Imagine being able to get high and hang with friends at a bar with ease, just like ordering a drink.
Many people are joining in a cultural shift by consuming less alcohol and adopting a “Cali sober” lifestyle––forgoing alcohol in favor of cannabis and mushrooms in moderation. But what happens when the bar is no longer where we want to spend our time?
Gathering spots like neighborhood coffee shops and bars serve a purpose in culture as a “third place,” a term coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg that describes public informal gathering spaces for serendipitous conversation. These places occupy a place between work and home, a third place where people can put aside their stress and simply enjoy the company and conversation around them.
For cannabis consumers, social gatherings and consumption has been historically cloistered inside and hidden from sight. Our third place is primarily in private spaces: in homes, in a car, on a stoop, a fire escape, or out of sight in a public park. This is quickly changing as cannabis consumption lounges are beginning to spring up across the country.
High Times Magazine, May 2023
Rose Mary Jane
It was a blue sky and sunny day when my road trip companion and I stopped for a drink at Rose Mary Jane, a cannabis dispensary and bar located near Lake Merritt in Oakland, California. We desperately needed to stretch our legs and enjoy a cold refreshment after spending the last five hours driving the hot, dusty road from Los Angeles.
Inside, sunlight poured in from skylights above the modern loft-like space. Glowing white paper lanterns floated above our heads, suspended from the exposed wood beam ceilings. We pulled up a seat at the bright and welcoming wood-topped bar. “I’ll have a Not Your Father’s Root Beer,” …
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Author: Christina Wong / High Times
