population, dubbed the “marijuana middle” by the pollsters, have concluded that marijuana prohibition is a failed public policy, and favor legalization; but they nonetheless disapprove of the recreational use of marijuana. They do not think we should treat marijuana smokers as criminals, but neither do they wish to give it their approval. And it is this lingering anti-marijuana bias that is causing most elected officials to oppose the establishment of marijuana lounges or social clubs.
For the rabid anti-marijuana crowd, barring marijuana salons has the appeal of retaining a strong message of societal disapproval of marijuana smoking; it is a sop to those who find themselves on the wrong side of history, even as legalization moves forward. That was clearly on the mind of DC Mayor Muriel Browser last week when she sent emergency legislation to the City Council seeking to prevent anyone from renting a facility for a private marijuana party to which the public could attend.
While the mayor had shown admirable political courage by ignoring threats from a few in Congress who were threatening her with arrest and jail for permitting the new full decriminalization law to take effect in the city, she apparently (no one can ever be sure of an elected official’s motivation) thought permitting the emergence of marijuana lounges to pop-up around the city, charging a fee for entrance (the new law permits adults to give, but not sell, up to an ounce of marijuana to another adult) would be too much for Congress to ignore – like sticking one’s finger in their collective eye.
While that may well have been a smart political decision in the short run, since some of those disaffected members of Congress had publicly suggested the District might be penalized with budget cuts for allowing the new law to take effect, it is inconsistent with the intent of Initiative 71 that was approved by nearly 70 percent of the voters, and it will inevitably lead to black market versions of marijuana social clubs. Remember the “speakeasies” of the Roaring ’20s?
Now let me acknowledge that these types of problems are wonderful problems to have. For more than 75 years, marijuana smokers have had to fear being arrested and jailed – sometimes for long periods of time – simply for possessing or using or growing a little marijuana. We reached the peak in 2010 when the country collectively arrested nearly 900,000 Americans on marijuana charges, with nearly 90 percent of those arrests for possession of minor amounts. And while that trend has slowly begun to reverse itself, marijuana smokers continue to be arrested in most states in America. For the millions of marijuana smokers who live in those states, any fight over whether marijuana salons should be permitted must indeed seem like a distant distraction.
But as we move forward in this transition phase, moving from prohibition to legalization, it is important that we not permit ourselves to get shoe-horned into some system that suggests we are second-class citizens, simply because we enjoy smoking marijuana; and that would effectively keep us in the closet. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the responsible use of marijuana by adults, and there is no reason why we should not be permitted to enjoy marijuana in a lounge or social club with like-minded people.
Might Not Want to Permit Alcohol in Marijuana Lounges
I would like to see some legalization states experiment with a provision that would license marijuana lounges in which food and drink is available for sale, along with marijuana, but no alcohol. In effect, that is the Amsterdam model, with a few exceptions. I propose this as an attractive possibility, for two reasons.
First, we all recognize that alcohol sometimes causes drinkers to become belligerent and violent, leading to bar fights and worse. Marijuana has no such effect on smokers; in fact, it tends to smooth over those aggressive tendencies we may all occasionally feel, and it is nearly unheard of for a fight to break out at a marijuana party. We can largely avoid those problems if we ban alcohol.
Second, the research clearly shows that using the two drugs together – marijuana and alcohol – greatly exaggerates the level of impairment beyond that which either drug produces by itself; they are synergistic. So the concern shared by many Americans about marijuana-impaired drivers on the road – a concern which is generally overblown – would become a far greater problem if those who spent some time at a marijuana lounge were later driving home impaired on both marijuana and alcohol. We can save ourselves a lot of problems, both real and political, if we voluntarily keep the two drugs separate.
But the idea that marijuana smokers are going to limit their marijuana smoking only to their home, or a friend’s home, is unrealistic. Even under prohibition marijuana smokers devise ways to socialize in groups where they can enjoy marijuana, and that will certainly be the case with legalization. So let’s begin to experiment with legal and licensed marijuana lounges, salons and social clubs, and bring this inevitable social practice out of the shadows and above ground.
Although the District of Columbia is apparently not going to permit marijuana clubs, at least not in the immediate future, there is some hope in other legal states. In Colorado, for example, while Denver has outlawed private social clubs for marijuana smokers, as have many other towns in the state, the County of Pueblo has opted to license marijuana social clubs; and the City of Colorado Springs, which has since prohibited new clubs, have grandfathered in a few social clubs that were in existence prior to the ban.
