Do You Toke This Blunt? Legal Risks of Weed at Your Wedding
Pot cafes and pot bars. Spring Break pot tourism and pot churches. Even your grandmother is smoking pot, on YouTube. So perhaps it's only natural that the booming cannabiz industry and the "wedding-industrial complex" (as Bloomberg calls it) collide.
To wit, wedding vendors in marijuana-friendly states are now offering everything from pot plant bouquets to stoner-related party favors and even open cannabis bars. But before you get your best "buds" together for your nuptials, there are a couple legal ramifications to think of first.
The State You're In
Obviously, it matters where you get married. Bloomberg's Polly Mosendz brings us the tale of Bec Koop, owner and operator of Irie Wedding & Events in Colorado:
Prior to the legalization of marijuana, Koop worked in hospitality, including conventional catering and florals. Now her offerings range from the full-service $3,000 O.G. Kush plan -- everything from day-off coordination to vendor bookings -- to a scaled-back $420 elopement plan in which Irie finds the officiant, books a photographer, and makes a dinner reservation for the couple. A marijuana-knowledgeable wedding coordinator, called a Best Bud, costs between $50 and $100 an hour for day-of-event help.
Clearly the wedding needs to be located in a recreational-legal state, and you must abide by all state and local marijuana ordinances. And you'll want to warn your guests against arriving across state lines with their supply or taking something home to toke on -- flying with weed is still illegal and possession and sale can still be a federal offense.
Your State of Mind
As with alcohol, you'll want to make sure your guests aren't over-served. DWHighs are a crime, and if a pot-intoxicated wedding attendee -- god forbid -- causes an accident or injures someone, the venue, server, or wedding host could be liable. And then there's making sure your underage guests don't partake, intentionally or unintentionally.
So by all means, incorporate weed into your wedding, from the procession to the reception. Just make sure you do it after legalization.
Related Resources:
- Find Drug Crime Lawyers Near You (FindLaw's Lawyer Directory)
- Top 5 Legal Tips for Your Bachelor Party (FindLaw's Law and Daily Life)
- Marijwhatnow? Seattle Police Post Guide to Legal Pot Use (FindLaw's Legally Weird)
- Free Weed for Poor Pot Patients in Berkeley? It May Soon Be the Law (FindLaw's Legally Weird)