Indeed, what is a "consumption lounge?" I had never heard of one, but Princess somehow knew all about them (as princesses do, I suppose). Simply put, it's like a local bar, but for smoking cannabis instead of drinking beer. It's a laid-back social setting, often directly connected to a cannabis dispensary. They are new, even to California, but growing steadily in popularity as a way of giving consumers a chill spot to smoke, dab, vape and meet new people.
This past 4/20 (actually it was the 22nd), we ventured out in the early afternoon to celebrate with Delta Boyz in Isleton, CA. Their shop is amazing and the staff are friendly, knowledgeable, and very helpful. They chatted us up, registered us for a raffle, and then escorted us toward the rear of the dispensary where the party was going on! Feeling as curious as Alice(s) in Wonderland, we stepped through a doorway into a very purply room with wall murals, lava lamps, cool seating, magazines, and a bar serving cannabis punch. So just what you would expect, right? Are you betting the room was FILLED with smoke? Wrong. They surely have casino-style air purifiers in there, meaning very little chance of a good contact buzz.
They had an upstairs in this historic building which seemed to promise...well, who knows? So of course we had to go up 'em. I mean, that's like showing me a bunch of buttons and telling me not to push any of them. But FIRST, let's just take a sec to talk about those stairs in terms of accessibility (again, this was a historic building, so no expectations and they were super cool). But due to her illness, for the past several years, Princess hasn't been able to stand unassisted and certainly not for more than 5 or 10 minutes before she passes out. So walking up those stairs??? LOL, yeah, my instinct was this is not going to happen. We sat back down for a minute to ponder. As it turns out, I was pondering and Princess was lighting another joint. Half a gram later, she was halfway up the stairs, took my hand and words of support for the rest of them, and we had made it! #thankyoucannabis
Upstairs there was wide-open space with 5 or 6 small sitting rooms off to the sides. At the time, people were set up in those rooms to distribute freebies and introduce you to their products for sale. Princess tested and fell madly in love with the Puffco Peak Pro (not-sponsed, by the way... yet, cough cough). The Puffco Peak Pro is a dab rig for vaping concentrate and, according to Princess, it offered a potentially life-changing experience. Indeed, it's how she was able to get back down the stairs. She maintains that this product would be especially useful for those who dab to address acute medical issues. Pricey, but a must-have for her own medicinal rotation (we are gonna have to save up for that one though, lol). Anyway, if this is within your spending range, Yes! Buy one of these for your Grandma.
I don't even remember if there was any music, but what I do remember is bumping into a whole bunch of happy people of every age, color, and ability. "Hi, I'm Bob! What's your name?" Say that out loud (to yourself) a hundred or so times and change the name - do it in a Spongebob voice to get the excitement just right. Princess and I came away realizing that personal introductions like this must be of critical importance to people who are smoking. Weed Etiquette 101: Make Sure Everyone Feels Welcome. And we happily joined right in, "Hi, I'm Maestro! This is Princess! What's your name?" The loungers (is that what we'll call ourselves?), the vendors, and the staff were incredibly thoughtful and kind. What a pleasure it was to meet them all. Can't wait to go back!
Sidenote: Princess was one of the raffle winners and came home with a bag FULL of goodies! Thank you, Delta Boyz!
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