Pubdate: Wed, 12 Nov 2014
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2014 The Washington Post Company
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/mUgeOPdZ
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Author: Lavanya Ramanathan

WILL D.C.'S NIGHTLIFE GO UP IN A CLOUD OF POT SMOKE?

It was Election Day in the District, but as Ian Hilton walked past a 
polling place on Vermont Avenue NW, he was stunned to detect the 
pungent scent of pot.

"Usually, I don't smell anyone smoking a joint out in public," said 
Hilton, who owns several D.C. bars with his musician brother, Eric.

It wasn't even clear yet whether Washingtonians would vote to 
legalize weed, but the distinctive aroma wafting toward his nostrils 
had Hilton bracing himself. He wondered: Will pot-smoking bar patrons 
be his next big headache?

The marijuana initiative on the ballot went on to win the approval of 
69 percent of Washington voters, but it could be months before those 
in the District are legally lighting up. Even then, it will have to 
be behind closed doors, because smoking weed in public will still be illegal.

But for bar owners and others entrenched in the city's nightlife, 
it's hard not to get lost in a hazy cloud of pot-related what-ifs.

What if, for example, legalization emboldens smokers to stand on the 
street outside nighttime establishments and pass a joint around? If 
it does, the bouncers at his U Street bars will have one more thing 
to keep an eye on, said Hilton, whose businesses, including Marvin 
and the Brixton, feature decks and open-air spaces where people can 
smoke cigarettes.

"You know someone's going to do it," said Hilton with a hint of 
weariness in his voice. "We'll probably be like, 'No, you can't,' 
and, 'You gotta go.' "

Derek Brown, a co-owner of a string of Shaw bars, including 
Mockingbird Hill and the Passenger, worried after a bartender in 
Colorado, where marijuana possession was legalized in 2013, told him 
about "stoned people who just sit there, and they order less, and 
they hang at the bar, and they're totally goofy."

It's not just a potential dent in sales that Brown is concerned 
about. It's the aggravation. Could customers get so mellow that they 
wouldn't appreciate, say, the personalized cocktail and food pairings 
- - at nearly $70 a person - offered at his reservations-only crown 
jewel, the Columbia Room? "Surely," he said, "there must be a beanbag 
somewhere that they can go plop down on instead of my bar stool."

Brown and others, however, hardly think that pot is likely to turn 
the city's proud hotbed of Type-A personalities into a den of 
sweatpants-wearing, carb-munching couch potatoes.

Washingtonians who don't already indulge aren't about to start 
shedding their put-together veneer, Brown said. When he bartends 
staid political events, plenty of people feel uncomfortable even drinking.

"They tell me, 'Oh, I don't want any hard liquor till after I meet 
the president,' " he said. "A lot of people confide in me that they 
go to those parties and they'd like to drink, but they feel like they 
can't because people are watching."

Yes, be assured that people are. Power players will have not just 
their images but also their highly prized security clearances to 
consider in a more pot-friendly District: Federal government workers 
are being gently reminded that in their employers' eyes, weed will 
still be illegal and that doing illicit drugs is a fine way to get 
your security clearance revoked.

Adding to the fog surrounding the District's measure: If it passes 
congressional muster, it will give the city's over-21 residents the 
freedom to carry up to two ounces of pot, keep up to three mature 
plants in their homes and, if they're feeling generous, share up to 
an ounce with a pal. But buying or selling will still be illegal. 
(And how any of this will be policed is anyone's guess - all left to 
be hashed out in a separate bill.)

But here's a deep, dark little D.C. secret: Those immersed in the 
city's nightlife scene say that pot is already in the possession of 
the city's social set.

"Even in Georgetown, people you see with salmon pants and needlepoint 
belts, a lot of those types smoke," said Sophie Pyle, the former 
managing editor of D.C. society blog Guest of a Guest, which covers 
the indiscretions of young socialites. "The stereotypical Georgetown; 
there's a lot of weed there."

What she doesn't expect to see is the city's circuit of charity balls 
and black-tie galas turning into smoggy love-ins. "When people go to 
the events, they're trying to make a good impression," she said. 
"It's not just socializing. These are still networking 
opportunities." So, no. No toking at the Meridian Ball. But there 
could be other issues that arise for proprietors of nighttime 
establishments, if the aftermath of legalization in Colorado and 
Washington state is any indication.

Turns out, restaurateurs in Colorado aren't grappling with customers 
who light up at their bars. They're trying to figure out how to 
handle serving alcohol to customers who are already high, said Sonia 
Riggs, president of the Denver-based Colorado Restaurant Association, 
which represents 4,500 restaurants and bars. They're also unsure what 
they can do legally if their employees come to work stoned.

"It's the unintended consequences that we've been realizing," Riggs 
said. "It's really been a lot stickier of an issue than people 
realized." Hmm. That's something to put in your pipe, D.C.

As for Washington state, the change there has been more subtle, said 
Greg James, a suburban Seattle resident who this year started a 
magazine aimed at marijuana entrepreneurs. He says that he doesn't 
partake, himself.

In day-to-day life, "you wouldn't even really know that Seattle was 
any different than Dallas," he said. Probably the biggest change he 
has noticed is that it's his friends in their 40s and 50s - the 
dinner party set, not the typical club kids - who have taken up 
smoking again, years after they'd quit.

"A couple were parents who said, 'I didn't ever want to smoke 
marijuana when it was illegal, mainly because I have kids and I 
didn't want them to think that I would break the law.' "

So, what if D.C. residents decide to take the occasional bong hit 
before hitting the bars?

Abdul Kayoumy, a co-owner of U Street bars Velvet Lounge and Dodge 
City, said that he wouldn't mind a bit. In fact, he said, marijuana 
could turn out to be a boon for the bar business: Weed famously gives 
smokers the munchies, after all.

"I'm a hundred percent pro-weed," Kayoumy said. "I just came back 
from California, and nobody's acting stupid out there."

Plus, he said, maybe it'll mean that customers are "going to be a 
little bit chiller."

In the Capital City? That would be a giggle.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom