Medicated slices? Pot-friendly pizzeria opens in Vancouver

CTV Vancouver: Pizzeria vapor lounge Reporter Scott Hurst takes a tour of a pot-friendly pizzeria that opened in Vancouver.

A new Vancouver restaurant is taking a targeted approach to capitalize on the city's marijuana subculture, by offering its customers a place to enjoy a pot-infused pizza.

Mega ill Pizzeria is the city's first pizzeria/vapour lounge. The store does not sell marijuana, but medical marijuana users can have their pizza infused with pot for a fee. The East Vancouver restaurant also has vapourizers for rent.

"We're pot friendly," owner Mark Klokeid told CTV Vancouver. "You have to bring your own marijuana in here, but if you want to medicate your pizza we will do that for you if you have an exemption."

But there are some rules at the pizzeria. Patrons must be at least 18 years old to enter the restaurant, and it costs $10 to have your pie "medicated."

Klokeid said he wanted to do something different in a city known for its pot subculture. So he decided he'd create a place for medical marijuana users to light up, and then chow down.

"There's already vapour lounges and other lounges around town. So I figured, why not match that with pizza?" he said.

Vancouver residents inside Mega ill welcomed the news.

"What a combination: pizza and cannabis," customer Fred Pritchard said, adding that he enjoys the sense of community the restaurant helps foster.

"The environment here is very friendly… so anyplace that's a social gathering, where we can get together, is awesome," he said.

Klokeid said he'd like to see the restaurant become a tourist attraction.

"We want to have places for them to come visit," he said. "And establishments like this are a safe way for people to enjoy life."

With a report from CTV Vancouver's Scott Hurst