HomeUploadUpload DirectHotlinkRandomAbouttheme toggle

Inside America's First Restaurant for Weed

Views: 859
West Hollywood's Lowell Farms Cafe serves food, drinks, and marijuana.

-------
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/ReasonTV?subconfirmation=1
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Reason.Magazine.
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/reason
Subscribe to our podcast at iTunes: https://goo.gl/az3a7a

Reason is the planet's leading source of news, politics, and culture from a libertarian perspective. Go to reason.com for a point of view you won't get from legacy media and old left-right opinion magazines.
---------
"We wanted it to be an escape," says Lily Estanislao, general manager of Lowell Farms Cafe, the first fully operational cannabis restaurant in the U.S. "You're kind of going on a little trip when you're here."

Housed in a 20,000-square-foot former brewery in West Hollywood, Lowell Farms Cafe has a menu that includes edibles, joints, high-tech bongs, and vapes.

Erika Soto, an industry veteran, works as a "flower host"—a waitress for weed. When guests arrive, she walks them through their options, explains the effects of various strains, and advises them on proper dosage levels. Lowell is an "important" step combating the "negative stigmas that surround the subject that is cannabis," Soto told Reason.

"What our ultimate goal is, is to be able to pair the cannabis with the foods. Your flower host would be like a sommelier, and we want the food service to be versed in cannabis as well," says Estanislao, who tells Reason that Lowell has received more than 800 job applications in its first month of operation. "Everybody wants to work here," she says.

For now, Lowell could only be located in the city of West Hollywood, which created a special permit for cannabis hospitality businesses. Estanislao and her team are making a big effort to get along with their neighbors. After the rabbi at a nearby synagogue expressed concern that her congregants would be bombarded with marijuana odor, the restaurant installed massive air filters and machines that spray a scent-neutralizing essential oil called Cannabolish.

West Hollywood has "been on the forefront of just being accepting of everything that's more liberal and that's that needs to be liberated," says Soto. "So West Hollywood is now known as the mecca of cannabis."

Because California requires that all cannabis products to be tracked seed-to-sale and lab-tested, Lowell Cafe isn't allowed to make its own marijuana-infused foods or drinks. Everything must be prepackaged.

And lighting up a tobacco cigarette is prohibited at Lowell, in compliance with West Hollywood law.

Lowell Cafe's license is provisional for the first year, after which the city council will decide whether to renew it. In the meantime, more cannabis hospitality shops are coming. The city has issued licenses to seven additional businesses, including one that will offer a virtual reality experience and another a day spa.

Estanislao is working hard "to set the standard."

"We want to prove to ourselves and prove to everyone else that this is something that can be done," she says. "If we can just spread the love through the country, then that's for sure what we want to do."

Produced by Zach Weissmueller. Camera by Benjamin Gaskell and John Osterhoudt.

