Rock star Dean Ween is planning to open Dean Ween’s Honey Pot Lounge, a musical venue which would allow the consumption of cannabis.
Update: The Honey Pot Lounge was opened on April 5, 2019 and closed on May 24, just shy of two months later.
Dean Ween’s Honey Pot Lounge concert and event venue proposed near Coor’s Field
In November 2016, Denver voters approved Initiative 300, the “social consumption” program intended to provide licenses for organizations which would allow the use of cannabis on their premises. To date, only one small lounge, The Coffee Joint, has successfully obtained a license and opened its doors.
Mickey Melchiondo, or “Dean Ween”, guitarist of alt-rock group Ween, wants to change that with a brand new concert and event venue near Coor’s Field, the home of the Colorado Rockies, in Denver. The plan is to open the doors of Dean Ween’s Honey Pot Lounge by April 20, 2019, in time to celebrate 420, and allow visitors to bring their own weed to vaporize or otherwise consume while they enjoy concerts and other live stage events.
If all goes according to plan, visitors will be able to stroll right through security toting a bong and a glass jar sporting their favorite strain without a second thought, which would make the Honey Pot Lounge the first U.S. business of its kind.
In addition to serving as a venue for concerts and other live events, the Honey Pot lounge would be open during the day as a cannabis lounge and educational wellness center.
While the organizers have yet to apply for a license, they say they plan to do so within the next few weeks. Since the organization is well funded and has lots of experience in the music industry, it is quite likely that the license will be approved, which would make it the third business to receive such a license.
Social Consumption Regulations
An important consideration for anyone looking to enjoy the offerings of Dean Ween’s Honey Pot Lounge, is that Denver law prohibits alcohol from being served or consumed at a social marijuana venue. Therefore, you will be disappointed if you planned on going to a concert with friends who prefer to take the edge off in a different manner. Still, the appeal of enjoying marijuana at a live concert legally should be enough to attract visitors from all over the country.
Additionally, the venue is not allowed to sell its own marijuana, so you’ll have to bring your own. That said, it is inevitable that one or more dispensaries will open up very close by, if they haven’t already by the time it opens. While the venue would be allowed to provide vaporizers, water pipes, and other accessories, it remains to be seen whether that is part of their plans.
The venue is allowed to provide equipment such as vaporizers or water pipes to help you enjoy your product, but it remains to be seen whether that will be the case in the Honey Pot Lounge.
To stay up to date on the progress of Dean Ween’s Honey Pot Lounge, keep your eyes peeled for future updates on Weed Cram, bookmark the Honey Pot Lounge website, and follow the venue on Facebook.
More Social Consumption Businesses
Dean Ween isn’t the only one with his sights set on opening a social consumption location in Denver.
The Coffee Joint was the first licensed social consumption business, and currently the only one operating. A relatively small location that is often not busy and not profitable on its own, The Coffee Joint serves more as a perk to the adjacent dispensary’s customers than anything.
Vape and Play has recently obtained a social consumption license, and plans to open its social vaping lounge and entertainment venue this fall. Vape and Play plans to offer a vaping bar which includes their own cannabis consumption devices, asking visitors to leave their own paraphernalia and edibles at home. We will be sure to bring you more information about Vape and Play here at Weed Cram in the near future.
In addition to those, there are also many private clubs operating outside of the social consumption laws. All of these require membership fees, some more being more expensive than others. We plan to do a deep dive into many of these locations in an upcoming article.
Perhaps in time this type of venue will become pedestrian at some point in time, but for now we’ll have to see where these plans go. It will be interesting to watch how quickly these businesses start to appear, how well it does as a standalone industry, and whether other municipalities follow suit in allowing businesses to apply for social cannabis consumption licenses.