Drinks are free to drink in bars and restaurants as Chicago citizens rise from their sofas and return to normal life as the city moves at a rapid pace towards a full reopening.
However, cannabis smokers still have no place to be legally stoned in public, and for more than a year after cannabis was fully legalized throughout the state, cannabis use remains largely in the shadows. ..
In other states, public consumption lounges and smoke-filled party buses promote tourism by emphasizing the true nature of recreational weeds. Have a good time.
“People want to smoke marijuana where they couldn’t, because it was taboo and illegal,” said Andy Seger, a cannabis consultant who once worked as an industry analyst in Chicago. “Like a bar, like coffee, this is a huge experience.”
But for now, Mr. Seger said the tightly regulated pot market in Illinois was “incredibly uninteresting,” likening his experience at a dispensing pharmacy to “lining up in a pharmacy line.” He criticizes the pot company for not creating a safe haven to get high.
“They aren’t interested in helping Stoner or entertaining this. They’re trying to commercialize it. They’re trying to make it. [a consumer packaged good] And [that] Looks very, very regulated. And the more regulated they are, the stronger their monopoly rights, “said Seger, of a few major cannabis companies with extraordinary shares in the industry.
Some companies want to provide outlets for their customers to relax, but are hampered by state and local regulations.
The prospect of allowing on-site cannabis consumption in businesses has sparked fierce debate between both state and city council members. Ultimately, state law, which legalized recreational weeds, allowed local governments to decide whether to allow dispensers and tobacco stores to set up consumption space, allowing indoor smoking in public places. Exempted from the strict Illinois smoking cessation law.
At least two such lounges have local approval in the state, but neither is open. And in Chicago, the city council has not yet set local rules.
Laws introduced in Springfield earlier this year could also pave the way for a solid cannabis tourism industry, but the committee is stuck without a vote. The bill will allow municipalities and counties to license cannabis or cannabis clubs and tours that enable the sale and consumption of cannabis or cannabis-injected products.
Halfway through comedy clubs, weed tours, etc.
Meanwhile, some plans remain floating in the air.
Brian Gies, co-owner of Dispensery 33, said he would like to work with a “social equity” partner to open a cannabis lounge in his new store in West Loop. Zises envisions using the store’s basement as a stone-filled venue for comedy and musicals, but the ground floor has a large space with long counters and tables, and is now a waiting room. It works and can be reused.
“It’s available and fully configured for everything,” says Zises. “We want to give the consumer lounge to a group that can improve Chicago’s music and Chicago’s art scene in a way that brings fun back to cannabis.”
Promoted by Zises as the last independent weed shop in the city, Dispensary 33 has long sought to blend cannabis with culture. Most notably, Zises and his team hosted a street festival outside the flagship store of Dispensary 33 in Uptown to celebrate marijuana’s high holiday, April 20th.
Zises claimed that the city council “doesn’t even know how much money is left on the table” because he didn’t set local rules for local consumption. But the next day, after meeting with Jesses, Aldo Walter Burnett (27th) said he was planning to draft an ordinance to do just that.
1152 W. Ward’s Burnett, including the new Dispensery 33 location on Randolph Street, intends to seek “social equity” partners in all consumer lounges as a way to strengthen minority involvement in the Lily Whiteweed industry. I said there is. State-wide legalization is the same language that applicants use to enhance the licensing process.
Zises isn’t the only one looking to make Nabeya a cultural center.
Jona Lapino, a spokeswoman for Wheaton-based pot company NuEra, had a lively debate about allowing pots to be used in the company’s new stores in West Loop, Champaign and southern Pekin. Said that. However, they have been plagued by concerns that current law does not allow companies to carry out their grand vision.
According to Rapino, the company wants to offer cannabis education opportunities and DJ and band events.
“We want to be a destination,” said Lapino, who believes that opening locks for the use of public pots will benefit both the cannabis and tourism industries. ..
“It will be a big move and a big profit for Illinois to become the number one social consumer state in the United States,” he said. “If you have more options for social consumption, I think it’s normal to go to California, Colorado, Las Vegas and elsewhere.”
For now, NuEra has partnered with The Hideout, a popular Northside music venue. Here, the company recently held a sidewalk market to celebrate April 20th.
“Wine tour without drinking wine”
The company has also partnered with Chi High Tours, which launched in April to offer pot-centric tours centered on education and culture. The company currently offers tours on a variety of themes, including tours that take guests to the brewery and tours that end with a comedy show.
However, due to current restrictions, riders will not be able to ride stones during the tour, but food infused with CBD will be provided. In addition, they are taken to the Herbal Care Center on the Near West Side to purchase weeds and instructed on how to consume them.
James Gordon, executive director and founder of Chi High Tours, admits that the current tour lacks a “party bus feel”, but the law will change to make it possible. I want Gordon complained that the state was still taking a “hard” approach to cannabis, not looking at Colorado and California, where businesses providing public consumption Claimed that “everywhere, there is an opportunity to grow.”
“At the end of the day, a non-drinking wine tour is just an experience,” Gordon said, making a comparison to highlight his point.
Gordon said he understands the struggle of social justice applicants for long-deferred permits as he seeks to gain a foothold in the cannabis world of Illinois. Gordon from Brooklyn After being convicted of guns, he was sentenced to four years in federal prison in Florida. In prison, his late father visited and expressed his final wish to “change.”
Gordon has since grown into a serial entrepreneur and now wants to extend his cannabis tour model to five other cities. He lived in Florida and didn’t apply for a new license here, but Gordon said he wanted to set an example for a minority business owner who wanted to break into the weed industry.
“Good luck, good luck, because greatness is right there.”
Illinois’ “incredibly uninteresting” pot industry is missing out. Here’s how it changes:
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