Cloudy conditions at The Vape Escape (4 photos)

There was cause for celebration at The Vape Escape during the establishment’s ‘legalization day’ event Wednesday, as a wide cross-section of Saultites were seen hitting joints and firing up bongs in the back room of the east end establishment.

A man shouts, “Two minutes! Two minute warning!”

It’s 4:18 p.m., and it’s a surreal, hazy scene leading up to the city’s first 4:20 session since cannabis legalization went into effect across Canada Oct. 17.

“Disbelief almost,” said Katrina Holkko, co-owner of The Vape Escape. “It’s hard to believe we’re here, that after so many years of prohibition, and so many people in jail and so many things – so many criminal records – that today marks the day that, hopefully, it’s over.”

On Wednesday, the federal government announced its plans to expedite pardons for Canadians charged and convicted of simple possession of up to 30 grams of cannabis – a charge that was punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and six months in jail.

But the criminal record attached to simple possession, for the time being, will remain in place despite political opposition.

Earlier this week, NDP Leader Jasmeet Singh called on the Liberal government to “immediately delete” criminal records held by Canadians charged with simple possession.

“It shows that you have a criminal record, but you’ve been pardoned of it,” Holkko said. “It’d be better if they would just kind of find a better way to do that. I’m not really sure about that one.”

“With a pardon, the U.S. doesn’t have to accept it.”

Holkko reminds SooToday that Wednesday just marks day one of cannabis legalization in Canada, and that there’s still a long way to go in terms of easing the public’s fears when it comes to recreational cannabis use.

“I firmly believe that nobody started smoking cannabis today because it was legal, so there’s just as many stoners today as there was yesterday, as there was last year, as there was the year before,” she said. “I think that’s what is going to happen here, we’re not going to get more stoners, it’s just that we’re going to have less stoners charged.”

Before SooToday entered the dimly lit, hazy confines of The Vape Escape’s back room lounge, Holkko mentioned that because it’s only the first day of cannabis legalization, the stigma surrounding recreational users will probably stick around for some time.

“All of the things that people thought of stoners yesterday, they’re still going to think of them today,” she said.

It’s for this reason that Holkko sees The Vape Escape as a refuge for cannabis users.

“What if it’s minus 30 and snowing, do you really want to stand outside and smoke a joint? So that’s why we have this place. You have somewhere where you can go where smoking cannabis is accepted – everyone’s going to smoke cannabis, no one’s upset about it,” Holkko said with a laugh. “And then you don’t have to smoke it in your apartment and have your neighbour complain that they hate the smell.”

The Vape Escape, Holkko says, operates within a ‘grey area’ in terms of using cannabis within the confines of the lounge.

It’s something that she hopes to get some clarity on in the future.

“Unfortunately there’s no rules or regulations on vape lounges as it stands right now, we’re in a grey area where there’s no rules for or against [smoking cannabis],” she said. “We’re hoping as the legislation moves forward, they make a place for us.”

- with files from The Canadian Press