There is something special about a lounge experience. An intentionally designed atmosphere for strangers to meet to enjoy ambience and interaction is something many people may have taken for granted before COVID-19.
That said, the world is mostly back open and so are some favourite bars and cafes. In fact, there might even be a cannabis-infused meeting place coming to one’s nearby community.
The Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board recently approved a measure that will allow cannabis consumption in lounges.
This effort may prove to be a huge new growth market, and perhaps even represent a shift in how Americans view and consume their weed.
While this is all exciting news, there are a lot of unanswered questions about how to run and regulate a cannabis consumption lounge. If this is the future of marijuana, how will U.S. states safely take this concept to the mainstream?
Cannabis lounges are a relatively new idea in the U.S. in the grand scheme of things. For context, Colorado legalized the plant in 2012 and Alaska legalized consumption lounges in 2019.
But as more U.S. states legalize marijuana and are hungry for a piece of this new enterprise after pandemic lockdowns, there is a growing interest in lounges.
“The politics of pot lounges are changing along with shifting social mores around the substance,” wrote Politico, which interviewed Larry Scheffler, co-CEO of a proposed cannabis lounge in Las Vegas.
And this isn’t the boutique, corner cafe some might envision when thinking of a weed lounge, unless that person happens to be picturing a space fit for a giant, five-inch-deep splashing pool.
“You take your shoes off. You dance in the water. You consume cannabis, and there’s 100,000 rooms looking down on you from the Vegas towers,” Scheffler said.
This is not Central Perk, but an altogether otherworldly cannabis experience. It all sounds fascinating, but how can such a venture be regulated?
Take California, for example. Several jurisdictions within the state have started legalizing forms of cannabis consumption lounges.
But as more and more of these establishments pop up, just as many questions arise. “California law restricts indoor smoking, which could preclude customers from puffing on a joint in a lounge,” Brad Rowe told the New York Timesrecently.
“And there are regulations intended to protect employees from working in smoke-filled environments,” Rowe said.
These are not the only questions people are asking, either. In a recent article about consumption lounges, the National Cannabis Industry Association asked: “Could public consumption spaces cause people to over-consume? Will there be limits on how much cannabis a person is allowed to consume at a lounge in one visit? What is a ‘single serving’ of cannabis anyway?”
These are all valid and mostly unanswered questions. Still, according to the same article, this has not stopped seven states from forging plans for legalizing consumption lounges.
Currently, Alaska is the only state with any real history in this respect. Its laws, according to the Marijuana Policy Project, allow a person to purchase and consume up to one gram of cannabis or an edible with up to 10 mg of THC.
Alcohol and tobacco sale and consumption is prohibited. There are also strict regulations about staff, and even strict ventilation regulations.
These are all understandable laws, and it is likely these and many others will be implemented before cannabis lounges take off in a major way in other states. Still, even though a person might not be able to have a “happy hour” at these new consumption lounges, there are likely to be a lot of smiling faces in lounges and cafes across the U.S. once these establishments open their doors.
SOURCE: The GrowthOp
The FreshToast.com, a U.S. lifestyle site that contributes lifestyle content and, with their partnership with 600,000 physicians via Skipta, medical marijuana information to The GrowthOp.