I have been noticing in my social media feeds lately a lot of folks who love cannabis making posts longing for the day when you can go into cannabis consumption lounges the same way you go into bars, but instead of alcohol be able to enjoy an infused cocktail or snack or smoke some some weed.
Well I am here to tell you friends, those days are here!
Well, OK not everywhere. It will depend on where you live, but cannabis consumption lounges are opening at greater numbers than ever before.
Now depending on where it's located and local ordinances, the rules governing cannabis consumption lounges will differ.
Some only allow edible and vaping but no smoking. Others, like those in Spain, you have to pay a small stipend and become a member of the club in order to enter and enjoy cannabis.
The best cannabis consumption lounges have few restrictions.
One of the best examples of a great consumption lounge that I wish more would model themselves after is the Crisp Lounge in the Humboldt County town of Eureka.
The lounge has the vibe of a sports bar but with no alcohol served. There are TVs to watch the game, pool tables, and seating to relax with friends.
The attached dispensary has a wide variety of products you can purchase and consume in the lounge or take home.
When it comes to drinks you can get uninfused soft drinks or cannabis infused beverages such as Pabst Blue Ribbon seltzers. I was surprised at how reasonable the prices were. A can of infused Pabst at the bar was just $6.00 (prices change, I am writing this in Nov 2023).
Beyond just cracking open a can, you can opt to have the budtender mix you a cannabis cocktail from one of the Pamos infused mixers available. We chose the infuse Mai Tais. As a fan of the cocktail, I have to say these bear little resemblance to a Mai Tai, nonetheless they were delicious in their own right.
How it works is you buy the infused mixer and the budtender mixes it into a cocktail, in this case by adding mineral water and coconut water of ice and shaking. A pint bottle of infused mixer contains 100 mg THC and was enough for three of us to each have a cocktail with extra leftover to take home.
You can also vape or smoke cannabis in the lounge. We picked up a couple of prerolls to go with our cannabis cocktails. I loved that they have a bin to recycle the packaging from prerolls and other products from the dispensary.
Crisp lounge was relaxing and it was tons of fun to say to my friends, “Hey, let’s go to Crisp for Happy Hour and I’ll buy you a preroll!”
While the reality of cannabis consumption lounges is here in some areas, I long for the day when everyone has this safer alternative to alcohol.