Colorado has amended their Clean Indoor Air Act to prohibit marijuana smoking wherever tobacco smoking is prohibited, putting most hotels off limits. Not surprisingly there has been an increase in the number of tickets written for public smoking, since marijuana smokers from out-of-state have no legal alternative.
In Washington, there are a few private smoking clubs operating quietly in the shadows, but none are yet licensed or regulated. Seattle City Attorney Peter Holmes, one of the official sponsors of the new legalization initiative (I-502), has taken the lead in this area, recently releasing a 10-page report calling for the licensing of legal pot lounges. “Single family homeowners have a legal place to consume marijuana, “ Holmes said, “but others however, such as out-of-town visitors, the homeless , and renters and condominium owners whose buildings do not permit marijuana use, have fewer options. You can enforce the law much better if you, at the same time, provide an outlet for that demand,” Homes added. His wise advise has yet to be implemented, but it has given a boost to the necessary public discussion.
Oregon presents an interesting experiment, as they get closer to the July 1 date when marijuana smoking will be legal in the state (the regulated market will not come online until early 2016), as Portland has since 2009 been the site of the grey-market World Famous Cannabis Café, catering to medical cannabis patients, charging an entrance or membership fee, but “giving away” donated marijuana once inside. They operated openly for years as a members-only private club, and have announced they will be re-opening after July 1. There are currently a few other private marijuana social clubs that have opened in Portland, although pending state legislation, if approved, may drive those endeavors back underground.
In Alaska, the new legal status for marijuana took effect in February, although the provisions for licensed growers and sellers will not be implemented until early 2016 But at least one activist – former TV news reporter Charlo Greene, who walked off her job while on-air with a four-letter expletive last year, proclaiming her intent to focus on helping pass the legalization initiative, has already opened the Alaska Cannabis Club in downtown Anchorage, promising to “give away” marijuana to “members.” But it is to early to know whether marijuana lounges will be permitted to operate openly under the new law.
As I said, this is a wonderful problem to deal with! We will eventually get licensed lounges in most states in America, and we will eventually stop arresting smokers in the states where that barbaric practice continues. Let’s keep the pressure on in all of those venues.
It is a great time to be alive for a marijuana smoker. But our work is far from complete.
# # #
This column was originally posted on Marijuana.com.
I know I should not post this here but my friend needs help, she is almost 80 years old and is facing years in prison. This is the one place I knew there would be people that understand, so please help if you can.
gofundme.com/obhl2c
Personally, I really don’t like smoking marijuana and never have; and I don’t want to breathe in others second hand smoke (tobacco or marijuana). I am so very pleased that someone out there had the foresight to create a vaporizer! I wouldn’t want to go to a place where people smoke but absolutely believe that there should be places where people that want to can do so in peace!
Bravo, Keith! Hear, hear!
One would think that way out in the boondocks there would be more communities willing to allow legal cannabis cafes, smoking lounges along the lines of Amsterdam coffeeshops. Americans who can afford it fly all the hell the way to Amsterdam just for a few days of FREEDOM for the Cannabis Cup or for vacation. You know that they’d easily drive 30 miles or whatever out of the way, like 30 miles away from Denver or wherever to some podunk town of hospitable friendly folks for the freedom of being able to congregate and partake of cannabis with like-minded people indoors, out of the cold, protected from both the elements.
On a separate rant, where the hell does the FDA get off sending letters to CBD oil producers? They’re back pulling their same old bullshit where the DEA and FDA and NIDA obstruct and downright sabotage (FU SABET!)productive research into the positive uses of cannabis then turn around and pull this shit when somebody else’s findings show that cannabis IS EFFECTIVE for this and that and actually make it available to the sick people, you know, the effing patients who benefit from it. These asshole government agencies just need to get the fuck out of the way, need to ignore their lame-ass prohibitionist mission statements, bend to the will of the voters. As someone who has been battling cancer for a number of years now, this kind of shit pisses me off to no end.
