DeKALB – You’ve heard of beer and wine tastings at local establishments and breweries. What if you could go to a cannabis edible tasting at your neighborhood dispensary?

That’s a question one dispensary owner will pose to the DeKalb City Council this week.

Nakia McAdoo, a founding partner for Canndid Spirit Too LLC, the company that operates Excelleaf dispensary in downtown DeKalb, has proposed such an endeavor, according to documents released ahead of Tuesday’s meeting. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the DeKalb Public Library, 309 Oak St., because of the Monday Memorial Day holiday.

Under McAdoo’s proposal, the tastings would include edible cannabis products only, instead of products to smoke or inhale, documents show.

Excelleaf, 305 E. Locust St., women-owned and operated, opened in November 2023. It was the first dispensary to open in DeKalb County.

In materials published ahead of the council meeting, city staff noted that other municipalities such as Carbonale have permitted cannabis lounge-type spaces where patrons are allowed to smoke or ingest products on-site. No Carbondale dispensaries had added that option as of 2023 however, The Southern Illinoisan reported.

It’s currently illegal to smoke or consume cannabis products inside or on dispensary premises in DeKalb. One establishment went through a long haul to open a similar lounge-style offering in the city in June 2021. Aromas Hookah Bar launched a “bring your own” cannabis option, allowing patrons a place to legally smoke in the bar. The business closed in October 2022, however.

“Smoking lounges are typically separate from the main retail cannabis services because of the extraordinary HVAC requirements to mitigate the adverse health impacts of captive smoke and to disperse the odorous exhaust,” city staff noted in the discussion materials.

If the council were to consider amending the city’s existing code, a future vote will be required. Tuesday’s meeting is expected to include discussion only.

“Although a frequent analog for cannabis social use is a bar that serves liquor, it should be noted that the consumption of cannabis poses uniquely different onset and duration characteristics for edible as opposed to inhaled cannabis,” city staff wrote in the meeting’s agenda.

City staff said that McAdoo’s proposal includes room for the tasting area at the existing dispensary, but room capacity would be dependent on existing city code and building requirements.

Any sales from edible products featured at tastings would generate a 3% sales tax rate for local tax revenue, according to the city.

No vote is expected Tuesday.