On a Friday evening in Adams Morgan, about two dozen people gathered inside a cannabis dispensary to watch drag queens perform.
Many smoked. Others chatted over drinks — nonalcoholic ones — while Sapphica Star and Lexxus Star performed at Blunt Sluts, a dispensary that has become more than a storefront. To the right of the sales counter is the “giggle room,” an event space where customers can use cannabis products.
The drag show is one of a growing number of events at D.C. dispensaries that are aimed at building communities around cannabis consumption, from “puff and pilates” to comedy shows.
Blunt Sluts’ co-owner Shelby Fountain said the events grew organically from conversations with customers. “They started forming their own kind of community,” she said.
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Blunt Sluts and Higher Ground, a Northeast D.C. dispensary, both operate consumption spaces where customers can use cannabis on-site while attending events. Other dispensaries around the city are experimenting with similar models.
D.C.’s cannabis consumption spaces were made possible by a law that went into effect in 2023, creating a safe-use treatment facility endorsement that allows licensed medical cannabis retailers to offer on-site consumption areas for patients.
Customers and employees at the dispensaries said the appeal is largely about giving people an alternative to the traditional bar.
“What’s wrong with the little joint at the end of the day?” Fountain said. “I mean, it’s kind of like our glass of wine, honestly. It’s just something social to bring us all together and talk about our days and personal lives and other things.”
That dynamic was on display at the Blunt Sluts drag show. Sapphica Star said some people enjoy queer nightlife but may not want to spend an evening in a packed, loud bar.
“The people that come to this event are people who are really genuine, down to earth,” Sapphica Star said. “I think everyone’s looking for community and looking to connect on a deeper level.”
The shift comes as alcohol consumption has been declining among U.S. adults.
Gallup reported in August that only 54% of American adults said they drink alcohol, matching the record-low level measured in 2025. The share stood at 67% in 2022.
Fountain described the “Cali sober” lifestyle — abstaining from alcohol and other substances while continuing to use cannabis — as increasingly visible among her customers.
“There are people who come into Blunt Sluts all the time who have just bad incidents with alcohol or bad memories or associations,” she said. “A lot of people are just trying to get away from alcohol in general.”
Sapphica Star, who said she stopped drinking, said younger people are increasingly questioning the traditional drinking-centered nightlife model.
“There are reasons that contain multitudes for why our generation has sort of abandoned the notion of the party drinking culture and sort of embraced weed,” Sapphica Star said, pointing to the effects of alcohol and its rising cost.
The shift is also visible at Higher Ground.
“People are still looking for social stuff to do,” said Robbie Martin, the dispensary’s general manager and president of the D.C. Cannabis Business Association. He boiled the question down to: “If I’m going to drink less, where can I still find social things to go out and do?”
Higher Ground, which soft-opened in January and began hosting events in April, is trying to answer that question.
The dispensary hosts magic shows as well as yoga and sound bath classes. Martin said the goal is to make the space appealing even to people who might not consider themselves stereotypical cannabis consumers.
“It’s not just ‘Hey, I have to be a stoner to go to Higher Ground,’” Martin said. “We want to put on enough different varieties of community events that enough people see this as a home base.”
That idea is also attracting people from the hospitality industry who are looking for an alternative to serving alcohol. Martin said many of the people involved with Higher Ground came from hospitality and nightlife backgrounds.
Clint Leonard, who works as a budtender at Higher Ground, is one of those people.
“I’ve been a cannabis user for a long time, and so I thought that my skills in hospitality could transition to a place like this really well,” Leonard said.
At Higher Ground, he said, the same skills that make a bar or restaurant function — welcoming customers, creating an atmosphere and fostering conversation — can be applied to dispensaries.
“We are cultivating here a community space that can be used in a lot of the same ways that a bar venue could be used or a restaurant venue could be used, but obviously just without the alcohol aspect,” Leonard said.
Higher Ground is also trying to make cannabis itself part of the experience. The business grows cannabis on-site, allowing customers to see the plants behind the products they consume.
“To be able to put somebody at that bar, and they’re five feet away from 300 plants, is a really unique opportunity for education and to just normalize the conversation as a whole,” he said.
The concept is spreading beyond the two businesses.
Blunt Sluts recently opened another location in Capitol Hill. Wash Hydro in Adams Morgan operates a consumption space that customers can rent hourly or access through an annual $420 pass. Love 420, which opened near Nationals Park in September, plans to offer four private consumption spaces.
“It’s food, it’s music, it’s arts, it’s culture — and that’s really the driver behind that,” Martin said. “We feel strongly that cannabis does live in all of these different communities. There just hasn’t really been a venue for that gathering.”
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