http://hightimes.com/read/fda-issues-warning-letters-cbd-hemp-oil-makers
http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/PublicHealthFocus/ucm435591.htm
Another rant: These sheriffs suing Colorado over legalization should just shut the fuck up and move out of state if they don’t respect the will of the voters. Hey, it’s America so love it or leave it! If you don’t like living in cannabis country then leave it, you fuckin’ fascists! Like why don’t you move to Skokie, Illinois, or some other place where there are neonazi idiots who think the same way as you. This bullshit about the conflict of state law versus federal law is racially biased and motivated, and it’s been documented as such historically motivated for making pot illegal in the first place and today is the new Jim Crow, I mean, WTF and then some cops in some communities are scratching their heads why we have situations like Ferguson. Can you recall these sheriffs? Can you demote them? Can you find them better paying jobs somewhere else so you can fill the positions with officers who actually respect the will of the people. I mean, where I live on the Least Coast (we have the Least cannabis freedom of any part of CONUS) some police forces have as much as 65% of police who have admitted to having tried/used marijuana. It doesn’t matter if they put on their job applications that they haven’t used it in the past 5 years or 10 years when they apply, usually either right out of the military or right out of college.
Any way to get the percentages of cops who have tried cannabis and use it to our favor?
These prohibitionists just don’t effing get it. So the FDA is trying to coerce, threaten even, companies that make CBD medicines into what, stop making things that help even kids like Charlotte Figgi and all the other people who benefit. These people are fuckin nuts. No way! No how! It just goes to show they don’t give a rat’s ass about mitigating the suffering, and are hellbent on making sure people suffer needlessly even more.
Barry, you have got to do something about this! Call off the dawgz!
And no way am I voting for Scott Walker or Rand Paul. Cannabis candidates for 2016 my ass! I can vote for a democrat who will pander to me about cannabis to get my vote. Democrats these days are actually legalizing cannabis, so why should I waste my vote on a Republican whose party is the party of NO and will not legalize but rather putting up every roadblock they can at the federal level and even often at the state level? Prohibitionist Republicans are making people who benefit from cannabis, be it medically or recreationally as a safer choice than alcohol suffer needlessly. Why? Simply because they can.
Scott Walker, union-busting and middle class hating asshole, I will NEVER vote for anyone like you.
http://www.marijuana.com/news/2015/03/will-scott-walker-be-the-2016-marijuana-candidate
Having been to Amsterdam twice in my life, I can attest to the mellow atmosphere in most coffeeshops there.
During our first trip, back in 2004, a number of coffeeshops still sold liquor, as well as pot and hash. My wife and I agreed that it was nice being in a place (a city) where people were treated like adults. You didn’t feel like some high school kid sneaking behind the gym to take a toke.
During our second trip in ’08–it took us four years to save for each trip there–the city, because of pressure from the conservative government that had taken over in office, as well as outside groups, other countries, etc, had ended the policy of coffeeshops being allowed to sell alcohol.
It was disappointing for my wife (she’s the drinker); and to me, it felt like just a little bit of freedom had been taken away. (Again, thanks to the pressure from the above mentioned.)
My point, however, is that the coffeeshops were perfectly safe and relaxed places to toke. Most of them even had tables on the sidewalks outside their front doors, so tokers could enjoy the sun, the nice breeze, etc. while partaking. It was in a word idyllic, almost like a dream.
Unlike some American bars I frequented in the past during my drinking years, there were NEVER any worries of aggressiveness from other patrons in the MJ coffeeshops. With the exception of the occasional (very occasional) snooty budtender, in fact (most of whom were younger, and perhaps didn’t care for foreign tourists), we found no animosity in those coffeshops whatever.
You barely noticed most of those coffeeshops, while walking on the sidewalks of Amsterdam, they were so innocuous, blending in as they did with the shoe stores and book stores and whatever. You had to actively look for them to notice them. (Some of the larger tourists joints, the English Bulldog and such, were obviously easy to spot, tho they were definitely in the minority.)
I see no reason, except for the reefer-madness prejudice against pot smokers, for not opening similar MJ smoking establishments here in the U.S. It’d be nice to be treated like an adult again.
1. Here’s an idea how to grandfather in some safe moderate drinking at a cannabis social space. Permit each customer per night to have up to three of:
* A little 2-fl-oz “airline bottle” with beer or wine– worth up to ten mentally counted mini-sips.
