After much consultation and a lot of waiting, British Columbia released its What We Heard consultation report on the possibility of cannabis consumption lounges in January. The results were somewhat predictable: cannabis consumers and those connected to the industry were generally in favour, while non-cannabis users were against the plan.

Public health and law enforcement, for their part, expressed similar concerns they’ve had all along with legalization: health consequences, keeping it out of the hands of young people, and increased rates of impaired driving. 

It was far from the slam dunk that some in the industry were hoping to see, and it paints a cloudy picture of the future of consumption spaces. To many, the lack of spaces available to publicly consume cannabis remains one of legalization’s pieces of unfinished business. “This lack of consumption spaces is alienating,” wrote Amanda Siebert last year, “and it continues to stigmatize the plant long after we’ve been told it’s okay to partake in our substance of choice.” 

But if BC’s report is anything to go by, it’s hard to conclude that dedicated consumption cafes are, at this point, anything but a pipe dream. Consultation processes have failed to identify agreed-upon regulatory or business models for the sector, and politicians have been mostly apathetic towards reopening the question—in 2021, The Canadian Press reported that few provincial governments were even considering allowing them any time soon. 

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