Now that the laws have relaxed on marijuana possession, a whole new industry is popping up.

An industry that was definitely there before, of course, but now has the go-ahead to step into the light.

Sort of. The laws are still a bit sketchy.

The 420 Cafè has been up and running for a while now, although the venue has changed from the last time we covered it. It has now moved to the suburb of Randburg, having previously been in Sandton.

It’s also the first “official” venue to sell dagga in South Africa, which makes it the edgiest thing to ever happen in Sandton.

Iavan Pijoos took a look around 420 Cafè, located in the Randview Shopping Centre on the busy Jan Smuts Avenue, for Sowetan LIVE:

Clouds of smoke fill the venue, accompanied by loud ’90s, RnB and hip-hop tunes.

In any other restaurant, you take a seat and wait for a waiter to come to your table. Not at 420 Café.

“Are you first-time visitors? We have house rules. You order a drink and go sit at a table. I will then bring you a menu,” a waiter tells us while we peruse the drinks on the shelves.

We ordered two Coca-Colas and took a seat at a table close to the bar. There are interesting designs on the tables. Ours is decorated with colourful marijuana plants.

The waiter approaches us and takes a small menu out of his back pocket. The weed menu.

Full disclosure, I went to 420 before it was legal and you couldn’t buy alcohol. You can now order beer, which is a great addition to the menu, although be prepared to pay more than R50 for a brewskie.

As for the weed, the cheapest strain is R100, and the most expensive is R1 000, depending on the quality of the high you’re after. Munchies? There’s a munchies menu boasting the likes of John Dough (fried pizza base and dip), fried or grilled halloumi, and ‘cheezy chips’.

The hours are convenient, catering for those wanting a mid-morning coffee and cannabis break or those wanting to feed their munchies at lunchtime, as well as patrons who prefer staying until the café closes.

The legal status of the cafè is unclear, as it’s technically still illegal to sell marijuana. You can possess it, and quite a bit of it, but you can’t sell it.

Still, it’s nice to know that 420 Cafè exists, even the laws haven’t caught up yet.

[source:sowetanlive]