On Tuesday, Southern California’s West Hollywood will be celebrating the grand opening of America’s first-ever cannabis cafe, similar to those found in Amsterdam.
Opening on Tuesday at 12 p.m on West Hollywood’s North La Brea Avenue, the Miley Cyrus-backed Lowell Cafe will be offering up a variety of eats and cannabis products for marijuana enthusiasts looking to transform their private recreation into nightlife.
“For over a century we’ve been forced to hide cannabis consumption out of public view, but that time is now over,” says the Lowell Farms’ website. “We’re proud to announce Lowell Café — America’s first cannabis cafe serving farm fresh food, coffee, juice and cannabis daily. Sit on our patio, order a meal, have a conversation and experience cannabis together.”
According to a Bloomberg Report, customers will be offered a variety of ways to enjoy their cannabis, including pre-rolled joints.
“The pot can be smoked in pre-rolled joints or vaped — even as the industry is grappling with a spike in lung damage and deaths linked to vaping,” reports the outlet. “The cafe’s opening also offers an extension to the cannabis market, where sales are largely confined to dispensaries and online orders, and tests the appetite for a more open and public consumption of a product that’s still illegal in many jurisdictions.”
David Elias, co-founder of Lowell Herb Co., the cafe’s owner, told Bloomberg that Lowell Cafe will hopefully allow marijuana users the chance to enjoy cannabis outside the corners to which they have been formerly relegated.
“Cannabis consumers have always been relegated to getting their cannabis in a plastic bag while you can go to a dinner party with a beautiful bottle of wine,” said Elias. “People want to smoke a joint with their friends in a cafe like they can over a beer — not in the alley or in their car.”
However, Elias noted that the business will have to adapt in the given political climate. California Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed an executive order vowing to spend more than $20 million on a vaping awareness campaign (the cafe offers cannabis-laced vaping products).
“It’s a tricky situation,” Elias said. “It’s something we’re learning about everyday, and helping to form our decisions based off the information that’s available to us, which is very limited.”
Below are some photos of the establishment:
Since California legalized marijuana, parts of the state have seen a push for marijuana-themed lifestyle and retail options. Similar pot lounge proposals have popped up in San Francisco and Oakland. Since much of the state prohibits pot smoking in public places, the lounges would be an alternative social space.
The marijuana industry began a campaign of political correctness as well, advising people to stop using the word “pot” when referring to the drug because it’s an offensive term. According to Anchorage Daily News, the marijuana industry has grown very self-conscious of the stereotypical image of “the stoner” and wants to clean up the stigma.
“Marijuana still carries a stigma that surfaces with the use of old slang like pot and weed,” reported ADN in 2018. “For many, the words evoke an image of lazy, not-so-bright people who puff their lives away.”
The industry wishes people would start using the more scientifically-minded name “cannabis” instead.