* An ampule or mini-squeezetube of a half ounce of rum, gin, whicky, vodka, etc.– in ALCO-GEL form, i.e. safe from guzzling hurriedly down as “drinker” suckers have done in the alcoholic precannabinoid society (like, the non-resealable 12-ounce overdose cans which say, drink it all now, hours later it”ll be flat and no good’).
You squirt a small amount of goo right out of the tube into your mouth, swish and lather it with your smart tongue, get the famous educational hyper taste and the sting-y tongue tingle etc., get your scientific saliva introduced to every molecule of the material before swallowing.
2. Cannabis moderation management
(A) Use 25-mg single toke utensils instead of 500-mg joint,, blunt, $pliff, $igarette, Bidi, Kretek etc. No waste, no $ide-
$tream $moke.
(B) Replace tobacco with cannabis, alfalfa, borage, coriander, dandelion, eucalyptus, fir needle, ginseng leaf, hops flower, OREGANO etc.
(C) Vape instead of smoke:
http://www.zamnesia.com/content/284-vaporizer-temperatures-for-cannabis
Yes, there is an easy-learn method to VAPE with a flexdrawtube one-hitter made from $1.29 worth of parts found in your garage.
Combining these two moderation strategies, everyone will get better use, education and art out of both the Drug and the Herb.
The posted link to
“This column was originally posted on Marijuana.com”
is BROKEN…
(just generates a “414 Request URI Too Large” ERROR).
Valid link for
“It’s a Social Thing: Why We Need Marijuana Lounges” is at:
http://news.marijuana.com/news/2015/03/its-a-social-thing-why-we-need-marijuana-lounges/
liquor by the drink has become toking by the bud.
Bars with parking lots. I used to play music in bars. I know what shape most of the people who leave when the bar closes are in.
A drunk will drive 50 miles an hour through the center of town, weaving in and out of lanes, cutting people off, then still wonder why the cops stopped him.
A stoner is aware of his impairment and will compensate. Yet we measure metabolites of marijuana down to the nanogram, while bars with parking lots are legal.
What’s wrong with this picture?
@Galileo Galilei – “What’s wrong with this picture?”
I’m pretty sure any NORML member could easily answer that question! It is a question I’m sure the Congress would need to spend about a billion dollars on to get the answer and even then they would fight and wine about it…
I think marijuana lounges are a good idea to keep the smell away from those who do not want to smell it.
What’s needs to be done before the problem arises is marijuana etiquette. I personally am convinced that one reason for the initial support of marijuana prohibition was that mj smells bad, and people on mass were annoyed by it. Now in New York City I regularly am forced to smell it walking down the street and in parks.
I believe one of the reasons for resistance to legalizing mj is large numbers of people don’t want to smell it.
I also wonder if the plants that might be grown in urban areas also be smelt by neighbors.
I would suggest NORML start running marijuana etiquette articles. And suggest how marijuana smoking should be regulated to allow people to not smoke mj in peace.
Knowing that pot doesn’t cause problems, the main reason we try to control it is to please the uninformed and those that make their living from pot prohibition. We are having to pander to ignorance and corruption.
Hi George, please see NORML’s Principles of Responsible Cannabis Use available here on the Website.
http://norml.org/about/intro/item/principles-of-responsible-cannabis-use-3
I really don’t see that much wrong with staying at home. Hmmm is nice to have friends over, as long as they behave themselves then no one gets fingers cut off. Long war kind of mental, don’t trust. It would be nice to have some 420 friends again, get out of the house sometimes!
Now in New York City I regularly am forced to smell it walking down the street and in parks. – George
Perhaps you are misidentifying the odor of smelt for cannabis?
Full Definition of SMELT
: any of a family (Osmeridae) of small bony fishes that closely resemble the trouts in general structure, live along coasts and ascend rivers to spawn or are landlocked, and have delicate oily flesh with a distinctive odor
@George’s point about others being forced to smell your cannabis is resolved by substituting vaporization and/or 25-mg single toke utensils which ELIMINATE SIDE STREAM SMOKE (which is distinguished from Second-Hand because it goes loose in the air off a Joint or $igarette, whereas Second-Hand has been inhaled and exhaled).
Did you know Sidestream Smoke contains 5 times as much carbon monoxide (CO) as Mainstream (inhaled through the device)– and Second-hand has almost none, having been purged of CO by user’s lungs.
