IN PRAISE OF CANAPRENEURS AND THE OTHER SPOT

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Canapreneurs manage risk with cannabis business. The Other Spot was part of it.

Who remembers their favorite bar?

Was it on a college campus? In your neighborhood?

Maybe you’re still looking.

Here’s one blogger’s list:

• J.C. Dobbs, South Street, Philadelphia.

Long and narrow with a band playing in the back. It was the ‘go to’ place when I lived in Philly.

It was also where George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers played on big nights.

Over-twenty one all age crowd from every corner of the societal box mixing together nicely.

• Grey Fox Inn, Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Located near the Oklahoma State University campus.

The best night out any eighteen year old ever dreamed of.

College crowd mashed together in a hot space.

• The Other Spot, Portland, Oregon.

Two of the places mentioned served booze.

The last one was alcohol free. Was it a real bar? Look at the top image.

It looks mainstream enough, like a corner place where regulars gather.

Instead of sidling up for a tall, cold, one, you step into The Other Spot to smoke weed with others.

Like brewers tipping one back, canapreneurs stop in the light up and talk business.

That’s the feeling I got from New Years Eve at The Other Spot. Nice and norml.

And lively as hell.

If weed is supposed to create a comatose atmosphere of laid back lounging like a modern version of an old opium den, someone forgot to mention it.

The place was puffing along like an old school steel mill with rappers killing it from the stage space after a DJ scratched it out on two turn tables.

The sound envelope pulled everyone in with an urban vibe that matched the building.

In a setting you’d see in every city, The Other Spot occupied a single story brick building with a sign-less door. If you didn’t know about, you didn’t need to know.

Who knew?

The best part was walking in on New Year’s Eve as the designated driver and seeing the party starting. It looked like a scene from the Star Wars cantina.

My kind of party with everyone on the move and trading hugs and smiles. Inside The Other Spot was warm and friendly; outside was freezing. And cigarette rules still applied.

Smoke ’em if you got ’em, just do it outside. Anything other than weed inside The Other Spot was illegal.

Is that change you can believe in? It is in Portland, and there was more than one Portland baby boomer in the crowd.

Between live performances, a lottery, and mingling, the party got hungry.

What do you eat at a public pot smoking establishment? Pot luck. And it was delicious.

The last thing all of the bars listed at the top have in common? Along with The Other Spot, they are shut down.