First U.S. marijuana cafe opens in Portland

Sat Nov 14, 2009 7:36am EST

By Dan Cook

PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) - The United States' first marijuana cafe opened on Friday, posing an early test of the Obama administration's move to relax policing of medical use of the drug.

The Cannabis Cafe in Portland, Oregon, is the first to give certified medical marijuana users a place to get hold of the drug and smoke it -- as long as they are out of public view -- despite a federal ban.

"This club represents personal freedom, finally, for our members," said Madeline Martinez, Oregon's executive director of NORML, a group pushing for marijuana legalization.

"Our plans go beyond serving food and marijuana," said Martinez. "We hope to have classes, seminars, even a Cannabis Community College, based here to help people learn about growing and other uses for cannabis."

The cafe -- in a two-story building which formerly housed a speak-easy and adult erotic club Rumpspankers -- is technically a private club, but is open to any Oregon residents who are NORML members and hold an official medical marijuana card.

Members pay $25 per month to use the 100-person capacity cafe. They don't buy marijuana, but get it free over the counter from "budtenders". Open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., it serves food but has no liquor license.

There are about 21,000 patients registered to use marijuana for medical purposes in Oregon. Doctors have prescribed marijuana for a host of illnesses, including Alzheimer's, diabetes, multiple sclerosis and Tourette's syndrome.

On opening day, reporters invited to the cafe could smell, but were not allowed to see, people smoking marijuana.

"I still run a coffee shop and events venue, just like I did before we converted it to the Cannabis Cafe, but now it will be cannabis-themed," said Eric Solomon, the owner of the cafe, who is looking forward to holding marijuana-themed weddings, film festivals and dances in the second-floor ballroom.

NO PROSECUTION

The creation of the cafe comes almost a month after the Obama administration told federal attorneys not to prosecute patients who use marijuana for medical reasons or dispensaries in states which have legalized them.

About a dozen states, including Oregon, followed California's 1996 move to adopt medical marijuana laws, allowing the drug to be cultivated and sold for medical use. A similar number have pending legislation or ballot measures planned.

Pot cafes, known as "coffee shops", are popular in the Dutch city of Amsterdam, where possession of small amounts of marijuana is legal. Portland's Cannabis Cafe is the first of its kind to open in the United States, according to NORML.

Growing, possessing, distributing and smoking marijuana are still illegal under U.S. federal law, which makes no distinction between medical and recreational use.

Federal and local law enforcement agencies did not return phone calls from Reuters on Friday seeking comment on the Portland cafe's operations.

"To have a place that is this open about its activities, where people can come together and smoke -- I say that's pretty amazing." said Tim Pate, a longtime NORML member, at the cafe.

Some locals are hoping it might even be good for business.

"I know some neighbors are pretty negative about this place opening up," said David Bell, who works at a boutique that shares space with the cafe. "But I'm withholding judgment. There's no precedent for it. We don't know what to expect. But it would great if it brought some customers into our store."

(Writing by Bill Rigby; editing by Mohammad Zargham)

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;-) Glenn wrote: > Hey, Phil. No problem, I'm just having a little fun with this > individual. You know, finding those triggers, then jabbing them with > an icepick in that oh, so subtle manner... > > (Heh, heh!) > > -g- > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you angry." > > - Aldous Huxley > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > *From:* Philip Andrews <phil@...> > *To:* cp3@yahoogroups.com > *Sent:* Thu, November 12, 2009 7:33:59 PM > *Subject:* Re: [CPOP] Re: WTC "Victim" Franklin Allan Pershep is Gerry > Mendicino, actor > > Is there a problem here? > > Glenn wrote: > > Freedom means everything to me. Really. > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you angry." > > > > - Aldous Huxley > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > *From:* Ozzy bin Oswald <hisholiness@... > <mailto:hisholiness@...>> > > *To:* cp3@yahoogroups.com <mailto:cp3@yahoogroups.com> > > *Sent:* Thu, November 12, 2009 7:08:15 PM > > *Subject:* [CPOP] Re: WTC "Victim" Franklin Allan Pershep is Gerry > > Mendicino, actor > > > > --- In cp3@yahoogroups.com <mailto:cp3@yahoogroups.com> > <mailto:cp3@yahoogroups.com <mailto:cp3@yahoogroups.com>>, Glenn > > <gameochance@...> wrote: > > > > > But we love you, Oz. CPOP wouldn't be what it is without you, man. > > > > > > Thanks "Glenn". That means everything to me. > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------ > > > > Constitutional Patriots Opposing Prohibition > > > > "America's drug war is so stupid that if you pay close attention > > to just how stupid it is -- it'll drive you to use drugs." > > -- Jim Hightower > > > > Constitutional Patriots Opposing Prohibition-Join us!-Link Below > > Http://www.cpop.org <Http://www.cpop.org> <Http://www.cpop.org > <Http://www.cpop.org>> > > > > Greenpanthers http://www.ph1landrews.com/tm/ > <http://www.ph1landrews.com/tm/> > > <http://www.ph1landrews.com/tm/ <http://www.ph1landrews.com/tm/>> > > The only no compromise pot organization ( Direct Action!) > > > > Phil's NorthWest Forum http://ph1landrews.com > <http://ph1landrews.com> <http://ph1landrews.com <http://ph1landrews.com>> > > Freedom of Speach is found there.Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > (Yahoo! ID required) > > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------ > > Constitutional Patriots Opposing Prohibition > > "America's drug war is so stupid that if you pay close attention > to just how stupid it is -- it'll drive you to use drugs." > -- Jim Hightower > > Constitutional Patriots Opposing Prohibition-Join us!-Link Below > Http://www.cpop.org <Http://www.cpop.org> > > Greenpanthers http://www.ph1landrews.com/tm/ > <http://www.ph1landrews.com/tm/> > The only no compromise pot organization ( Direct Action!) > > Phil's NorthWest Forum http://ph1landrews.com <http://ph1landrews.com> > Freedom of Speach is found there.Yahoo! Groups Links > > (Yahoo! ID required) > > > >

