Canada getting cannabis consumption right
Charlie from the annual Monroe Street Fair in Ann Arbor shared a nice feature with us from The London Free Press on Behind the Bend, a cannabis consumption cafe in southwest Ontario. It says in part:
Most of the tables are filled for Sunday brunch at this tranquil outdoor cafe located off the main drag of Southwestern Ontario’s busiest beach town – which is best known for booze-fueled benders, bikinis and deep-fried fare.
But London entrepreneur Laura Bradley, 32, wanted to create a space that was both classy and chic in Grand Bend when she launched what’s believed to be Ontario’s first cannabis consumption lounge.
Behind the Bend, which is tucked behind Bradley’s marijuana retail store on Main Street, serves locally sourced food, fresh pastries and non-alcoholic drinks.
“Instead of expanding the retail brand, I thought I’m going to get ahead of the curve on the next wave,” Bradley said of her reason for opening the business. “And I think the next wave will be consumption lounges.”
Some customers spark up spliffs, others munch on cannabis-infused edibles, while many just come for the food and atmosphere, opting not to indulge in the world’s most-used drug.
Each table has a selection of vintage games, like Connect 4 and Jenga, and the essential tools for rolling joints. The outdoor space features a fountain, a firepit and lots of greenery.
“It’s a 50-50 split,” she said of her customers, many of whom she knows by name. “You don’t have to be immersed in the (cannabis) culture to want to be here.”
One couple in their 70s, who both prefer edibles to smoking cannabis, said they just came for the coffee and conversation.
“This is lovely back here,” said the woman, who stopped in at Bradley’s retail store, The Bend Cannabis Co., to pick up a package of pre-rolled joints for a friend.
With smoking banned on the beach and the main strip, Bradley said municipal officials welcomed her idea to provide a private place to smoke cannabis. “So they were really supportive right away.”
More in the London Times & we really hope that Michigan follows the lead of places that are making legal cannabis legally accessible to enjoy!! For sure follow all the latest developments on consumption lounges in Michigan through the MCT!
photo courtesy Behind the Bend on Facebook.
