KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) - The passage of Proposal 1 decriminalized possession and use of recreational marijuana, but it still remains in a legal and cultural limbo as lawmakers and communities grapple with how to deal - not just with how pot will be sold but what it means for society.
That has led the owner of a Kalamazoo brew pub to use his business as a place for people interested in what he calls ‘cannabis culture to come together.
Mark Rupert, owner of Rupert’s Brew House, 773 W. Michigan Ave., says his plan is not to create a hash bash, instead he wants to create a community of support and education.
But it operates in a legal no man’s land that has the attention of officials.
“They were, like: ‘you can’t do this’ and I’m like: I’m not doing anything other than what I would normally be doing on a Saturday night, except tonight, I’m throwing a birthday party for weed.”
Mark Rupert has been operating the pub since 2013 in a nearly 100-year-old building that is best remembered as the former Boogie Records and head shop.
Starting Saturday night, the pub will be home to weekly members-only event where for $20 a month people can talk about marijuana, exchange tips for growing or making edibles and exchanging gifts of marijuana as allowed now under state law.