#marijuana #weed #legalization
@ReasonVidsfollow
Thumbnail for Stossel: Rand Paul Wants to End America's Wars5:14
Stossel: Rand Paul Wants to End America's Wars
ReasonVids
756 views
Thumbnail for "No one can do what a mother can do and you should be proud of that"0:48
"No one can do what a mother can do and you should be proud of that"
AOU
1000 views
Thumbnail for WHISTLEBLOWER: LA Port Worker Says Shortages are FAKE!12:50
WHISTLEBLOWER: LA Port Worker Says Shortages are FAKE!
bestofpoal
1772 views
Thumbnail for DIY Law Enforcement in Cash-Strapped Oregon County6:29
DIY Law Enforcement in Cash-Strapped Oregon County
ReasonVids
836 views
Thumbnail for Talking Heads Are Calling for Drone Strikes Against Americans for Questioning the Election1:14
Talking Heads Are Calling for Drone Strikes Against Americans for Questioning the Election
bestofpoal
3560 views
Thumbnail for Former Pentagon jewess is concerned about the mass-invasion of the U.S. but not in the way you might think.0:58
Former Pentagon jewess is concerned about the mass-invasion of the U.S. but not in the way you might think.
AOUisgay
421 views
Thumbnail for Glenn Loury: 'We're Being Swept Along by Hysteria' About Racism in America1:02:09
Glenn Loury: 'We're Being Swept Along by Hysteria' About Racism in America
ReasonVids
753 views
Thumbnail for Did LBJ Kill Kennedy? (And Why It Matters): Q/A with Roger Stone6:00
Did LBJ Kill Kennedy? (And Why It Matters): Q/A with Roger Stone
ReasonVids
925 views
Thumbnail for Take no chances 0:40
Take no chances
bestofupgoat
57 views
Thumbnail for Kids with a cast on0:27
Kids with a cast on
bestofupgoat
28 views
Thumbnail for Dave Weigel on Presidential Politics4:15
Dave Weigel on Presidential Politics
ReasonVids
892 views
Thumbnail for 50Cent set it straight 🤣 #50cent #rap #hiphop #firstdate | HipHopOfThe90s0:11
50Cent set it straight 🤣 #50cent #rap #hiphop #firstdate | HipHopOfThe90s
invidious
293 views
Thumbnail for Surprise: Voters Aren't More Polarized than Ever, Only Pols and Media Are30:58
Surprise: Voters Aren't More Polarized than Ever, Only Pols and Media Are
ReasonVids
876 views
Thumbnail for Destroying Islamic Fundamentalism With Books1:21:18
Destroying Islamic Fundamentalism With Books
ReasonVids
775 views
Thumbnail for Stealing Music Was the Late 90s Version of Drug Experimentation in the 60s10:47
Stealing Music Was the Late 90s Version of Drug Experimentation in the 60s
ReasonVids
804 views
Thumbnail for @DirtyWhiteBoy Can't Into Restroom0:26
@DirtyWhiteBoy Can't Into Restroom
bestofupgoat
37 views
Thumbnail for Nigger behaves like a nigger and then gets treated like a nigger 0:48
Nigger behaves like a nigger and then gets treated like a nigger
bestofupgoat
163 views
Thumbnail for Ferguson: Do the Facts Even Matter?10:45
Ferguson: Do the Facts Even Matter?
AmericanRenaissance
1403 views
Thumbnail for (aww) hah! This vicious attack dog is way out of shape! The cat seems amused.0:10
(aww) hah! This vicious attack dog is way out of shape! The cat seems amused.
bestofvoatxyz
784 views
Thumbnail for Steve's inventory is in his MOUTH. | Phoenix SC3:47
Steve's inventory is in his MOUTH. | Phoenix SC
invidious
258 views
Thumbnail for The French have had enough and are rising up to defend their cities and towns! (but it is forbidden by the french law/police)0:11
The French have had enough and are rising up to defend their cities and towns! (but it is forbidden by the french law/police)
bestofvoatxyz
617 views
Thumbnail for The Madness of Barack Obama0:55
The Madness of Barack Obama
ReasonVids
815 views
Thumbnail for Joe Kennedy: Not a Bootlegger or a Nazi, But a Hardcore Non-Interventionist8:03
Joe Kennedy: Not a Bootlegger or a Nazi, But a Hardcore Non-Interventionist
ReasonVids
917 views
Thumbnail for How The Hell Did GM Pay Back Its Loans "in Full And Ahead of Schedule"? Well, It Didn't.1:36
How The Hell Did GM Pay Back Its Loans "in Full And Ahead of Schedule"? Well, It Didn't.
ReasonVids
876 views

points

Permalink
Reply
libertarian, reason magazine, reason.com, reason.tv, reasontv, marijuana, weed, pot, cannabis, marijuana cafe, cannabis lounge, west hollywood, legalization, normalization, black market, drug war, lowell farms
TOS  •  Add Keywords  •  Donate  •   Analytics  •   DMCA  •   Puzzle