With more states in the United States planning to legalize the use of recreational marijuana, people are coming up with innovating ideas to make use of the drug. One such enthusiast who is keen on exploiting the situation is Californian chef Christopher Sayegh, 24.

“I am trying to give people a cerebral experience,” Sayegh told AFP recently. He is the owner of Los Angeles-based company The Herbal Chef. He may be found holding up two syringes filled with cannabis compound trying to pump tiny amounts into a pomegranate sorbet or a juicy cut of a steak as part of his new sensory experiment, which he loves to dub as a “cerebral” experience.

Sayegh acquired his skills while working at Michelin-star restaurants in New York and California and is bent on redefining haute cuisine with cannabis-infused meals. The stigma around marijuana that is fast dissipating is only helping the cause of people like him. “But I’m also really careful in how I take them along on this journey,” said a cautious Sayegh.

Medical marijuana is legal in 25 American states, including California, and the District of Columbia. But in November 2016, the people of California will vote whether the cannabis be legalized for recreational use for adults aged 21 and above.

The legal sales of marijuana in the U.S. jumped to $1.2 billion in 2015, a 232 percent increase from the previous year, according to a California cannabis investment and research firm, ArcView Group. The sales are projected to surpass $22 billion by 2020, according to a recent report by this firm, with California making up $6.4 billion of that market.

Projections like these are lapped up by people like Sayegh who capitalize on the legalization of recreational marijuana. Tossing out cuisine laced with marijuana, chefs like him whip up delectable dishes that are savored by people.

He is expecting his clientele to increase with the passing of this legislation because as of now only a handful of people who hold medical marijuana cards are eligible to taste his luscious cuisine. The meal that costs $300 to $500 per head takes the diner on a unique “immersive” journey and it is not just about getting stoned, according to Sayegh.

“I am literally changing people’s brain chemistry as the dishes go on,” said an enthusiastic Sayegh.

“By the third course you feel it a little, by the fourth a bit more and by the fifth course, you’re starting to hit your groove.” Drawing an analogy with a symphony, the popular chef said that he ensured that as the come-up is happening, the dishes correspond with that and similar is the case while coming down.

He even experiments with marijuana-laced grape leaves, chickpea beignets, falafel and other middle-eastern dishes. His foraying into this type of cuisine had peeved his family members and they were quite appalled by his decision.

However, Sayegh takes it as a highly responsible job because cannabis is not like any other ingredient. Taking people on a trip entails enormous accountability which could go wrong at the slightest laxity.

Recovery road map

Addiction is not a crime, but a disease like any other ailment which needs immediate attention. Thus, instead of condemnation, the society should lend a helping hand in the recovery of addicts.

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