By Michelle Ann Rizzio
Tucked behind On The Mark and Trio Restaurant off of N Palm Canyon and W Merito is a Palm Springs first…The 420 Lounge. When entering the white gate from the outside, one would have no idea what to expect within. Julie Montante of PSA Organica has crafted the perfect space to enjoy friends and a toke. “I feel a lounge is necessary for people to come together, socialize, and enjoy each other. I have a safe place for them to recreationally use cannabis,” said Montante. “We have such beautiful weather here and such great people who come and visit us, a lot of tourists, that I feel Palm Springs is the ideal place for cannabis consumption.”
Safety is the exact feeling the lounge gives. The atmosphere is cloaked in beautiful green and grey colors and filled with cozy couches. With our season in full swing, The 420 Lounge gives our green snowbirds from the north a taste of what their upcoming legal landscape could look like.
After merely a week of being open and in full operation, people come and go. After going directly inside the doors of The 420 Lounge you are greeted by one of Montante’s friendly and educated budtenders. They check you in by making sure you are 21+ with a legal ID or that you are a medical patient (which grants you relief from taxes) and you then have full access to their array of goodies to be consumed on site. Only purchased products are allowed to be consumed on site, no outside product is allowed. Any unused product is sealed before leaving the lounge. Paraphernalia such as bongs, hand pipes, and hookahs can be rented or you can bring your own. Prerolls are in stock as well, which can easily be lit up with a loaner lighter. People sit and play board games provided for them, or sit and watch TV.
For the cannabis smoker who loves their pet?? They’re allowed too! Montante and the staff at The 420 Lounge allow furry friends to spend their time with their buds. “Pets are allowed. Cannabis is great for pets! Owners of those animals know if those pets can handle a social environment,” Montante said.
“My goals are to have doctors come in and provide educational classes, to have local musicians come in and have entertainment events, and more. We have The 420 Lounge available for rent for private cannabis parties and events,” Montante shared. “One of my goals when I first started with cannabis through PSA Organica was to always continue taking the next step. The next step was allowing people to come together, smoking together, telling stories and sharing medicine. I’m always looking forward, my next goal is a cannabis sports lounge–hopefully in the next 6 months!!”
Not only is the space safe and friendly, but it’s also prepared for the inevitable–smoke! “We have a $4,300 commercial filtration system that takes the smoke and filters it out as the purest form of air. It’s clean in here all the time!” Montante said. I lit up my Pineapple Kush preroll and exhaled it into the room. The smoke immediately found its way to the system installed on the corner of the ceiling and as quickly as I exhaled it was filtered out of the space.
A new timer can rest assured knowing that budtenders are prepared for folks who might not know how to navigate cannabis. Montante shares, “Our budtenders are to watch out at all times, we don’t want people overmedicating and not having assistance. We don’t want to ruin a good thing for the desert by not having that preparation. We will be preventing that from happening–there’s water and munchies available. Our neighbors, On The Mark and Trio, offer food which we allow to be brought in. Folks are welcome to sit here all day if they’d like to or have to. This is a safe space.”
Visit The 420 Lounge at 777 N. Palm Canyon Dr., toke with your friends, and don’t forget to take a picture in front of their selfie wall and tag #420LoungePS.
