It may look like a regular cocktail, but this one from Smoke and Mirrors in Las Vegas is a "canacocktail" — a cocktail that contains marijuana. Smoke and Mirrors is a cannabis lounge. Cannabis has been legal in several Mountain West states such as Colorado and Nevada for years, but cannabis lounges are a relatively new concept, giving people another way to consume marijuana in public. Walking into Smoke and Mirrors , it appeared to be like any other bar or lounge in Las Vegas — nicely decorated and welcoming. The drinks seem like those you’d get anywhere else. Mixologist Jasmine Gonzales makes a drink she says is similar to a Mojito. Here it’s called “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers.”
Gonzales described it like this: “It has passionfruit, it has lime juice, it has mint, it has agave…” and went on with other specialty ingredients. “We top it off with some ginger beer,” she said with a smile.
The topping off continues by pouring in a special ingredient. “They’re really tiny, but they pack a punch,” she said pouring the contents of a tiny vial into the drink.
What packs a punch is in that tincture — it contains cannabis.
Smoke and Mirrors bills itself as the first cannabis lounge of its kind in Nevada. In addition to its drinks, it also offers pre-rolled joints and other cannabis products — similar to what you’d find in a cannabis shop — as well as cannabis-infused coffee drinks and beer.
For the drinks, Assistant Manager Christopher Manganero said the punch is in the tinctures, which are small vials that sit in a tray, similar to what you’d see in a laboratory.
“In every one of these tinctures will be 2.5 milligrams," Manganero said. "And then we have different options, we have Indica, Sativa or hybrid. So what that means is Sativa is going to keep you a little bit more social and up, Indica is going to keep you a little bit more slouchy and more relaxed.” A Smoke and Mirrors employee holds up a glass vial with a cannabis tincture inside it. This one measures 2.5 […]
This Las Vegas lounge might seem like your neighborhood bar, but with a certain leafy twist
