Inside NI's first legal medical cannabis vape lounge

Added on 24 November 2023

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Inside NI's first legal medical cannabis vape lounge

IRELAND - At one high street café in County Antrim, there's a high chance you will find someone openly using cannabis alongside their morning coffee.

But this is medication, not recreation.

Alan Robinson owns Northern Ireland's first legal medical cannabis vaping lounge, Stay Medicated, in Ballyclare, where 227 members can do just that - legally.

"You don't have to fund organised crime, you don't have to walk out to a street corner and risk being taken advantage of or ripped off," he told BBC News NI.

Like his customers, Alan is a private medical cannabis patient, meaning he pays for his prescriptions in full.

Doctors have been able to prescribe cannabis since November 2018 after several high-profile cases in which patients' conditions appeared to have been improved by the drug.

At the time, the Department of Health (DoH) warned changes to the law "do not pave the way towards legalising cannabis" and penalties still apply for unauthorised supply and possession.

"When we opened we found there were a lot of people in Northern Ireland who didn't have any idea cannabis was legal on private prescription," Alan said.