Bed, Bud and Breakfast Opens in Santa Cruz
By Marina Malikoff, Sentinel Staff Writer
Source: Santa Cruz County Sentinel
Christening the "tokers" deck, medical-marijuana advocates freely passed around victory joints, celebrating
the opening of this one-of-a-kind bed and breakfast in downtown Santa Cruz.
"Lets medicate," said one gray-haired woman before lighting a tiny black pipe and taking a long drag.
Others, old and young, plucked sweet-smelling buds from their personal stashes and rolled joints at the
debut of the Compassion Flower Inn, a "bed, bud & breakfast" that caters to medical marijuana users and
open-minded travelers interested in alternative lifestyles.
The Compassion Inn smokers joined tokers across America on Thursday, April 20 4/20 in celebration of a counterculture holiday known as "420," the stoner New Years.
Red-eyed tokers inhaled in groups large and small, public and private, indoors and out, marking a ritual that originated at San Rafael High School in 1971 by a group of teen-age potheads that would meet at 4:20 p.m. to get high.
While the scene at the inn was not entirely unlike a giggling dorm-style 70s pot party, the mood here was decidedly reflective.
"Its so wonderful to have it be so open," said Isadora Karcher, a Felton resident attending the inns grand opening that began at you guessed it 4:20 p.m.
Karcher and other guests touring the 216 Laurel St. establishment couldnt help but let a mischievous snicker slip when they saw the tiled marijuana leaf mosaic in the master suites bathroom, complete with hemp toiletries and towels.
"This is a new age," said Daniel Duncan, eyes darting around the 135-year-old Victorians half-million-dollar face-lift.
Too new perhaps for Santa Cruz police, who were unaware hemp hotel existed. Police and city officials are still grappling with the finer points of the citys ordinance allowing medical marijuana use passed earlier this month.
"Everybody is jumping into this before it is finalized," said Deputy Police Chief Jeff Locke, a co-author of the law. "I can see both sides of it. From their standpoint, this (fight to legalize medical marijuana) has been going on for years."
The ordinance allows city-recognized medical marijuana associations to provide the drug to qualified patients.
The inns proprietors say they are not in the supply business, but simply are providing a sanctuary for those who use marijuana to stave off suffering due to illnesses such as HIV and cancer.
Guests must provide their own pot and a physicians medical marijuana certification to "partake of their medicine in a safe, supportive environment."
"Weve been in the medical marijuana movement for a long time," said Maria Malleck-Tischler, who co-owns the inn with
partner Andrea Tischler. "Weve seen a lot of friends die from AIDS. Weve also seen that medical marijuana made their last days easier. We feel a lot of compassion and that is why we came up with this idea."
Business owners in the building next door have not objected to the venture, Malleck-Tischler said.
Aside from their Web site, the couple has done virtually no advertising. But the inns five rooms, which range from $125 to $175 per night, are booked through July. Guests the curious and the suffering are coming from as far away as New Zealand, thanks to the overwhelming media attention the three-year labor of love has received.
"I wasnt prepared for that," Malleck-Tischler said of the coverage.
Neither was Chas Sneyers, who had a view of the action on the toking deck from his bar stool inside the Poet & Patriot Irish Pub.
"I live a block away and read about it in the New York Times," Sneyers laughed. "If it helps people, I think it is great."
NewsHawk: DdC
homepages.go.com/homepage...g1/ddc.htm
Published: April 21, 2000
Copyright 1999-2000, Santa Cruz County Sentinel Publishers Co.
Related Articles Web Sites:
WAMM
www.wamm.org/
The Compassion Flower Inn
compassionflowerinn.com/
Santa Cruz Council OKs Cultivation Of Marijuana
www.cannabisnews.com/news...5476.shtml
Medical Pot Users Welcome, Says New Inn
www.cannabisnews.com/news...5470.shtml
4:20 Articles:
200 Gather to Smoke Marijuana
www.cannabisnews.com/news...5473.shtml
Pot Smokers Celebrate High Holiday
www.cannabisnews.com/news...5469.shtml
Pictures from The Compassion Flower Inn in Santa Cruz
homepages.go.com/~marthag1/cfinn.htm
By Marina Malikoff, Sentinel Staff Writer
Source: Santa Cruz County Sentinel
Christening the "tokers" deck, medical-marijuana advocates freely passed around victory joints, celebrating
the opening of this one-of-a-kind bed and breakfast in downtown Santa Cruz.
