West Hollywood approves the first cannabis café in the US complete with a THC-based menu and smoking areas - but it won't be allowed to serve booze

  • West Hollywood approved plans for Lowell Farms: A Cannabis Café, set to open later this year
  • The café will have a THC- and CBD-based menu, along with an area to smoke and vape marijuana or eat edibles
  • It won't be allowed to sell booze because California state law prohibits consuming pot and alcohol at the same time
  • Currently, medical marijuana is legal in 33 states and recreational marijuana is legal in 11 states and Washington, DC 

The country's first cannabis café will open in West Hollywood later this year.

Plans for Lowell Farms: A Cannabis Café on N. La Brea Avenue were approved unanimously by the city's Business License Commission on Tuesday night.

The outdoor café will include a THC- and CBD-based menu, along with an area to smoke and vape marijuana or eat edibles 

Sean Black, one of the cafe's co-founders, told the Los Angeles Times that his establishment's opening marked 'the end of prohibition'. 

West Hollywood approved plans for the country's first cannabis café, Lowell Fams: A Cannabis Café, which is set to open later this year. Pictured. The proposed dining area

West Hollywood approved plans for the country's first cannabis café, Lowell Fams: A Cannabis Café, which is set to open later this year. Pictured. The proposed dining area

The café will have a THC- and CBD-based menu, along with an area to smoke and vape marijuana or eat edibles. Pictured: One of the restaurant's dining areas

The café will have a THC- and CBD-based menu, along with an area to smoke and vape marijuana or eat edibles. Pictured: One of the restaurant's dining areas 

It won't be allowed to sell booze because California state law prohibits consuming pot and alcohol at the same time. Pictured: The café's bar

It won't be allowed to sell booze because California state law prohibits consuming pot and alcohol at the same time. Pictured: The café's bar

According to Lowell Farms's proposal, viewed by DailyMail.com, the café will be 'unviewable' from the street, surrounded by a fence. 

It will be open from 6am to 2am, offer brunch on Sundays and a 'Cannabis 101' class on Saturdays.

The café will not serve alcoholic drinks, however, because California state law prohibits selling and/or consuming pot and alcohol at the same time. 

So, for beverages, Lowell Farms will offer teas, coffees, juices, sparklers and smoothies. 

However, not everyone is a fan of the plans for the new café.

Rabbi Denise Eger, who runs the Jewish synagogue Congregation Kol Ami - which is located across the street from where the café will open - attended the meeting on Tuesday.

She said she was worried the smell of pot would waft over into the synagogue during worship services, reported the Times. 

Eater Los Angeles obtained an e-mail she sent to the City Council which read, in part,: 'The business is to have outdoor space for smoking pot - and I don't know why my congregation members and participants have to walk through clouds of marijuana to get to synagogue.'

The co-founders say the café will have an air-filtration system similar to casinos to prevent the smell from wafting outside

The co-founders say the café will have an air-filtration system similar to casinos to prevent the smell from wafting outside 

A synagogue across the street from the proposed location asked for the café's business license to be rejected. Picture: The café's dining area

A synagogue across the street from the proposed location asked for the café's business license to be rejected. Picture: The café's dining area

Currently, recreational marijuana is legal in 11 states and Washington, DC, while medical marijuana has been legalized in 33 states and DC. Pictured: The café's 'Hall of Fame'

Currently, recreational marijuana is legal in 11 states and Washington, DC, while medical marijuana has been legalized in 33 states and DC. Pictured: The café's 'Hall of Fame'

Black told the Times that the café will have an air-filtration system, similar to ones uses in casinos, to prevent such a problem from occurring. 

'We're hoping to have a great relationship with [Eger],' he said. 

Eger asked for business license to be rejected and, after it was approved, reportedly left without saying a word, according to NBC4.  

A survey from the National Restaurant Association conducted earlier this year found that cannabis was consider the 'hottest food trend'. 

The survey found that 77 percent of the chefs ranked cannabis/CBD-infused drinks as the top trend, and 76 percent of them said cannabis/CBD-infused food to be the second most popular trend.    

Black told the Times that, ideally, he would like to make marijuana as socially acceptable as alcohol currently is today. 

'Why can't you go out to a really nice restaurant or cafe and instead of ordering beer or wine with your meal, you can order cannabis?' he said.

Recreational marijuana is legal in 11 states and Washington, DC, and 33 states and DC have legalized medical marijuana. 

A 2018 poll from the Pew Research Center found that 62 percent of Americans support legalizing marijuana, double the number from two decades ago in 2000.

Opinions of legalization differ by political party, with 69 percent of Democrats supporting it compared with 75 percent of Independents and just 45 percent of Republicans. 

THE STATE OF MARIJUANA IN 2019 

Currently, recreational marijuana is legal in 11 states and Washington, DC.

Meanwhile, medical marijuana has been legalized in 33 states and DC.

To get medical marijuana, users need a written recommendation from their doctor, while recreational marijuana can be grown or bought at dispensaries. 


Medical marijuana states:  

  • Arizona
  • Arkansas
  • Connecticut 
  • Delaware 
  • Florida
  • Hawaii  
  • Louisiana 
  • Maryland 
  • Minnesota
  • Missouri 
  • Montana
  • New Hampshire
  • New Mexico
  • New Jersey
  • New York
  • North Dakota
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • Pennsylvania
  • Rhode Island 
  • Utah 
  • West Virginia 

Recreational marijuana states:  

  • Alaska
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Illinois 
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • Michigan 
  • Nevada
  • Oregon
  • Vermont
  • Washington 
  • Washington, DC