Expert advice on Pot Etiquette: Drug more common at events

“It’s your neighbor the accountant who is all of the sudden lighting up,” said party planner Kelli Bielema, owner of Shindig Events.

Bielema said she’s been asked about arranging parties where pot was present, even featured. “I had a couple that inquired about a wedding and they wanted to keep it secret from mom and specifically wanted a pot-hangout area,” said Bielema.

You survey the scene at your party.

Is it time to end the stigma and bring reefer off the sidewalks? We’ve had legal pot for a year with little noticeable impact — other than a couple of suspended Seahawks.

If you’re Scott Dickinson, a young lawyer hosting a big party in Montlake with his partner, Blake Mann, a physician, you don’t allow any smoking in your house. Why make an exception for that skunky weed? “That’s not going to happen,” said Dickinson.

There’s another consideration. While liquor is a social lubricant, marijuana can have the opposite effect. Remember how it made you all self-conscious and quiet when you were younger? Today’s pot is much stronger. Instead of dispensing cheer you might end up drooling on a guest.

Don’t forget, though, that there are two kinds of marijuana readily available in our wonderland of weed — indica, which often has its origins in Afghanistan, and induces couch-lock, experts say; and sativa, from equatorial zones, more likely to induce housecleaning.

“I have friends who are probably better socially when they have a toke,” said Bielema. “It’s also a social experience when you’re passing a joint or sharing a bong.”

At a party those folks are likely to do what pot-smokers have been doing since Bob Dylan turned on The Beatles in a hotel room with towels under the door.

They’ll discreetly round up the usual suspects and step outside. “They don’t just light up in your living room, with your toddler there, especially anyone who is seasoned in doing it. They definitely have their routine,” said Bielema.

That’s it? Let them step outside?

Not so fast.

“The basic gist is that if you want to have marijuana out at a party,” said Palmer, “you should treat it just like you would cocktails or anything else you are offering at your event: Display stylishly, fit with your theme, and make it available for all. If you want people to smoke outside then put it with an outside bar and a small sign.”