
The 1400 block of Main Street is now home to Winnipeg, Manitoba’s first medical marijuana vapor lounge, and an ex-cop is among the founding partners.Vapes on Main Medical Marijuana Lounge & Resource Centre opened its doors two-weeks ago. The intention of the space is to provide medical marijuana users in Winnipeg with a safe, social place to take their medicine, while at the same time acting as a resource centre for those who need help navigating Canada’s rather problematic medical marijuana system.
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VanderGraaf, and his partners John Tran and Leah Kent, envision Vapes on Main as a private club, where members and guests are welcome to visit, vape or smoke, and socialize. Visitors must supply their own marijuana, and there is a zero tolerance policy for selling on the premises. Alcohol and other drug use are also strictly prohibited.“It’s strictly a medical marijuana lounge and resource centre,” VanderGraaf repeated. “I will not tolerate the use of alcohol and drugs here.”Vapes on Main is housed in an unassuming building in Winnipeg’s North End, across from a hardware co-op, and down the street from a 7/11. Inside the front door, a simple wall divider obscures the lounge. Guests are greeted by a desk, with a sign asking guests for $5 donation, while members are likely going to pay a monthly fee for use of the lounge (the cost of which has yet to be determined).“If you don’t have the money when you drop in, OK,” said VanderGraaf. “We’re not a for-profit organization here.”The walls of the lounge are painted with pseudo-psychedelic images, and adorned with “Save Medical Marijuana Gardens” and “Save the Head Shops” posters, and images of Che Guevara. Various leafy green (non-smokeable) plants are spread throughout the room, along with a number of water pipes and vaporizers.“People can bring their own vaporizers, their own bongs,” VanderGraaf explained, with a wave towards a nearby Volcano. “But a lot of medical marijuana users don’t know how to use a vaporizer. They can come and learn how to use them before they buy one, because they can be quite a significant investment. We’ll have someone show them how to use it.”
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After seeing the success similar establishments enjoy in Vancouver and Toronto, and witnessing the changing attitude towards marijuana in the United States (particularly in and Washington state) and VanderGraaf, Tran, and Kent felt the time was right to open Winnipeg’s first vapor lounge.To date, the city’s response to Vapes on Main has been positive, prompting a stirring debate on Winnipeg’s talk radio station CJOB, and coverage from other local media. The word is certainly out. When I was there, early in the afternoon on a Thursday, they had just opened up, and before our interview was over, a young man stopped in, the first of many. When I called back later, to try to reach Tran or Kent (who weren’t around during my visit), the place was too busy for them to take my call.Support from the local medical marijuana community has also been strong.“Vapes on Main has the potential to bring the pro-medical marijuana community together in a way that has never before been available [in Winnipeg],” Ryan Lacovetsky told VICE. Lacovetsky is the owner of Shine Glass Works, a smokewear manufacturer based in Winnipeg. He’s been in the business for over ten years. He’d been to the lounge the day before me, in the late afternoon, remarking how “the place was full and buzzing.”
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