San Francisco Embraces Amsterdam-Style Marijuana Lounges

California is the only state in the U.S. that allows state licenses for dispensaries to also act as a cannabis smoking lounge. While some cities are easing their way into this new era of social cannabis cities like San Francisco are leading the way. The closest comparable thing to these new cannabis lounges might be the coffee shops in Amsterdam famous for their cannabis dispensary and lounge format. Other states have debated social cannabis clubs but no one else wanted to be the first to take the plunge. San Francisco residents and tourists alike can now finally gather in a public setting to purchase buds, edibles and concentrates and enjoy them out on the town with a huge variety of smoking paraphernelia provided by the lounge.

In fact, there's nothing like the Barbary Coast lounge almost anywhere in the United States, a conundrum confronting many marijuana enthusiasts who find it increasingly easy to buy pot but harder to find legal places to smoke it.

Only California permits marijuana smoking at marijuana retailers with specially designed lounges. But it also allows cities to ban those kinds of shops.