The marijuana piñata at the Speak Easy Vape Lounge probably won't be this big. (Andy Newman, Getty Images file)

This July 4th party has “lots of free bud” and a marijuana-filled piñata

Matthew Taijeron had me at “marijuana piñata.”

“Our Freedumb Fest party is on the Fourth of July,” said Taijeron, co-owner of the Speak Easy Vape Lounge in Colorado Springs, “and we’ll have raffles and lots of free bud, DJs and a marijuana piñata and barbecue — you can’t have July Fourth without barbecue.”

Hold up, a marijuana piñata?

“Sure, we’ll have between 30-50 pre-rolls in there and some medicated candies and some grams of hash — donated by CannaMeds, which sponsors the piñata — and some traditional candy of course,” Taijeron told The Cannabist on June 25. “We still do the stick and the blindfold thing, and there’s no wild swinging or anything.”


Really, that’s a thing? Cannabis-infused coffee. Machine-rolled marijuana cigarettes. Joint-peddling vending machines. A THC-infused, ladies-only lube. A food truck selling only infused edibles. The massage of your life, via a marijuana-infused lotion. Yes, really, these are all real things.


The Speak Easy Vape Lounge, at 2508 E. Bijou St. in Colorado Springs, is one of the few Colorado cannabis clubs that allows legal on-site marijuana consumption. People can bring their own glass, vaporizers or dabbing rigs — or borrow a piece from the house — and ingest marijuana via the method of their choice.

The lounge has couches, pool tables, dartboards, snacks and the occasional live band or poetry reading. The Wednesday-night karaoke night is particularly popular, Taijeron said. The lounge is even a dog-friendly space, which pleases many a toker — “so long as their dogs are tamed and listen to them,” Taijeron said.

“It gets pretty packed in here, but not uncomfortably packed,” Taijeron said of the 190-capacity room. “We have a good ventilation system, so you’ll see the smoke, but it’s not like a fog machine.”

Daily memberships are available to those 21 and older for $2 with a Colorado red card (medical marijuana license) or $5 without. Members at like-minded Denver lounges iBake or Mary Jane’s Lounge get into the Speak Easy, which is an hour’s drive from Denver, for the $2 daily discount.

But you can’t buy weed at the Speak Easy.

“I can share my personal weed with somebody, no problem,” said Taijeron. “But we can’t sell it or exchange money for marijuana.”