What does that make you Mr. Hide myself with some fake name? You have been a problem from time to time. I personally know Glenn, can't say the same with you. Ozzy bin Oswald wrote: > > Wait, wait...let me get my handerkerchief and position my hand over my > breast. > > It's my experience that characters who pronounce their themselves as > only altruistic from a soapbox are usually cads. > > --- In cp3@yahoogroups.com <mailto:cp3%40yahoogroups.com>, Glenn > <gameochance@...> wrote: > > > > Freedom means everything to me. Really. > > > > > >

Wait, wait...let me get my handerkerchief and position my hand over my breast. It's my experience that characters who pronounce their themselves as only altruistic from a soapbox are usually cads. --- In cp3@yahoogroups.com, Glenn <gameochance@...> wrote: > > Freedom means everything to me. Really. > >

Is there a problem here? Glenn wrote: > Freedom means everything to me. Really. > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you angry." > > - Aldous Huxley > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > *From:* Ozzy bin Oswald <hisholiness@...> > *To:* cp3@yahoogroups.com > *Sent:* Thu, November 12, 2009 7:08:15 PM > *Subject:* [CPOP] Re: WTC "Victim" Franklin Allan Pershep is Gerry > Mendicino, actor > > --- In cp3@yahoogroups.com <mailto:cp3@yahoogroups.com>, Glenn > <gameochance@...> wrote: > > > But we love you, Oz. CPOP wouldn't be what it is without you, man. > > > Thanks "Glenn". That means everything to me. > > > > > ------------------------------------ > > Constitutional Patriots Opposing Prohibition > > "America's drug war is so stupid that if you pay close attention > to just how stupid it is -- it'll drive you to use drugs." > -- Jim Hightower > > Constitutional Patriots Opposing Prohibition-Join us!-Link Below > Http://www.cpop.org <Http://www.cpop.org> > > Greenpanthers http://www.ph1landrews.com/tm/ > <http://www.ph1landrews.com/tm/> > The only no compromise pot organization ( Direct Action!) > > Phil's NorthWest Forum http://ph1landrews.com <http://ph1landrews.com> > Freedom of Speach is found there.Yahoo! Groups Links > > (Yahoo! ID required) > > > >

CORPUS CHRISTI � Police on Wednesday gave CPR to a man after an officer used a Taser to subdue him during an incident on Wooldridge Road. Police Chief Troy Riggs said the man was surviving late Wednesday. He was taken to Christus Spohn Hospital Memorial, but Riggs didn�t know the man�s condition. Riggs said many details of the incident still were being investigated but it began at 6:54 p.m. when an officer on patrol saw drivers flashing their headlights at Cimarron Boulevard and Airline Road. Riggs said the officer discovered a bicyclist who was westbound in the eastbound lane on Wooldridge near Airline. When the officer approached the cyclist, the man became verbally abusive, Riggs said. The cyclist then rode to a nearby restaurant in a shopping center where the officer again stopped him and tried to pat the man down. The man resisted, Riggs said, and a confrontation began. That�s when the officer called for backup. The officer who first confronted the man used pepper spray, but it didn�t subdue the man, Riggs said. The chief said the officer then used a Taser. He said he didn�t know where the Taser struck the man, who police believe to be in his 50s. Officers cuffed the man and realized he wasn�t responsive and began CPR and called an ambulance, Riggs said. In all, five Corpus Christi police officers responded. Riggs said a CCISD police officer also was on scene. The city officer who used the Taser has been put on administrative leave, which is standard procedure during the investigation, Riggs said. Riggs didn�t release the name of the officer late Wednesday. Last month, Taser International advised police agencies across the nation not to shoot its stun guns at a suspect�s chest. The Associated Press reported that the Arizona-based company says such action poses a risk, albeit extremely low, of what it called an adverse cardiac event. The advisory, issued in an Oct. 12 training bulletin, marked the first time that Taser has suggested there is any risk of a cardiac arrest related to the use of its 50,000-volt stun guns, the AP reported. Taser officials have said the bulletin does not state that Tasers can cause cardiac arrest. They said the advisory means only that law-enforcement agencies can avoid controversy if their officers aim at areas other than the chest.

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