“It’s been great,” Benajamin Koenigsberg said of his medical marijuana treatment. “It really reduces pain, and anxiety, and irritation in my butt, which is where I was having the most discomfort.”

Koenigsberg suffers from complications due to hemorrhoids, which qualifies him to participate in Oregon’s Medical Marijuana Program. He is one of 23, 873 cardholders in the state.

He is also one of many such cardholders that came to the opening of The Cannabis Cafe at 700 NE Dekum this afternoon. Although the doors did not open until 4:20 pm (of course), cardholders began lining up outside the cafe hours in advance.

The cafe is operated by Oregon’s chapter of the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws, and is restricted to patrons who are Oregon residents, members of NORML, and cardholding participants in OMMP. There is a monthly membership charge of $25.

Out of concern for a recent state ordinance barring smoking inside of businesses, marijuana is only to be consumed at the Cannabis Cafe via vaporization. Vaporization is a process by which marijuana is heated to a temperature that vaporizes the THC crystals, but does not cause them to combust. The cafe has three Volcano vaporizes available for use, which retail at over $500 apiece.

Unlike other similar establishments in California, the Cannabis Cafe is not a dispensary. While marijuana can be consumed inside, and gifted back and forth between participants and cafe staff, it can not be purchased. Under the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act of 1998, the growing and consumption of medical marijuana is legal, however selling it remains a felony. Madeline Martinez, Executive Director of Oregon NORML, commented in a press conference this afternoon that only British Columbia and Amsterdam had similar cafes.

The Cannabis Cafe is opening in the wake of dramatic change in federal policy towards medical marijuana. Last month, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Justice Department would no longer pursue prosecution against medical marijuana users or distributors if they acted in compliance with state law. This change in federal policy prompted Oregon NORML to establish the cafe, Martinez said.

Patients and medicinal marijuana advocates are responding enthusiastically to the cafe’s opening. An anonymous cardholder waiting outside for the doors to open declared, “It’s the finest thing that’s happened in my lifetime.”

Martinez said that the cafe was creating a space for a community that is “ostracized by society.” Cardholders are barred from consuming marijuana in public view under OMMA. The cafe, according to Martinez, is an opportunity, then, for patients to medicate socially: “That’s what we’ve built, a community, a self-sustaining community by the way, where you don’t have to go to an ally and buy marijuana. You can come here, and we’ll be happy to share with you.”

Community response, however, has been quite varied. Some neighborhood residents and businesses are concerned that the cafe will generate illicit activity, or be a safety hazard as patrons leave the cafe potentially feeling the effects of marijuana. Michele Eccleston, who lives next door to the Cannabis Cafe, said in regards to the new establishment, “We see it as a really big liability.”

The cafe, which has a seating capacity of 75, is slated to be open seven days a week, from 10 am to 10 pm.

An in-depth podcast on the opening of the Cannabis Cafe is forthcoming.