The move to make the recreational use of marijuana legal is gaining momentum—it’s now legal to spark up a spliff in Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington state. And legislation is on the November ballots in a number of other states as well, including California, Nevada, and New York.
Sooner or later, chances are one of your meetings will land in a state that welcomes cannabis-inspired altered states.
And you just know that at least of few of your participants are going to want to give it a try. As Patty Shock, CPCE, CHT, professor emeritus at University of Nevada, Las Vegas, told participants at the 17th Annual Las Vegas Corporate Invitational Educational Program, pot at meetings and events will soon be, if it’s not already, a trend.
That’s just the first of five ways legal recreational marijuana could affect your events, according to an article in Special Events. Though it’s more likely to crop up at social events than business meetings, check out the story in the article of the corporate retreat organizer who had to figure out how to protect his Colorado retreat-goers from the company’s routine drug testing post-retreat!
Even if you aren’t going to include a marijuana bar at your evening reception any time soon, it makes sense to get informed about the potential pot problems outlined in the article, including:
• Issues with “edibles” like pot brownies, the preferred form of ingestion—which makes sense since smoking anything in public spaces is outlawed most places
• How the industry could be pushing up the cost of doing business for your rental company
• Whether the local cannabis shops can offer a “weed shuttle” for your attendees (who knew that could even be a thing?)
• The difference in laws from state to state
Bonus munchies for thought:
• Do you have a marijuana policy for staffers at the event?
• Did you know there are companies that provide cannabis concierge services, such as “sourcing hemp invitations and clothing, setting up dispensary tours, arranging for 'smoke ride' limos, booking cannabis-friendly venues, and turning client-purchased weed into party favors”?
• Are you ready for cannabis-focused events with catchy names like HashBash and MardiGrass? Looks like there might a booming new meetings market niche as the legal pot business continues to grow...
