After six years of working as a nurse, mostly in psychiatric situations, Karam Shbeeta wanted to do something different, so he enrolled in a course about medical marijuana and there he found his calling. He decided to open up a cannabis coffee shop in the Arab-Israeli town of Tira, some 25 miles north of Tel Aviv.
When he first opened the coffee shop, about 8 months ago, his family was “confused and surprised," Shbeeta told Ha'retz. “They asked how I could leave my safe career as a nurse in order to open a coffee shop.” But his coffee shop, called Smokey Monkey, attracted people from around the region, including nearby Jewish cities and towns.
“I managed to build a community – one that embraces diversity and welcomes everyone, Arabs and Jews alike,” says Shbeeta, 29, who lives in Tira with his wife and daughter.
He was frustrated in his former job because he felt there wasn’t enough information out there for people to fully understand the benefits of medical cannabis. As a psychiatric nurse he felt he couldn’t find the right “match” for his patients and was concerned about people suffering harm by using the wrong kind of medication, he told the Israeli daily newspaper.
One of Shbeeta’s goals is “to advise patients on medical marijuana, and how to obtain and use it in a legal way, rather than getting it illegally from the black market where you have no idea what you’re consuming and what harm it may cause you.”
Only those with appropriate, legal documentation are allowed to purchase cannabis at Smoky Monkey, though the coffee shop also serves as a place where people can hang out with friends and neighbors. “In this area, there are few places for young people to hang out, to meet and connect with others,” Shbeeta said.
The Smokey Monkey has had other positive effects in the community.
One of the young men who works at Smokey Monkey is from an upper-middle-class Jewish community near Tira who is not only learning about medical marijuana, but has learned about life in an Arab city.
“When I started working here, I wasn’t familiar with the difficulties Arab society faces,” the 22-year-old told Ha’retz. “Working here, I got to know the Arab culture much better. At first, people looked at me differently because I’m Jewish. But the situation is different now: I feel connected to the people here, whom I call family.”
Shbeeta said he sees his shop as playing an important role in the lives of many people, helping them deal with trauma and pain with medical marijuana. He added that he also believes the Smokey Monkey can be “a model for the future” – a place where people meet their neighbors and overcome their fears and stigmas.
Photo courtesy of Karam Shbeeta & edited by JRod at Benzinga
