Smoke, because you can: Inside a legal marijuana dinner

Marijuana culture is far more than the steretypical lazy stoner who binges on cheetos and video games. High end restaurants in marijuana legal states have begun the next generation of dining similar to wine and beer pairing, but now with cannabis. Colorado-based restaurant, Mason Jar, has started hosting private dining services with a special menu of high-quality foods paired with a complementing or contrasting cannabis strain. Guests ready to indulge in fine dining and top shelf cannabis have paid $199 for their multi-course meal and new social smoking experience. With experts saying the marijuana industry will continue to grow to be worth upwards of $20 billion in the next several years, it's no doubt that more cannabis restaurants will follow suite. There is a niche industry for connoisseurs of beer, wine, and now cannabis will have it's time to shine.

Think wine pairing, but smokier.

“I have a need to bring people together,” says dinner organizer Kendal Norris of the Mason Jar Event Group. “Weed has always done that. So does food.”

“This is incredible,” says diner Kate Hawkinson, 31, as she looked around the hazy room where strangers shared joints, the wine and beer flowed, and Fader’s food came in course after course. “It’s not just a bunch of stoners in a basement.”

“Events like this legitimize the reality that we all smoke pot,” Fader says as he dishes out lobster tamalitos, to be eaten while smoking Blue Dream, a strain favored for giving users a euphoric high. “I love that we can have a culture where we as adults can partake, dine and drink wine without feeling like criminals.”