Vaporizers could be publicly promoted in hotels and bars to reduce smoke wherever desired. But for God’s sake let’s not allow neurogenerative marijuana smoke to reduce public consumption of cannabis while the smoke from carcinogenic tobacco consumption is still legal…
“NORML’s Principles of Responsible Cannabis Use”
What does NORML propose to do about those that refuse to comply and purposely violate those NORML’s principles and respond belligerently when politely requested to stop?
I suggest NORML should start considering how use of marijuana should be regulated once it is decriminalized or you will find people clamoring for recriminalization due to being annoyed by the smoke. IMO much of the support for anti drug laws originally came from people who found drug users unsightly, and smelly in the case of mj.
NORML should put together model laws for regulating and punishing use of mj in public areas or in a manner that interferes with other peoples “quiet enjoyment” of their property aka their home. Such laws could be modeled on regulation of noise.
george says:
“I suggest NORML should start considering how use of marijuana should be regulated once it is decriminalized or you will find people clamoring for recriminalization due to being annoyed by the smoke. IMO much of the support for anti drug laws originally came from people who found drug users unsightly, and smelly in the case of mj”.
Well Keith, i guess where going to have to call the whole thing off,we had some victories, 4 legal- states, 33 something medical states.But now its become a zoning violation,and it’s become personal.All the normal neighborhood smells,the burnt barbecues,the dog poop.the factories upwind,the smell of urine from the drunk that pissed on the wall…Its all coming to an end because someone doesn’t like the transient smell of burnt pine and incense. Oh yeah, and the Chinese food restaurant on the corner emitting that pungent garlic,onion, burnt chili and ginger smell…yuck! (I’m joking, i love Chinese food!)
[Editor’s note: Sarcasm received and appreciated. Ultimately, ‘nuisance law’, regardless of the legality of the substance (think tobacco smoke), dictates on a case-by-case basis. If a neighbor can convince a judge that the next door neighbor’s lawful activity is causing a degradation of their quality of life and/or harmful to their family’s health, individual remedies are often crafted that are deemed lawful.
Washington, DC currently has such a case in the news.
The topic of non-smokers suing and/or legally harassing smokers of whatever–tobacco or cannabis–is hardly a new one.]
Laws should reflect that electronic vaporizing minimizes any inconvenience to property owners or the public. Most businesses and tax funded property should be legal for vaporizing, except those meant mainly for minors. This view takes into consideration that vaporizing is not associated with odor, fire risk or public view indiscretion. The law perhaps should regulate the appearance of electronic vaporizing devices used in public view.
When it comes to smoking, a cigar lounge like area should be required for approval of business permit. Ventilation/filter system, or otherwise zoned away from residential/school areas.
In comparison to vaporizing, smoking is perceived to be an outdated activity, which directly holds back progress of cannabis acceptance. Well regulated lounges, will help to balance freedom of consumption method choice, with the concerns/biases of society as a whole.
Perception, vaporizing marijuana does indeed produce odor! But using a pen vape that has “wax” in in isn’t quite “marijuana”. It’s more like hash, but stronger if made right. And a lot of the odor causing molecules have been removed, hence no odor.
But Vaporizing Marijuana does produce a strong odor, but it is no where near as strong as the odor of burning marijuana.
Vapor lounges, much like cigar bars or hooka lounges. I know some people like to smoke but vaporizing should make the air easier to clean so the smell of burning marijuana doesn’t drift outside to the street. Have a bunch of really good vaporizers, or byovaporizer.
It seems that Indian reservations will work for some ethnic americans…http://www.thecannabist.co/2015/03/09/national-indian-cannabis-coalition/31358/
As the population of legal users increases, a more diverse population, with varied levels of familiarity will be interacting with nonusers.
I think George has a point. While Norml’s principles are wonderful, more resources to explain options are likely needed. Businesses aren’t necessarily going to provide full solutions to improve relations between cannabis consumers and nonusers. Education on how to reduce odor could be helpful.
In 2001, I recall seeing a comic strip by Ellen Forney that made it simple to understand how not to get arrested for cannabis use. Perhaps Norml could begin to take a role of reviewing and approving methods or products for discretion. For instance, home greenhouse air filters, apartment air purifying machines, portable vaporizer models etc.
