Posted on 12/20/2012 5:43:54 AM PST by Wolfie
WA: Frankie’s Sports Bar & Grill Welcomes Marijuana Smokers
Washington state recently passed a ballot initiative that permits marijuana smokers the ability to smoke the drug in their homes legally. Frank Schnarr, the owner of Frankie’s Sports Bar & Grill in Olympia, said that pot smokers can smoke in his establishment, according to Reuters.
“I stay up at night,” he said. “I’m about to lose my business. So I’ve got to figure out some way to get people in here.”
No one knows for sure if Schnarr is breaking the law by allowing his patrons to smoke marijuana at his establishment.
“Marijuana remains illegal under federal law,” said Emily Langlie, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle. “I can’t tell you whether what he’s doing is legal or not.”
The city attorney for Olympia, Tom Morrill, said, “We’re looking into it. There are a lot of changes in state law right now. That’s all I can say.”
A spokesperson for the Liquor Control Board, Mikhail Carpenter, did not offer much more insight into the issue either. The Liquor Control Board has been tasked with making rules for the cultivation, processing and sale of the drug.
“The board is weighing its options with regard to Frankie’s,” he said. “It’s not perfectly crystal clear as to who this falls to.”
Schnarr was able to get around the state’s public smoking ban by renaming the second floor of his establishment as “Friends of Frankie’s” and charges those who wish to use the private room $10 per year. The private room has a staff of bartenders and is stocked with alcoholic beverages. There are also cocktail waitresses in the private room, all of whom are volunteers who are reimbursed for childcare and travel expenses. They are paid via tips.
“Frank’s ahead of the curve on (allowing marijuana use),” says Shawn Newman, Schnarr’s attorney. “A lot of other taverns, bars and restaurants would like to do this, but they didn’t have enough chutzpah to fight the smoking ban so they’re locked into non-smoking operations.”
According to Schnarr, there are over 10,000 members of the private room and 40 have joined since he announced that marijuana is welcome at the site.
“I’ll have security in here, and if I see a bunch of guys just trying to get ripped, they’re gone,” he said.
One of the patrons, Chris Sapp, has been a member of Frankie’s for quite some time now.
“If I wasn’t a friend of Frankie’s already I’d be one now because you can come here and smoke and feel free,” he said. “That’s how it should be. We shouldn’t have to hide weed.”
However,if you pull out a regular cigarette,you will be shot!
Guy probably won’t be open long..... They will find some way to close the place. Still I bet I could open up a small concession booth in the parking lot and make a Million selling Candy and doritos ect...LOL
Oh great, go to a bar, get drunk AND stoned then drive a car.
So you go into the sports bar not knowing there is maryjane in the air, get a surprise pee test at work the next day, and there’s unemployment in your future. A dishonorable discharge if you were military? Sweet.
Decadence on parade. Frankie and his friends are the reason Obama is President. Boeing knew what it was doing when they abandoned Seattle. Would you want Frankie and his friends building aircraft?
Haven’t you heard? Second hand pot smoke is magical and doesn’t have any impact on those around it unlike those filthy cigarettes. /s
Frankie’s fought the state smoking ban a few years back and established a private members only room for smokers, so everybody can avoid smoke of any kind by simply not joining the smoker’s club and staying out of the smoking room.
See above, it’s not that hard of a concept. Tobacco and marijuana are treated the same under the State’s public smoking ban. The bar owner fought that battle already and won.
WA state has a law against smoking in bars, restaurants, etc. I don’t know how he can allow this with that ban in place. It is still “smoking”.
So drunk only behind the wheel is ok? Hoo-kay!
While I do not advocate smoking pot or engaging in any gluttony or deadly sin for that matter, I abhore a tyrannical government and have to applaud this man for having the guts to challenge the “law”.
Apparently he has a separate space for smoking which is nice for a few but most bar owners remain screwed because they can’t afford a separate space.
Its why casinos in Michigan lobbied for the smoking ban here. They knew the little neighborhood bars and pubs couldn’t afford the extra space and they could.
Wrongo! Washington State’s public smoking ban applies to public smoking of any kind.
“Frank’s ahead of the curve on (allowing marijuana use),” says Shawn Newman, Schnarr’s attorney. “A lot of other taverns, bars and restaurants would like to do this, but they didn’t have enough chutzpah to fight the smoking ban so they’re locked into non-smoking operations.”
As long as there is no tobacco content he should be OK.
“So drunk only behind the wheel is ok? Hoo-kay!”
No, it isn’t hoo-kay. Drunk behind the wheel is bad enough. Now you add the stoned component to it. Doesn’t help things.
Someone needs to open a Subway on one side for munchies and a coffee shop on the other for the police to sit in comfort while they wait for the stoned drivers to leave.
Why is that?
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