The Bud Crawl: CannaBar Hopping

Recently I was walking through Center City, Philadelphia, on my way to a show, ready to have a fun night downtown. As my friends and I walked through the city, my eyes were drawn to the many intriguing bars that lined the streets, all lit up in a variety of inviting colors.

Each space had it’s own unique theme, feel and textures. I was drawn to them and thought idly that I’d love to bar hop in Center City one evening so that I could explore all of these interesting spaces — but then I remembered something: I don’t like drinking.

I’m not a drinker and, quite frankly, I haven’t been since I experimented with the stuff during my teenage years. By the time I was 21, I had really lost all interest. I’ll still have a drink once in a blue moon, but I never developed a taste for beer, wine gives me a headache and liquor tastes like shit — I’m just plain over it. However, around the same time that I came of legal drinking age, I discovered something I really did enjoy: cannabis.

Ah, sweet Mary Jane. A mellow chill, purveyor of intelligent discussion, medicinal and with no hangover… what is there not to love? If we could count the ways that cannabis succeeds where alcohol fails, it would be a whole other article.

As such, here was an entire subset of Philadelphia culture which I suddenly realized I was separated from. Sure, I still go to bars and venues that sell booze when there’s good live music to see, it doesn’t take alcohol to get me dancing my ass off and having a good time, but if I just wanted to head into Philly one night and poke around? Well… there’s just not much incentive to poke. (I know, I know, let the “you just gotta poke around” jokes commence.)

I’m a dreamer though, and I know I’m not the only one (sorry, I can’t stop!). As I stood there, gazing at the gorgeous and historical city of Philadelphia, I imagined a version that included cannabis culture. I envisioned cannabar establishments, catering to the cannabis enthusiasts and connoisseurs. A world where you can go on a Bud Crawl with your friends, walking the streets of the city at night and stopping in at various cannabars to sample different flowers, dabs, oils, edibles, tinctures, hashes and more.

Stop into The Hashish Eater on Chestnut St for the best cannabis pizza you’ve ever had. Then skip on over to Brotherly Love Cafe next to Independence Hall to see what oils they got on “tap.” You might as well check out Wonderland on Walnut St after you hit up Philly’s Flowers next door for a taste of the latest strains. Cap the night off by catching a great show at the World Cannabis-Cafe Live, where budtender connoisseurs serve the best cannabis with their in-house vapes.

That is what I call a good time in the city. This is a vision of cannabis culture at a peak; one which I humbly wish could be a reality for Philadelphia. Though recent efforts have been made to decriminalize, Philly remains less than cannabis-friendly. Meanwhile in Colorado and Washington, where legalization is stretching its legs, there remains an onsite consumption double standard in the industry.

Only time and activism will tell how cannabis culture plays out in states that legalize. Until then, I’ll be dreaming big for my city, and yours.