Visitors can live the high life — without being high — at new House of Cannabis in NYC

Marianne Wilson
Editor-in-Chief

A new immersive destination in New York City celebrates all things marijuana—but it doesn’t sell actually sell weed on site.

The House of Cannabis is billed as the first-ever, permanent home celebrating “high culture” and its impact on music, art, fashion, social reform and agriculture. Housed in a 30,000-sq.-ft. foot, historic cast iron building in the SoHo section of downtown Manhattan, the destination features 10 immersive experiences along with a retail store.

“We are proud of the creativity and intention behind The House of Cannabis,” said CEO Robert Frey, former Las Vegas nightclub owner. “We believe this is a long overdue, important story to tell and it will appeal to cannabis connoisseurs, medicinal and recreational users as well as the canna curious.”

The ground floor is home to the retail space which includes a café and a full-size corner store with an extensive snack section. The retail store features “artful “cannabis lifestyle and design products, streetwear and a dedicated well-being apothecary.

The immersive experiences are located on the upper three floors and, unlike the ground floor, have a ticketed admission fee. (Anyone under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult.)

Here is a rundown on the exhibition floors:

Floor Four: High Culture. The floor includes multimedia experience celebrating the 6,000-year history of cannabis and the impact a single plant has on influencing culture. Another multi-media exhibit provides an intimate look at the largely unknown ways that even a minor marijuana conviction effects peoples’ lives ranging from incarceration to impeding education, immigration, employment, housing and child welfare.

Other attractions include a cannabis music festival where audiences are immersed in a celebration of the connection between music and the plant. Participants lay back while lounging on a giant spinning LP, journeying into genres including hip hop, rap, jazz, country, reggae and rock — iconic hits imagined and inspired by the artists' relationship to cannabis.

A rotational gallery space, called The Joint, honors artists and makers at the center of cannabis culture from the worlds of fashion, music and art. The premiere exhibit, The Art of Sneakers, elevates street art to fine art through a collective of designers, painters, sculptors and visual artists.

Floor Three: The Plant, A 6,000 Year Journey. The third floor dives into cannabis cultivation and includes three light and temperature-controlled chambers featuring live plants.

Floor Two: Ascension: The Journey Crescendos. The space includes a giant tree installation whose extensive roots serve as seats and tables for classes, talks and entertainment. A multi-sensory experience, called “Higher Self,” is designed to induce the sensation of being high through visual and audio abstraction.

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