A look inside Oregon's first marijuana cafe
By Thomas Griffin for KVAL.comPORTLAND, Ore. -- The Cannabis Cafe opened on Nov. 13 at 4:20 p.m., Oregon’s first marijuana cafe. MultimediaPeople must register with the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program with a doctor’s approval in order to receive a medical marijuana card, and they must also be members of the Oregon chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML, to get into the cafe. There is a $20 monthly fee and a $5 cover charge as well. The cafe is located in a historical building, which used to be a speakeasy and a ballroom, in a neighborhood in northeast Portland on Dekum Street.
“Budtenders” attend to the bar in the front of the cafe.
No marijuana is sold at the establishment. Various certified growers donate marijuana to the cafe. Patients can also bring in their own medicine. The cafe does not serve alcohol and serves a wide variety of soups, salads, burgers and paninis. Currently, Oregon has approximately 24,000 patients with medical marijuana cards. Oregon became the second state, behind California, to allow medical marijuana use in 1998. Patients are now allowed to grow their own crops instead of going to a dealer. Now that the Obama administration is shying away from marijuana raids, places like the Cannabis Cafe may start popping up in the dozen or so states that have medical marijuana laws.
Portland native Thomas Griffin is a senior in the journalism program at the University of Oregon. He has been published by the Oregonian's website, OregonLive.com, for his editorial on Barack Obama. |
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