Speech on Cannabis Culture Lounge in Vancouver

Introduction:

[Slide 1]

• Good afternoon everybody, let us tell share with you our one of a kind experience in downtown Vancouver.

• Group member introduction, HI I’M….[everyone do their own name]

• We wanted to explore a business that is relevant, original, and hopefully controversial.
• [Slide 2] When we walked in...first impressions [do our anecdote-Catrina, Amber, [Slide 3] Gordon Joy]

History:

[Slide 4]

-       So who is Marc Emery?

-     Marc Emery is a Canadian cannabis activist and entrepreneur, more often known as the “Prince of Pot.”  In 2001, he founded the first Cannabis Culture lounge in Vancouver, which is the place we visited, but it faced many challenges, especially legal and controversial issues that surrounded the consumption of marijuana

-  He was involved in selling marijuana seeds in the late 1990s, and was charged with a jail sentence. He was banned from coming back to the Hastings district where his businesses is located. But operations were finally back on track in 2005.

-       The lounge is one of the only cannabis-focused businesses in Vancouver that encourages marijuana consumption within their own premise, customers can rent vaporizers, bongs or other smoking devices for only $5 per person.

The two businesses got acquainted  

-         In 2007, there was a fire next door to Marc Emery’s building that destroyed several local businesses, including New Amsterdam Café, so Jodie Emery (Marc’s wife) rented out a part of the building for NAC to continue operating, and the two businesses have co-existed to this day.

Cannabis Culture

[Slide 5]

Cannabis has been used in the ancient past such as India, Romania, and Egypt where it was often used for medical purposes. However, the consumption of cannabis has evolved into a recreational culture.

Cannabis was once sold in social clubs known as "Teapads" in the 1920s and was often viewed to be of lower class and was disliked by many people. After it was outlawed, consumption is done in secrecy, which is what we mostly see today.

Right now, cannabis is only used legally in Cannabis coffee shops as Medical cannabis, private clubs, or privately. Marc Emery’s Cannabis Culture Lounge promotes this culture and has become a community where people can share and blaze together

• Explain different types of equipment used: bongs, vaporizers, volcano

April 20th (or 420) has become a counterculture holiday in north america that cannabis enthusiasts come together to celebrate

Pro-legislation:

[Slide 6]

-         Since Marc Emery has been a long-time activist involved in the legalization and decriminalization of marijuana, the Cannabis Culture Lounge is also pro-legislation.

-         The business is located at W Hastings in Gastown and the surrounding area has become known as the Pot Block of Vancouver due to the pro-legislation efforts of the local businesses such as Marc Emery’s Cannabis Culture Lounge and New Amsterdam Cafe.  

[Slide 7]

[pic 1]

- “Vansterdam” attracts and encourages tourism and the promotion of blaze culture both in and outside of the cannabis community. Due to the increase in interest and demand, the number of marijuana-related businesses in Vancouver have grown from 20 to 80 between 2012 and 2015

-          Although the lounge always had a Bring Your Own Weed (BYOW) policy where customers can blaze together inside the lounge, the business started “dispensing,” or selling, small amounts of marijuana to customers as of Oct. 19, after the Liberal Party became the majority government. This further demonstrates the business’s activist efforts since the Liberal Party committed to legalize and regulate marijuana.