GOOD QUALITY, NO COPS: HIGH TIMES FOR THE DOPE SCENE IN EDMONTON

What Would An Edmonton Pot Cafe Look Like?: For Starters, A Glass Bong On
Every Table

Imagine: burning a fattie while your butt is nestled into an oversized
sofa. A waitress brings you a mocha latte and a veggie wrap as that
unmistakably sweet scent floats with some subtle music across the room.

A colourful, glass bong sits on every table and there's marijuana beer on tap.

That is, of course, if James Town's wish is granted to open Edmonton's
first cannabis cafe, where people could freely smoke pot.

The 18-year-old employee of Shell Shock, a head shop off Whyte Avenue,
already has a name for it: Bubonica,a play on Bubonic, a potent strain of weed.

With all the recent talk about the possible decriminalization of marijuana,
some of us at ed wondered what it would be like to have a cannabis cafe here.

Police shut down the Hemp Cafe near Whyte Ave. two years ago. But in
laid-back Vancouver, pot cafes continue to operate along the trendy West
Hastings strip.

Kevin Stewart, who owns True North Hemp Co. on Whyte Ave. with his son
Troy, recently visited the coast and some of its cafes.

Like head shops, they sell everything from pipes to rolling papers out
front. The cafes operate in back rooms, where there are cushy couches and
booths. There's coffee and tea and healthy hemp snacks for sale.

There's no alcohol, and no one under 18 is allowed inside. Toking is
permitted; smoking is taboo.

Stewart says while he was sitting back, relaxing at one cafe, he watched as
two American tourists sat down at a table. They spotted an ashtray with a
few roaches in it, then lit up some tobacco cigarettes.

Staff promptly informed the pair they were in a "weed only" cafe and
escorted them into a separate, ventilated room for cigarette smokers.

"I thought, right on," says Stewart. "Isn't that so civilized?"

Edmonton's smoking bylaw bans smoking in all restaurants and bars, unless
they restrict minors.

Restricting a cannabis cafe to people 18 and over would avoid the legal
issue of whether marijuana is included with tobacco under the city bylaw,
as well as allow staff the option of serving alcohol.

Jason Koehler, owner of three local Two Guys with Pipes shops, says the
cafe idea could expand to other types of clubs that would cater to specific
tastes.

A doobie blues bar? A reefer rock club?

"There are so many settings for it," says Koehler. "The possibilities are
endless."

Endless, and a bit scary, says Mike Kalmanovitch, owner of Earth's General
Store, purveyors of everything clean and green on Whyte.

While he is pro-decriminalization, he predicts opening cannabis cafes would
lead to trouble.

People would get lazy and sit around all day, he says. And anyone wanting a
piece of the marijuana market would jump on board.

"As soon as one opens, a Safeway would be putting one in."