[Editor’s note: NORML was founded by among others, associates of Ralph Nader, who envisaged that a cannabis consumer advocacy organization could one day, after the general goals associated with ending cannabis prohibition have been achieved, to make the pivot to a Consumers Report-like non-profit where cannabis consumers donate a reasonable membership fee so that the organization does not take any business or corporate donations while purchasing, evaluating through stated methodology and reporting to consumer-members primarily, then the general public secondarily soon after, about the safety, quality and value of cannabis-related products, ranging from cultivation to paraphernalia to travel to food to hemp products and services; to provide reports on states/cities with most and least cannabis-friendly laws, regulations, taxes and availability.
In the nation’s capital, and in all 50 states’ capitals, when products like alcohol–and now increasingly cannabis–are legal and taxed there are basically four pillars that make up the ‘industry’ that are represented by lobbyists and non-profit organizations: producers, sellers, consumers and citizens who oppose whatever the ‘problematic adult commerce’ is (be it alcohol, cannabis, gambling, strip clubs, guns, etc…think MADD, American Lung Association, Brady Campaign).
Until federal laws for cannabis substantively are reformed, federally sanctioned non-profit organizations like NORML can’t purchase, possess and test cannabis-related products. Blessedly, because of the First Amendment and their resolve to always push the envelope, publications from private companies like High Times have traditionally filled the role of telling cannabis consumers about the quality of cannabis products, paraphernalia, cultivation methods and devices, etc…Bless them!
However, obviously, High Times is a commercial company reliant on the advertising dollars provided by companies, so it can’t be an entirely objective adjudicator of products and services in the way that a post-prohibition NORML morphing from reform advocacy to more genuine consumer advocacy will become as more states force federal reforms.]
I can’t wait for more vapor lounges that I can vaporize marijuana, and converse with like minded individuals.
…post-prohibition NORML morphing from reform advocacy to more genuine consumer advocacy will become as more states force federal reforms.] – Norml
Once prohibition is totally ended (and it’s ending as I write) Norml’s original goal will be the normalization of cannabis consumption…and the need for Norml will be no more.
Thank you!
Yes, yes! marijuana lounges great idea. Lets keep the booze out and serve coffee. “Marijuana is safer” is an idea that seems to be going well with the public,and besides its straight up the truth! So lets continue to drive it home. There is no reason why we can’t have “friends, don’t let friends drive high education, and awareness programs just like the the drinkers, even law enforcement will have to concede. And please, no mounted moose-heads, I find the display of the decapitated heads of game animals barbaric, and depressing!
Eric says:
‘Once prohibition is totally ended (and it’s ending as I write) Norml’s original goal will be the normalization of cannabis consumption…and the need for Norml will be no more”.
You really think so? I think there will always be some faction in the government or elsewhere,being funded by “special interest” that will be trying to reverse and roll back the progress that has been made and will continue to be made…NORML will always be needed, if nothing else,to protect the laws that are already established in the states that have legalization.
Cannabis lounges are amazing places where all types of people from different social classes come together to share a common interest. Igzactly 420 in San Francisco is just that. It is a medical cannabis dispensary with a vaporizer lounge. I have worked there since it opened in 2010. We have been serving the people of the community and they enjoy it. People feel safe, comfortable, and have fun meeting new people even if the only common interest is cannabis. As a consumer of cannabis it is hard to go and meet other people who enjoy cannabis especially in states where it is illegal. People who use cannabis do not have places to go to socialize making it harder to meet other like minded individuals. People who use cannabis can not let others know they use cannabis for fear of prosecution or ridicule.. Lounges and cannabis friendly environments are needed and should be allowed. Cannabis lounge establishments would set their businesses up as per what their zoning rules allow for. Cannabis lounges do not bring drama!! You get your occasional nutty person but never a violent act has been committed the entire time Igz420 has been operating. D
go fuck ur self romney
So what is there to be done? Start opening up Marijuana Lounges so they can be illegally shutdown by the police quoting an illegal law?
Seems like the only way forward is forward. Arresting marijuana users is our national pass time. We build, they steal and destroy and the courts keep on rubber stamping the abuse.
@Justolium, Igz420 has (A) medical cannabis dispensary and (B)vaporizer lounge– now to complete the tripod, add in same building or nearby (C) a Carpentry workroom where patients will get both physical and mental exercise therapy by producing positive services for community, families and the environment.
