Cannabis culture is in a paradigm shift, with cannabis hospitality holding the keys. Cannabis culture is evolving — legalization continues to expand and the movement of information is unlike it has ever been in its rich 4,000-plus-year history.

We are at a time where cannabis hospitality is on the rise and people’s consumption is being guided by professionals through experience, which is changing consumers’ relationship with the plant. A new North Star is here.

We’ve always known that cannabis helps with creativity; we are seeing therapists using it for patients; we hear about athletic flow states; but often it’s been a gamble if what they consume will get them there. Now, we understand how to create the architecture of a high in which the lens you see through will allow people to achieve their pursuits in life.

First, how did we get here?

Modern cannabis culture has brought the plant to a place of normalization, a history that should be honored and continued — a tutelage we never forget. Let’s acknowledge the past.

Cannabis started popularizing in mainstream America from New Orleans Jazz, people like Louis Armstrong brought “Gage” to the after-parties in NYC, exposing the plant to a flourishing nightlife while the government cracked down on reefer madness. Jazz culture got cannabis from indentured Indian workers, who brought the seeds of Ganja, smuggled in their hair, to the Caribbean, where they worked on the colonized lands of the British.

Then you had the likes of reggae music artists, freeing the mind and connecting with Spirit through Ganja (this word is rooted to a spiritual connection cannabis provides people and should be used in a spiritual context so it’s not appropriated). Willie Nelson preaching the health benefits of cannabis in the seventies as Nixon declared the War on Drugs. And the Hip Hop movement smoking “chronic” to ease the mind of the streets and police brutality while pushing against the establishment.

The modern cannabis legalization movement picked up steam in the ’80s and ’90s, which was centered around patient rights, with people like Dennis Perron and Brownie Mary helping people with AIDS.

This is the culture that we have known, one of advocacy for personal rights and healing that should be honored. Please remember the foundation this plant has in our recent history.

Remember that people are still in jail for cannabis while an adjacent movement of other psychedelic plants has lineage holders being erased by uninitiated regulators and CEO’s. Let’s pray the cannabis and psychedelics industries/movements move forward in a heroic way.

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Now we are at an evolved time, a privileged time with cannabis. That isn’t to say that patients’ rights, freeing the mind and going against the establishment aren’t relevant; they could be more important now than ever.

But we’re at the point in the evolution of cannabis now where the plant is accepted and legal in most states — including hemp-derived cannabinoids. As I’m certifying the alcohol industry through THC ServePro on how to safely and eloquently serve THC beverages, I can’t leave that detail out.

For the most part, society is not coming from a place of fear anymore, and the majority of “fighting” lies in getting cannabis prisoners out of jail. But the topics of unethical and toxic growing methods, or how we can do so much better from a reciprocal lens, and the ecological harm this industry inflicts, are for another day.

My point is that we understand this plant now in a whole new context. Things should evolve.

In 2014, I launched the first company in the U.S. to legally offer cannabis dinners. Now, more than a decade into legalization, as states begin to progress, we’re seeing the growth of consumption lounges.

Alongside that, more people are offering consumption experiences through service models (think yoga, life coaching) and private events (dinners or budbars at a party), which is a lower-cost entry point than a licensed lounge. Either way, hospitality is growing at a rapid pace, and the professionals participating can shape the future.

Since more knowledge has been shared, since people like myself have guided thousands of others in consumption experiences, we inherently know more — so, what is the evolution and opportunity? We learned to free the mind, manage pain, connect with people and the principle of pleasure and sleep aids — but there is something greater now that we are mostly coming from a safe space and openly sharing knowledge.

Think about it; we started unlocking an understanding of terpenes over the past 10 years and discovered the endocannabinoid system in the past 30. These are major factors in how cannabis makes us feel, and we’re still studying and philosophizing about how these compounds shape our high.

Through my work Certifying Servers of Cannabis, I have been training service providers and event producers in what’s next. The future of cannabis isn’t just access to clean and sustainable flower — it’s awareness in the highest expression this plant can support all aspects of life (which oftentimes means not consuming at all). 

After more than a decade of legalization, an unprecedented level of information sharing and consuming together, we are beginning to understand that cannabis can be engaged with more purpose to support specific goals, pursuits and states of being. We now know that different cannabinoids, terpenes, product formats and mental settings can dramatically shape the experience. That changes everything.

The old paradigm of cannabis consumption is evolving. While those cultural roots should absolutely be honored, the emerging era of cannabis is becoming more purpose-driven. As cannabis hospitality continues to grow, guided experiences and consumption with more awareness may become the infrastructure that educates masses and shape shape the evolution of cannabis culture, showing people how to utilize the lens of their high towards their pursuits in life.