A cannabis dispensary might seem like an unlikely place to play mahjong, the Chinese tile game typically associated with older Asian and Jewish adults, but that’s where Leah Flacco showed up on a recent Wednesday evening in Manhattan.
The game has grown in popularity with younger generations, so at a table inside Alta Dispensary in NoLIta, Ms. Flacco, 36, shuffled and matched groups of tiles among friends and strangers. The event was one of a growing number taking place at New York’s cannabis dispensaries, where retailers have been making space for people to socialize.
“We want more dispensaries to do these sorts of things,” Ms. Flacco, who works in financial technology, said. “It’s hard to make friends in this city.”
From intimate classes to block parties, hosting events has given dispensaries in New York a way around rules limiting their ability to market their businesses. As many Americans choose to drink less alcohol and seek connection offline, the activities allow the sellers to offer places where people can gather. Dispensary owners also hope that some of the visitors will become customers and that the events will help their businesses gain acceptance among neighbors who might still hold negative views of cannabis.
Meredith Nydam, 37, said she had invited her friends, including Ms. Flacco, to mahjong night because she wanted to do something other than a happy hour. “I don’t need to go to a bar,” Ms. Nydam said. “I can come here.”
Vanessa Yee-Chan, the owner of Alta, said hosting mahjong night lets her share part of her culture while promoting her business. She learned the game from her grandparents, who were Cantonese immigrants.
“For me, this was the more organic, natural way to do marketing,” she said.
Dispensaries have few other options. State rules bar them from displaying ads anywhere minors could see them, which rules out most billboards and social media platforms that do not verify users’ ages. Companies like Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, and TikTok, ban content promoting the sale or use of intoxicating cannabis.
Cannabis retailers are employing a tactic already in use in the corporate world. Starbucks, for example, has begun offering free refills and using ceramic mugs to encourage paying customers to linger, as part of a broader strategy to turn around falling sales.
Marla Royne Stafford, a marketing professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and the research director of the school’s Cannabis Policy Institute, said that events were an inventive way for dispensaries to attract consumers without running afoul of rules that are often stringent and complicated. A game night at the dispensary, she said, is no different from trivia night at the bar.
“I think it’s a creative way of getting people into the store where there is a controversial product,” Professor Stafford said.
Most of the events are free or inexpensive, and they are open both to adults who use cannabis and those who do not. Some stores tread a legal gray area by allowing customers to consume cannabis, though most bar smoking indoors. In 2021, New York legalized public consumption of cannabis, which can be eaten or drunk but is most commonly smoked. But regulators have not issued any licenses allowing it at businesses and events.
At Columbus Circle on a recent Wednesday afternoon, passers-by expressed a range of opinions about how effective an event would be in getting them through the front door of a dispensary. A lawyer who said he used cannabis occasionally and typically got it through friends was open to visiting a weed shop for a class or show. So were two bike couriers sitting on a bench, but they said they would rather buy weed someplace else to avoid paying higher prices at dispensaries.
Others said they had no interest in visiting a dispensary at all. Rafi Islam, 21, said he could not overlook the potential harms of using cannabis. “It’s bad for you,” he said.
Trends, a family-owned dispensary in Long Island City, Queens, keeps a packed calendar that includes weekly yoga classes, monthly comedy shows and quarterly pet adoptions. (A miniature poodle named Cali roams the store.)
Brandon Carter, the dispensary’s co-owner and chief operating officer, said there had been a bump in sales with some events, but not all. Health-focused events like yoga night serve his family’s broader goal of ending cannabis stigma and showing that it can be part of a positive lifestyle. Mr. Carter founded the store with his brother Rodney Carter Jr., who is the chief executive, and their father. All three were arrested for cannabis offenses before legalization. “Trends” is an acronym for “The Real Experience Needs Different Stories.”
At yoga on a recent Tuesday, attendees either made a $35 purchase from the store or paid $20 for an hourlong class led by Emily Fabri, 29, who has built a loyal following as the founder of High Yoga NYC. She guided about 20 participants through breathing and stretching exercises that she said were intended to mimic or enhance the feeling of getting high.
Her instructions were peppered with cannabis slang. Participants reached up at imaginary nuggets of smokable flower, for instance, or got on their hands and knees to make tables for imaginary friends to roll joints on.
Ms. Fabri said that working with dispensaries had helped her keep classes small and prices low, while also providing a comfortable space for her students who don’t want to be judged for consuming cannabis.
“The dispensary makes them feel safe,” she said.
Usually, on a Tuesday night, Alana Calmi, 32, and Dakota Roush, 27, would be home with their dogs. But an inexpensive yoga class gave them a reason to get outside, Ms. Calmi said as they sat on their mats after class. “I was like, oh, yeah, I’m going to go to yoga; I’m going to go to the dispensary and probably buy something.”
Ms. Roush chimed in. “Yeah, you have to buy yourself a little treat when you’re out,” she said. “I left my house today. Treat!”
Ashley Southall writes about cannabis legalization in New York.
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