Holiday parties test sites for new cannabis culture
Now that it’s legal, how far should you go to indulge non-users
Reena Rampersad doesn’t hide her love of weed, but she’s discreet when socializing with people she knows are not regular users.
The Hamilton resident is mindful that many people still do not approve of recreational use, even though it’s now legal.
That disparity is glaring when she goes out for dinner at a nice restaurant and still feels compelled to sneak around.
“Everybody around me is able to enjoy glasses of wine and their alcohol in pairing with their meal, but I have to have a smoke ... in an alleyway or somewhere before I go in,” says Rampersad, a Caribbean caterer who describes cannabis as a cultural aspect of her life.
The first holiday season postlegalization has opened up a social minefield for those unsure how their use will be perceived and for others uneasy about acknowledging a new era, says cannabis observer Tom Adams, whose Colorado-based firm BDS Analytics has surveyed North American adults on their shifting attitudes.
Adams says past surveys suggest perspectives in California warmed following legalization there.
Non-users who approved of legalization apparently tried weed once it became legal and non-users who opposed legalization admitted they would consider using cannabis if it was recommended by a doctor.
Adams’ Colorado-based firm is in the midst of collecting data among Canadians to determine whether notions will similarly shift here with federal legalization, and he expects it’s the minute social exchanges now unfolding that will push individuals to refine their position on what has long been a grey issue for many.
For users and non-users alike, December’s holiday circuit of work parties, family reunions, and neighbourly gatherings can be ground zero for establishing a new normal for recreational cannabis use.
There are undoubtedly some users eager to exercise newfound rights by pushing mainstream tolerance levels, Adams says from Carmel, Calif., but it’s hard to track whether people are “obnoxiously consuming” in front of others.
“There’ll be the militants that just because it’s legal now (say) ‘We’re going to be pushy about it,’ but also, militants are more aware of what the situation is legally and the situation is that public consumption is not allowed,” says Adams, referring to strict no-smoking laws in California and some Canadian provinces. Things have definitely changed for Toronto party planner Carol Jacobson, who is mindful that some of her guests will likely be cannabis users. That means party planners, servers and bartenders need to closely monitor their guests’ alcohol intake, transportation modes, and make sure there’s an adequate smoking section.
Discretion and general con- sideration helps all sides, she adds.
“There is going to be conflict — because it’s legal doesn’t make it OK with everyone. People have different emotions around drugs, for whatever reason,” she says of employing pot diplomacy.
Rampersad says she’ll ask a party host before bringing weed to a gathering, such as the Christmas dinner last year when she turned up with a bag of edibles. That night revealed surprising hidden appetites.
“I know that nobody there consumes, I know that nobody there smokes cannabis and I would literally be the only one on the porch having my smoke while everyone is drinking their wine, but just after dinner I brought out my bag of edibles and put it on the table and everybody’s eyes got really bright,” says Rampersad, who also runs a cannabis-infused catering company.
“The bag was almost ripped apart ... and these are women who had no interest two years ago in even touching anything with the word cannabis attached to it.”