"Lets medicate," said one gray-haired woman before lighting a tiny black pipe and taking a long drag.
Others, old and young, plucked sweet-smelling buds from their personal stashes and rolled joints at the
debut of the Compassion Flower Inn, a "bed, bud & breakfast" that caters to medical marijuana users and
open-minded travelers interested in alternative lifestyles.
The Compassion Inn smokers joined tokers across America on Thursday, April 20 4/20 in celebration of a counterculture holiday known as "420," the stoner New Years.
Red-eyed tokers inhaled in groups large and small, public and private, indoors and out, marking a ritual that originated at San Rafael High School in 1971 by a group of teen-age potheads that would meet at 4:20 p.m. to get high.
While the scene at the inn was not entirely unlike a giggling dorm-style 70s pot party, the mood here was decidedly reflective.
"Its so wonderful to have it be so open," said Isadora Karcher, a Felton resident attending the inns grand opening that began at you guessed it 4:20 p.m.
Karcher and other guests touring the 216 Laurel St. establishment couldnt help but let a mischievous snicker slip when they saw the tiled marijuana leaf mosaic in the master suites bathroom, complete with hemp toiletries and towels.
"This is a new age," said Daniel Duncan, eyes darting around the 135-year-old Victorians half-million-dollar face-lift.
Too new perhaps for Santa Cruz police, who were unaware hemp hotel existed. Police and city officials are still grappling with the finer points of the citys ordinance allowing medical marijuana use passed earlier this month.
"Everybody is jumping into this before it is finalized," said Deputy Police Chief Jeff Locke, a co-author of the law. "I can see both sides of it. From their standpoint, this (fight to legalize medical marijuana) has been going on for years."
The ordinance allows city-recognized medical marijuana associations to provide the drug to qualified patients.
The inns proprietors say they are not in the supply business, but simply are providing a sanctuary for those who use marijuana to stave off suffering due to illnesses such as HIV and cancer.
Guests must provide their own pot and a physicians medical marijuana certification to "partake of their medicine in a safe, supportive environment."
"Weve been in the medical marijuana movement for a long time," said Maria Malleck-Tischler, who co-owns the inn with
partner Andrea Tischler. "Weve seen a lot of friends die from AIDS. Weve also seen that medical marijuana made their last days easier. We feel a lot of compassion and that is why we came up with this idea."
Business owners in the building next door have not objected to the venture, Malleck-Tischler said.
Aside from their Web site, the couple has done virtually no advertising. But the inns five rooms, which range from $125 to $175 per night, are booked through July. Guests the curious and the suffering are coming from as far away as New Zealand, thanks to the overwhelming media attention the three-year labor of love has received.
"I wasnt prepared for that," Malleck-Tischler said of the coverage.
Neither was Chas Sneyers, who had a view of the action on the toking deck from his bar stool inside the Poet & Patriot Irish Pub.
"I live a block away and read about it in the New York Times," Sneyers laughed. "If it helps people, I think it is great."
NewsHawk: DdC
homepages.go.com/homepage...g1/ddc.htm
Published: April 21, 2000
Copyright 1999-2000, Santa Cruz County Sentinel Publishers Co.
Related Articles Web Sites:
WAMM
www.wamm.org/
The Compassion Flower Inn
compassionflowerinn.com/
Santa Cruz Council OKs Cultivation Of Marijuana
www.cannabisnews.com/news...5476.shtml
Medical Pot Users Welcome, Says New Inn
www.cannabisnews.com/news...5470.shtml
4:20 Articles:
200 Gather to Smoke Marijuana
www.cannabisnews.com/news...5473.shtml
Pot Smokers Celebrate High Holiday
www.cannabisnews.com/news...5469.shtml
Pictures from The Compassion Flower Inn in Santa Cruz
homepages.go.com/~marthag1/cfinn.htm
