First smoking lounges in the US to open in Oregon

[SneakySneaky]

OR MMJ law states no smoking in public, so where ya supposed to puff?

Your house, buddys house, as long as your not in public view your good. Not meaning hidin n a bush n the park smoking, but fenced n backyard. I have had a cop come to my house cause my neighbors car got stolen and I didn't take the joint I was smokn outta my hand while I talked to him on my front porch. Another useful fact, oregon banned cig smoking n public buildings, but says nada about pot. Once a month my medical group rents out a bar for the day and we smog'er out.


THIS IS MY 420 POST BITCHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[chef]

I just meant that there is a need (niche) & they filled it. Fortune favors the bold!

 

[Bacchus]

This is awesome..... just the start. ...

"can't leave for 2 hours"

I understand why this is required, imagine a person leaving this smoke-easy and getting into a car wreck.

I wonder how much extra insurance these places will have to carry to cover "intoxicated" people?

It is a great start.....I wonder how long until McMenamins opens one?

 

[chef]

I love McMenamin's establishments
Going in to play their par3 course at Edgefield this week.
http://www.mcmenamins.com/index.php?loc=3&id=48
They're brewing beer, wine & spirits now, would seem a logical next step?
Fun friendly places one n all, although they are all non-smoking lol

 

[NorCalFor20]

This is awesome..... just the start. ...

"can't leave for 2 hours"

I understand why this is required, imagine a person leaving this smoke-easy and getting into a car wreck.

I wonder how much extra insurance these places will have to carry to cover "intoxicated" people?

It is a great start.....I wonder how long until McMenamins opens one?

well if you read above they are not the first place despite the article, and we don't have problems in LA with people gettin stoned and wrecking their car, even tho i hear about drunk driving accidents every night not once have i heard about high drivers causing any problems

 

[chef]

I agree Norcal just run it like a 86 soup nazi lol

"No More Nugz for You!"

 

[Babbabud]

This whole article is crazy funny. Yea right Oregon is the first place to do this. Ive smoked at a club in Berkely for years. Volcanoes on the table... bongs to borrow.... pipes for sale. You can even bring your own stash in and noone says a word. Waiting two hours to leave is silly. Good luck

hmmmm anyone remember the "Vapor Room" ?

 

[THE GENERAL]

lets blaze

 

[fyahfohigha]

Your house, buddys house, as long as your not in public view your good. Not meaning hidin n a bush n the park smoking, but fenced n backyard. I have had a cop come to my house cause my neighbors car got stolen and I didn't take the joint I was smokn outta my hand while I talked to him on my front porch. Another useful fact, oregon banned cig smoking n public buildings, but says nada about pot. Once a month my medical group rents out a bar for the day and we smog'er out.

crazyness! i had no idea OR doesn' allow you to smoke outside. Also, did i hear say they don't have dispensaries in OR? Kind of contradicts the whole point of having MMJ doesn't it....

I always wonder what will happen if you are stopped in public smoking in CA as a patient? I thought it says you can smoke anywhere cigarettes can be smoked right? So does this mean you can smoke on college campuses, Starbucks, what ever...?

 

[johnnyla]

just don't get caught and don't flaunt it and look guilty while smoking and you will be fine in CA in the big cities and along the coast. i can't vouch for the desert towns and redneck rivieras.

 

[ZombieShelter]

I need to open a cafe apparently

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

This is great news. It will help norml grow thus making it more possible to have real dutch style coffee shops in oregon eventually.

This is just one more domino down.

 

[Shred42O]

good to hear but far from 1st in the US

 

[Bacchus]

...Also, did i hear say they don't have dispensaries in OR? Kind of contradicts the whole point of having MMJ doesn't it......

A lot of the MMJ programs in states are based upon allowing the patient to grow his own or delegate a provider. Which I think has kept the federal goverment stay out of the equation. No central dispensary to hassel and intimidate.

 

[Rolando Mota]

The "first" Cannabis Cafe opened today at 4:20. Article with video..

Cannabis Cafe opens in Portland
By Anne Saker, The Oregonian
November 13, 2009, 9:26PM


Oregon opened another chapter in U.S. marijuana history when at 4:20 p.m. Friday, about three dozen people christened the nation's first cafe for licensed residents to sit down, sip coffee and smoke marijuana.

"Welcome to a place of our own," said Madeline Martinez, a leader in the state's medical marijuana movement and the leading force pushing to open the Cannabis Cafe in Portland. "Welcome to freedom."

Excited patrons spilled down the outside steps at 700 N.E. Dekum St. as the cafe prepared to open at the appointed hour -- "420" being slang for using marijuana. In line were military veterans, grandmothers, young workers, men and women, old and young, black, white and Latino.

Gordon Cederholm, 45, of Milwaukie has lived with HIV for 25 years and said he was skeptical about using marijuana as medicine when he got his Oregon card less than a year ago.

"At first, I thought: What does being a pothead have to do with it?'" he said. "I didn't know the benefits in marijuana. Now, I find that I'm a better person when I smoke."

Kris Koa, 57, a retired nurse from Gresham, rode the bus from home to see the cafe for herself. She has been using medical marijuana for fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis.

Jars of donated pot line the shelves behind the bar at the Cannabis Cafe, waiting to be smoked by licensed users. Oregon law says medical marijuana may not be sold. This cafe means I now have the freedom to take my own health into my own hands," she said. "This is just the most fabulous thing to happen."

The cafe, in the space that once featured Rumpspankers restaurant, looks like nearly every other coffeehouse in town, except that shiny silver Volcano vaporizers are plugged into outlets lining the tiled bar. Wi-Fi is available. Coffee, soft drinks, trays of Marsee Bakery pastries and sandwiches are also offered as ammunition against the inevitable attack of the munchies.

The only people permitted in the Cannabis Cafe are those licensed to smoke who also hold membership in the lobbying groupOregon NORML. Patrons will be charged $5 a day. They can bring their own or smoke donated marijuana. Oregon law says medical marijuana may not be sold.

Before the opening, Martinez unloaded a large box with a dozen jelly jars full of marijuana of various strains that had been donated to the cafe. She opened one jar and held it out for a sniff; the contents smelled sweet, even fruity.

"It's called Blueberry," Martinez said, smiling. "It's really good for pain."

The cafe had long been a dream of Martinez, executive director of Oregon's chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. But long-standing fears of federal arrest "kept us ostracized and turned us into criminals just for using our medicine."

Then last month, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that authorities would no longer prosecute licensed users in the 13 states with medical-marijuana programs. Oregon's 10-year-old program is the second in the nation, after California's.

Giving heart to smokers this week was the American Medical Association's change of position on marijuana: Having proclaimed for years that it had no medicinal value, the AMA instead said marijuana does have benefits that warrant further study.

In Oregon, more than 23,000 people hold medical-marijuana cards and another 14,000 are registered as caregivers or growers. The overwhelming majority of patients are treating chronic severe pain.

For about a year, Oregon NORML has hosted twice-monthly meetings of cardholders on the second floor of the Northeast Dekum Street building. Eric and Shelly Solomon, who ran the now-closed Rumpspankers, offered the downstairs restaurant space for the cafe.

After last week's announcement of the cafe's opening, the neighbors in the Woodlawn neighborhood weren't happy. At a crowded neighborhood association meeting, people complained, among other things, that they could smell smoke from the meetings. Martinez promised to install air filters.

Friday afternoon, patients made themselves comfortable on the soft furniture. "Budtenders" at the bar ground up small portions of marijuana for the vaporizers. A cafe volunteer went to the cafe's front door and opened it for a woman in a wheelchair.