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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Meet the Birmingham lads opening a sanctuary where you can use cannabis "without stigma" Kirsty Bosley Birmingham Live Monday 06 Oct 2025 With murals of rappers on the walls, grinders on sale and a distinctive smell in the air, Grams is unlike any other lounge you'll find in Birmingham Grams is set to open on November 1, a lounge with Luke Littler dartboards, a slick pool table, a stage for live performances, games, food, coffee and equipment that allows those with prescriptions to use their cannabis medication. The members lounge, at the Wharfside Leisure Complex on Lifford Lane, will be a 'sanctuary for holistic healing and cannabis-based wellness' when it opens, with support staff and signposting for those who may be struggling with drug and alcohol addictions while also acting as a 'chill' venue in which to build community. Membership is priced from £10 a month and there will be no cannabis on sale. Cannabis is a controlled drug and visitors will be screened for prescriptions prior to entry and must consume via vaping methods if they intend to medicate on the premises. Combusting cannabis, such as smoking it, will not be permitted, with staff on hand for guidance. The venue has an extractor system to freshen the air and vaping equipment available for legal consumption of the medicine. The law on medicinal cannabis Cannabis is controlled as a class B drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. It's illegal to possess, produce, supply, import or export cannabis in the UK. In November 2018, regulations were updated to allow cannabis-based medicines to be prescribed to patients by specialist doctors. The 12 owners of Grams are former childhood friends who reconnected in their 30s through work. Among them, Jamie Green, 41, who works at a mechanical electrical company. He says: "We all grew up together and we all had alcohol and cocaine addiction issues. It was what we did, it was a lifestyle. "But now we're in recovery. We stopped drinking and sessioning and realised there wasn't anything to do. We couldn't go to the pub any more, but we didn't have any other hobbies because we'd always been out on the smash. It's all we ever did. "Grams is for people like us, who don't go to the pub any more and who do use medical cannabis, where they won't get judged if they show up stinking of weed. "I had been self-medicating for ADHD since I was 13 and it's only now I'm old enough I realised that I'd been self-medicating to quiet my 9,000 thoughts a second. It quietens it down for me. "Then I'd been taking opiates every day for a burst disc in my back, but found that medical cannabis stopped me needing to take 25-30 tablets a day. Now I don't use opioids any more. "Cannabis is a medicine, everybody that uses it is probably using it for a medicinal reason, to relax or to calm their head." Co-owner Nick Joesbury, 39, added: "First and foremost, we're a harm reduction centre. The medical cannabis thing is part of that, but it's only for people with prescriptions. "We're creating a space for people whether they medicate or not. It just looks like this because it's our style." He's referring to the decor, featuring rappers, a Cheech and Chong-style mural resembling Nintendo characters with the slogan 'Super Stoned Bros' and even a chess board with cannabis leaf pawns and a variety of bongs as the other game pieces. Another of the owners, Danny Strachan, 40, said: "You can use cannabis but it's not like some Amsterdam cafe. It's not legal to sell weed in England, it's nothing like that. "It looks like one, but it's just medicinal cannabis, where people can use their medication with a vaporiser. "People have a skewed view of cannabis sometimes and they might not understand what we're trying to achieve. People were assuming we were opening a shop where you'd smoke weed with people hanging around outside, but it's not that. "We're checking prescriptions, you have to sign up to access the lounge with all your ID and paperwork which we review every three months. It's regulated." That means no 'spliffs' or use of illegally-obtained drugs, no controlled substances on sale, only prescribed medicine in an 18+ facility with a strict locked-door policy to non-members and children. Danny said: "We've got an open-door policy for anyone with concerns, and we've been fully open to the neighbours, to police and local councillors. We're welcoming guys, open to conversation, and we want to break down the stigma." Craig Grunerovergaard, 37, explained how he'd been in recovery from addition after 'not being able to remember most of his life'. He's found empowerment and support from his new business partners while creating Grams. He said: "Jamie and the lads had been talking about opening a place like this for years but through work, we all came together. "It feels like fate, we all started working together and it facilitated us financially as well as everything else to make this happen. We built these walls! Everything. "We'd never done anything like this before, but it's a place we can come together to help people find a better way of living, off the drink and drugs." Now the men are planning yoga, meditation and more wellness activities, canal clean-ups, a gym, as well as wild camping trips, walking and biking events and support groups organised through their community interest company. Danny said: "What we're doing is offering a space with opportunities for a better life. It's not just a social environment, we're going to be bettering people's lives, whether it's with diet, with some of the natural product we'll be selling or just through changing perceptions on how you can live and what you can do. "As lads you get mixed up in this idea that it's cool to be out on the sesh for days, but it's not. The best things I enjoy now are being in nature with the dog, having a granddaughter, having peace." Craig added: "In a world of chaos and divide, we're trying to find unity. We got 12 of us together and look what we've done in eight months? "The last time we were together as a group were as kids. Now we're back together as men. Over the years we built masks with drink and drugs. Now we're recovering, talking, understanding and moving on from it." Nick added: "Our main objective is that we want to change lives, to help people be healthier. "When you're living that way, and your head is in a bad way, you don't realise it and it's a vicious cycle that's hard to break. We'd be out for three days at a time, up to some disgusting behaviour, but we'd all be doing it so we thought it was all alright. You keep doing it. "Now we know if you've got the right support around you, you can break out of the cycle. It doesn't have to be lonely, or isolating, you can be with people that are on the same journey as you, getting advice." To get Grams membership, you don't have to be a cannabis user, though if you do wish to consume the controlled drug on the premises you have to register via their website ahead of time. Once open, there are comedy shows and music nights planned. There are also interactive dart boards available for private hire, a studio for young adults to record music in, games, a pool table and classic dart boards. https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/meet-birmingham-lads-opening-sanctuary-32603883
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