POWIP Piece of Work In Progress

First Amsterdam style “coffee house” opens in US.

Dude! Don't Bogart That Joint! (Click to Enlarge)

For those who had a difficult time following the life expectancy discussion, I suggest that you may wish to open your mind first with an esspresso and a buzz hit!

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 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.

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.

Hmmmmmm.  Me personally?  Although I'm a big advocate of buying American products, I still would prefer Amsterdam.  I mean, if I'm gonna get all toked up, I'd prefer to do so in a city full of lovely tulips, several internationally famous premium breweries and their outlets, and some lovely, world class, art museaums.  Also, for me at least, it would be much cheaper to fly to Amsterdam any day of the week than Portland.  And, you know, the Moroccan Hashish is fresher...

Is it another sop to his far left base who have called for decriminalization for years, as well as railed against the "unfairness" if higher minority incarceration statistics that they say are mostly driven by "frivolous" drug laws?  Whatever, Dude...; pass the dutchie from the left hand side...

Or better yet, let's all sing along with Peter Tosh; "Legalize it!, don't criticize it..."

Rocketman