Important priorities include good lighting over a strong workbench, plenty of shelving and racks for organized, accessible storage of wood and other materials (salvaged from discard and repaired and reused, rather than bought “new” to reward the killing of more trees), saws, sanders, files, hammers, screwdrivers and other character-building handwork equipment.
And yes, a production speciality would be Heat-Not-Burn flexdrawtube one-hitters (alias Paranoid Infernal Alien, as Drug Warriors say)) which along with pricey e-vaporizers should be sold to the customers who receive cannabis, along with #8 and #16 handgrind screensifters to produce the particle-grades of Herb used in a 25-mg single toke utensil. By thus politely campaigning against the ecodestructive monoxide Joint, such an establishment can protect against (SPF) Stoner Performance Failure which has SABETaged popular acceptance of cannabis use up until now.
There is a lounge directory called BudPubs. I didn’t know there were these at all in the US and Canada. Looking forward to visiting some on my Colorado trip. Because I really don’t want to hide it in the hotel.
There has been some development on this issue!
Unfortunately, it isn’t what most of you want….Marijuana Lounges are now pretty explicitly banned in Washington State, and it is a Felony to open one.
http://gleamlaw.com/blog/2015/7/1/no-cannabis-cafes-in-washington
What a brilliant idea. As soon as Illinois gets our dispensary program online (hopefully in a couple months), I will be all over this!
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Due to the new rules in Oregon Jan, 1, 2016 Private Smoke lounges have to shut down. Why is this? Arn’t private clubs suppose to be autonomous? Thus the general public not to be aware of what goes on inside? Can anybody explain how they can violate this rule? that like going to an AA meeting and jotting down names of people and their lists of confessions and making them pubic?? No?? Could one such as myself post up with a mobile unit and offer shelter to those whom want so smoke in a community setting? It wouldnt be considered a business if one only accepted donatiins for temp use of the space. say maybe donating towards gas, insurance etc fees to move the moblie trailor?
[Editor’s note: With cannabis’ legalization so too comes the comporting with existing public health laws, i.e., in many parts of the country tobacco can’t be smoked in public places anymore, by extension these same public health laws are being extended to other burning vegetable matter that are popular as well with the public (ganja products).
NORML favors local cities and states to license establishment for adults to smoke/vaporize/ingest in the responsible use of cannabis products in a manner similar to the way alcohol and caffeine products are publicly consumed.
In the four states that have legalized cannabis (and District of Columbia’s ‘de-penalization’ policy) post prohibition the major efforts of consumer advocacy groups like NORML (along with cannabis industry trade groups like NCIA) will be to amend current ‘anti-smoking’ policies or pass new legislation that specifically creates the ability of local governments to license and regulate ‘on-site’ cannabis use.
In some states and cities, if local populations want to have cannabis ‘bars’, and locally elected politicians are unwilling to create parity for cannabis commerce to that of alcohol products, where applicable, reformers and industry advocacy groups will likely return to the ballot box to force the hand of recalcitrant politicians (most all substantive cannabis law reforms that have occurred circa 1996 have largely come via binding voter initiatives rather than legislation).
The Netherlands has had hundreds of so-called ‘coffeeshops‘ successfully selling cannabis products and allowing on-site use by adults for nearly 40 years, with increasing numbers of states legalizing cannabis in the United States (and soon in countries like Canada), both consumers and sellers want to have similar establishments in the respective countries.]
does anyone know if they have these coffee shops anywhere legally in the states, and does Arizona have any plans to pass a law allowing a club for smokers instead of drinkers, be easy just keep cypress hill on repeat and plenty of water and sodas as well as coffee, and snacks-meals…
[Editor’s note: Currently, in the four states where voters have legalized cannabis, only a small town in Alaska is considering on-site use of cannabis similar to what the Dutch have had via their ‘coffeeshop’ system since the mid 1970s. Denver NORML is working to place a question on the 2016 ballot that will allow for cannabis to be used in permitted public space (i.e., bar, club or so-called ‘coffeeshop’).]
Thank you for the answer. Trying to find a way to crack the system, dispensaries here were picked out of a lottery..so trying to find other routes to take..I really do appreciate the answer….
O.Z.
It seems that there are plenty of “private” clubs in Oregon if you know who to talk to, it’s actually quite easy to join, of course it’s BYOB but sales between private members always take place. It’s better that public cafes where you are regulated up the ass. Here in Oregon there are countless “women only” pot clubs opening up that cater to this specific group.