In legal adult-use cannabis states, consumers navigate a wide variety of regulations surrounding public cannabis consumption.
Some states have ushered in consumption lounges, which many advocates have championed as legalization becomes more common. Some bars and music venues in legal states will adamantly refuse the use of cannabis, while others are more lenient and allow smoking and vaping in an outdoor smoking area for patrons who bring products from home.
Throughout history, the co-use of cannabis and alcohol in music venues especially has been a common trend regardless of weed’s legal status. But picture this: a venue that not only has a full bar for alcohol sales but also a specific sales area for cannabis products, allowing attendees to enjoy the night with the legal substance of their choice.
With the opening of a new Michigan music venue, this fantasy is about to become reality.
The First U.S. Music Venue to Sell Weed and Booze?
Baldwin’s Field of Greens is set to open in Baldwin, Michigan this spring and is believed to be the first music venue in the U.S. to legally offer both alcohol and cannabis sales and consumption, Detroit Metro Times reports.
There’s a reason this is an uncommon feat, despite the fact that more and more states across the country now have recreational cannabis laws. This topic is often broached in relation to regulations surrounding consumption lounges, which can typically serve foods and beverages so long as they do not contain alcohol. To avoid the effects of mixing alcohol and cannabis together, most states have provisions preventing liquor and cannabis from being sold in the same business.
Michigan is no exception, as liquor license regulations prevent the combined sale of cannabis and liquor. Though the organizers of state’s Cannabash festival, Grams & Jams Productions, believe they have figured out a workaround which will be put to the test with the opening of the new outdoor venue.
Grams & Jams Productions Cofounder Connie Maxim-Sparrow referenced the fact that concert goers have been either smoking weed or drinking at concerts well before modern reform efforts and recreational legalization became common in the U.S.
“And that’s what people want,” she said. “I mean, that’s the part that’s funny, right? You go to Pine Knob and you listen to a concert, people are already smoking weed.”
A Temporary Fix Paving the Way for Future Change
Michigan has already hosted one-off music festivals serving cannabis and alcohol, though Field of Greens is one venue hosting multiple events year-round. Grams & Jams Productions partnered with Baldwin Provisions, a local cannabis dispensary with 30 acres, to ensure the venue has adequate power, water and parking. Maxim-Sparrow indicated that it already has an ideal setup for large events.
So, how exactly are organizers looking to pull off the sale of cannabis and liquor in the same space? Maxim-Sparrow said that the 21+ venue will be divided in half with a fence, facilitating alcohol sales on one side and cannabis on the other and acquiring a temporary 24-hour liquor license for events through its nonprofit arm.
Maxim-Sparrow indicated that this solution is temporary until the state drafts common-sense regulations, though she also hopes the venue can help to drive that change.
“The music industry doesn’t know how to penetrate this cannabis event space,” she said. “But this is going to happen eventually, when cannabis becomes federally legal… The music industry will get into this, but they’re just really afraid of all of the [regulations]. But that’s where we excel, is in compliance and [regulations].”
According to Maxim-Sparrow, the space will have a capacity of up to 15,000 people and sees the venue as a go-to for the spring and summer festival season. Baldwin is more than an hour north of Grand Rapids, though Maxim-Sparrow sees Field of Greens as a potential tourist destination, citing the turnout from the Grand Lakes region for previous Cannabash events.
There are already a number of events planned for the coming months, and tickets are available for purchase on the Grams & Jams website.
“Cannabis is tired of being thrown in [the] corner,” Maxim-Sparrow said. “Cannabis deserves its own space.”
