First Cannabis Café in United States Opens in Portland, Oregon

by Blaine Metzgar | November 17, 2009 at 12:09 pm
2104 views | 23 Recommendations | 12 comments

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The United States' first-ever Cannabis Café opened in Portland, Oregon last Friday, November 13, at 4:20 p.m. The concept behind the cafe, located at 700 N.E. Dekum St., is to serve as a catalyst for the normalization of marijuana as a medicine and thus the acceptance of users in the societal sphere.

The only people permitted in the Cannabis Cafe are those licensed to smoke who also hold membership in the lobbying group Oregon NORML. Patrons can bring their own weed or smoke "donated marijuana." This is because Oregon law states that medical marijuana may not be sold.

The café, formerly Cafe Rumpspankers coffee house, functions by way of a loophole in Oregon law allowing people to smoke weed as long as they aren't in view of the general public. So if you by any chance are an Oregon resident who just so happens to have your holds an official medical marijuana card as well you can head on down the the newly opened Cannabis Café.

Oregon's executive director of NORML, Madeline Martinez, said,  "[t]his club represents personal freedom, finally, for our members. [...] Our plans go beyond serving food and marijuana, we hope to have classes, seminars, even a Cannabis Community College, based here to help people learn about growing and other uses for cannabis."

What do you think? Should the State's government shut down the café or just leave it alone and let the pot-heads be?

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1
annoyed@stupidity

first off nice touch finishing your "article" with a slang (if not derrogatory) remark calling people who have MEDICAL reasons for having marijuana use legalized "pot-heads"... you must be old.secondly,  why would the state do anything at all when all that has been done is giving us back rights that never should have been taken away from us anyways (and do your homework, when they took that right away from us it was based on biased, in fact quite RACIST reasons that were largely if not wholly completely untrue and had no research or documentation proving it as fact and therefore should not have been admissable as evidence to begin with.)marijuana is not a drug... it never has been... it has always been an herb that grows naturally and as the late great  Bill Hicks said "to make marijuana against the law is like saying GOD made a mistake."  all you offended bible beaters out there get out your trusted book and look in the first 'chapter' (genesis) where god said "i have given you all the seed bearing plants and herbs to USE"

0
Blaine Metzgar

The term 'pot-head' was intended to be less derogatory and more a term of endearment, apologies if you found it offensive. I guess living in the haze of Vancouver, BC has dulled the implications of 'pot-head' as potentially offensive term to something mundane and far from uncommon.

1
Herbert

I agree, the use of the word 'pothead' is inappropriate. However, this is excellent news!  More of these types of cafe should open, and not only in America.  

4
RealityCheck

the government should shut it down without question. the idiotic potheads that would thrive in this environment do absolutely NOTHING to improve our society and will only set us back if this bullshit it made a "cultural norm" - fucking drug addicts have no place demanding rights - it's illegal, period. not to mention a disgusting habit that leads to even more disgusting human beings.

1
Sparky Swain

Hey all you haters of the Green Herb, seriously chill the fuck out. Shit back and think about this. How can you call them "drug addicts"??? drug addicts are people that drink themselves to death, pop human engineered pills, shoot up with other human engineered substances and etc. This shit comes from the earth and we have all heard the consistent weak arguments about why its bad! so shut your yapper and smell the roses! Alcohol and prescription drugs have caused way more functional problems for people, and defiently have not really help a single person out. Seriously...that shit is legal and there are many examples in the history of the world where they destroyed the lifes,actions and or happenings of great people. Think for me, please...shit erase that think for yourself if you can through all your ignorance. party....

0
Realist

RealityCheck you are an ignorant fool.  Next time you make a comment, try not to be so biased.  Fuck yourself.

2
Tomitheos Linardos

I guess the Amsterdam freedom fever is spreading, making cannabis legal here would save a lot of money in court costs and criminal charges; 

considered as medicine for many ailments and offered in hospitals to patients with appetite disorders, cannabis doesn't seem to be any more of a harmful drug than alcohol consumption at a bar.. without the violent outbursts as it would seem that cannabis has a relaxing effect on the consumer.

2
Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

I agree legalize it and tax it. 

1
RealityCheck

funny how more people recommended my comment than any other. news flash to you "realist", and all you other ignorant pot heads driving this society into the ground. im sure your weed smoking habits really put you forward in this world and is responsible for alot of positive and productive actions?! ...doubtful. get your shit together and grow the fuck up like every other responsible adult trying to positively contribute to society and be better role models to our youth instead of leading them into more gateway drugs that do NOTHING for ANYONE in the long run. why dont you grow some balls and face life for what it is day by day instead of rotting your mind and diluting whats really going on by being stoned for a couple hours. some people have REAL problems, why dont you fucking DO SOMETHING. you arrogant 'weed promoting' assholes are the root to why people misspend their money by wasting it on STUPID drugs that make them turn into idiot vegetables and sit around getting NOTHING done. grow a pair and get a life, seriously. no one has time for your "poor pothead" sob stories.

1
Jon H

RealityCheck, you must REALLY have it together, man! Except, I've smoked herb for over 20 years... and I BET I'm more highly educated than you; I BET I've written more published books and articles than you; I BET I've taught more children and adults than you (and won awards for such 'positive contributions'); I BET I'm a better cook than you; I BET I'm in better shape than you; I BET I have bigger balls than you (since you raised the point); I BET I speak more languages than you; I bet I could go on... No bets that I'm more open-minded than you; more tolerant; and more interested in making a postive contribution... but I digress. If people who smoke herb are "driving this society into the ground" then I'm a banana. Or didn't you call me 'asshole'? 

1
little lady

first of all, whoever said pot heads dont get anything done. i have a child and a full time job, and i do my share in the community. i smoke at night and thats all there is to it. doesnt make me any less of a person. kind of makes me a little bit more i like to think. i have an open mind, which apparently other people need to explore. being closed minded not only hurts other people but yourself. if you cant explore within boundaries.. then whats there to live for. you need to live life by the moment. and the government needs to realize marijuana is here to stay it was here in the 60s and 70s and so on its aint goin anywhere, and if they would just legalize it we would have more space in the jails and prisons for real criminals. like rapists, murderers.. people who do bad things.. not smoking. you dont hear of people getting so ambitious after they smoke that they go drive their cars into buildings.. haha. go smoke some pot and see how you feel report back later. k bye. 

0
Herbert

RealityCheck, appropriate name... You need one!

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