First U.S. marijuana cafe opens in Portland

[Italian Outsider]

Fri Nov 13, 2009 8:51pm EST
By Dan Cook

PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) - The United States' first marijuana cafe opened on Friday, posing an early test of the Obama administration's move to relax policing of medical use of the drug.

The Cannabis Cafe in Portland, Oregon, is the first to give certified medical marijuana users a place to get hold of the drug and smoke it -- as long as they are out of public view -- despite a federal ban.

"This club represents personal freedom, finally, for our members," said Madeline Martinez, Oregon's executive director of NORML, a group pushing for marijuana legalization.

"Our plans go beyond serving food and marijuana," said Martinez. "We hope to have classes, seminars, even a Cannabis Community College, based here to help people learn about growing and other uses for cannabis."

The cafe -- in a two-story building which formerly housed a speak-easy and adult erotic club Rumpspankers -- is technically a private club, but is open to any Oregon residents who are NORML members and hold an official medical marijuana card.

Members pay $25 per month to use the 100-person capacity cafe. They don't buy marijuana, but get it free over the counter from "budtenders". Open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., it serves food but has no liquor license.

There are about 21,000 patients registered to use marijuana for medical purposes in Oregon. Doctors have prescribed marijuana for a host of illnesses, including Alzheimer's, diabetes, multiple sclerosis and Tourette's syndrome.

On opening day, reporters invited to the cafe could smell, but were not allowed to see, people smoking marijuana.

"I still run a coffee shop and events venue, just like I did before we converted it to the Cannabis Cafe, but now it will be cannabis-themed," said Eric Solomon, the owner of the cafe, who is looking forward to holding marijuana-themed weddings, film festivals and dances in the second-floor ballroom.

NO PROSECUTION

The creation of the cafe comes almost a month after the Obama administration told federal attorneys not to prosecute patients who use marijuana for medical reasons or dispensaries in states which have legalized them.

About a dozen states, including Oregon, followed California's 1996 move to adopt medical marijuana laws, allowing the drug to be cultivated and sold for medical use. A similar number have pending legislation or ballot measures planned.

Pot cafes, known as "coffee shops", are popular in the Dutch city of Amsterdam, where possession of small amounts of marijuana is legal. Portland's Cannabis Cafe is the first of its kind to open in the United States, according to NORML.

Growing, possessing, distributing and smoking marijuana are still illegal under U.S. federal law, which makes no distinction between medical and recreational use.

Federal and local law enforcement agencies did not return phone calls from Reuters on Friday seeking comment on the Portland cafe's operations.

"To have a place that is this open about its activities, where people can come together and smoke -- I say that's pretty amazing." said Tim Pate, a longtime NORML member, at the cafe.

Some locals are hoping it might even be good for business.

"I know some neighbors are pretty negative about this place opening up," said David Bell, who works at a boutique that shares space with the cafe. "But I'm withholding judgment. There's no precedent for it. We don't know what to expect. But it would great if it brought some customers into our store.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5AD06O20091114

Not sure. Seeing how the Netherlands are going downhill...

 

[Quintastic One]

So it's a place where crusty old baby boomers & shaggy homeless teenagers & snowboarders can gather to smoke the reefer and laugh moronically every time someone rings up an order that comes out to $4.20 as if it's some big secret or funny joke. Big deal.

However, a Cannabis community college would be a stupid idea. Nobody would be able to afford to attend since all their social security paychecks go to weed & munchies.

 

[Wrestling Station]

that place will be in such a fuckin' huge fire with all that drugs stored inside good grief

 

[Colin Gimp]

It's the 30-60 ratio that is getting weed legalized. It's hard for people to buy good weed, once they lose their lifelong dealer they're fucked asking kids for dirt weed. They work hard come home ,chill out, smoke a joint put on their tom petty or whatever nostalgic record and then forget about there old brittle bones for 20 minutes.

Nothing should be wrong with that and all these loser kids are just bad examples. Weed's not like liquour and overexposure means you'll gain an immunity, trust me you feel stupid buying big bags of pot when the shit doesn't even get you high anymore. Everyone works hard for their money and can do whatever the fuck they want with it, even kids. Hippies (i was just in bc) aren't even real hippies anymore they don't rally and protest about anything that truly matters, they just wanna grow there pot in peace, pussys. They're dying from heat and have Morales and values that they don't even remember, the southern kootenays where they're located hasn't received a cell phone tower cause they believe in brain cancer from cell phones and they want to keep it neanderthal just so they can grow there weed and stick their dick in the mud. You then have Vancouver where everyone young and old are just a fiend. The fiends who will tell you it's not their fault they're weak minded, weed's a gateway and then the loser kids are really hurting the progression of pot but it's the working class joe blow that is getting these strides taking into place.