The fuzz showed up at Wayne Robillard’s new joint exactly when he was rolling it out to reporters Monday.

Two polite cops walked into BuzzOn at 29 Montreal Rd. to collect information about the pot smoking “lounge” in Vanier.

Robillard put it all on the table for police and the press: Yes, it’s a place for people to bring their weed and smoke it.

When police left, Robillard inflated a vapour bag stretched tight with pot smoke and sucked it back for photographers.

Robillard, 51, doesn’t fear the law and he doesn’t have a medical marijuana licence. He quietly opened BuzzOn with two business partners on April 20 — 4/20, the equivalent of Super Bowl day for potheads — and plans to ramp up to a full opening this weekend.

It’s not just for medical marijuana licence holders, Robillard said. Anyone 19 years old or older with weed is welcome to come in and smoke it for a daily “membership” fee.

There are no marijuana sales at BuzzOn. And no mooching off others is allowed.

In fact, not much is sold at all. There is a bar, but no alcohol.

There’s a PlayStation 3 in front of a couch and the rest of the place is filled with regular tables and chairs. The business has installed one exhaust system and plans to install more.

Robillard hopes police and City Hall don’t shut it down. He says he negotiated with the landlord to break the lease if after 60 days the city steps in.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen with Mayor Watson and the police. They could sic them on us very easily,” he said. “I don’t anticipate we’re going to shut down, but we’re planning for it, just in case.”

Watson’s office e-mailed a statement: “Mayor Watson expects businesses in Ottawa to comply with all applicable laws and bylaws. As this business is one which the Ottawa police and its drug unit are looking into, Mayor Watson has no further comment at this time.”

Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury said although marijuana is a “tough issue,” the city needs to make sure its regulations are followed when it comes to public health, zoning and bylaw.

“It’s a first,” Fleury said. “We have to look at what the implications are.”

Fleury noted that the city and BIA has been trying to improve Montreal Rd.

Chief Charles Bordeleau said police are trying to learn more about what BuzzOn is all about.

“We’ve gone in, we’re monitoring exactly to see what they’re doing,” Bordeleau said. “Having marijuana for medical purposes is legal, so we want to make sure we’re doing the right thing to deal with those issues.”

Q&A With Wayne Robillard, Business partner of BuzzOn

Why did you open BuzzOn?

I went into a couple of (cannabis vapour business) in Toronto and thought they should be everywhere. It’s taken me a few years but we finally got one up and running here in Ottawa and we’ll see what happens, I guess.

How is this legal?

It’s actually not legal. It’s still illegal in Canada to consume marijuana, unless you have a licence, and even if you have a licence they can give you a hard time. So really what we’re doing is an open form of protest. What we’re saying is we don’t agree with Canada’s cannabis laws and we don’t feel it should be a priority for the police or municipal governments to deal with.

So what you’re doing is illegal?

To be quite honest with you, I don’t express it exactly that way, but if a customer comes in and says how is this legal, my response is always to say it doesn’t matter where you smoke marijuana, it’s still illegal in Canada, so whether you’re smoking it in a lounge or out on the street, you can very easily be charged with possession. The difference is, our lounge is somewhat of a safe haven.

Are you open to anyone, not just medical marijuana licence holders?

We don’t ask them for licences because they have no legal obligation to show it to me or present it to me. I have no authority to ask them for medical records, so we just don’t ask.

What does a customer get for the entry fee?

You can use the vaporizers. We’ll supply you with papers if you need them. And you just get to relax. There’s a variety of board games and sudoku and crossword puzzles and things like that. People tend to come in and play cards, they play games, they chill for about an hour, and they leave.

Why pay to come to BuzzOn when you can hang out and smoke dope at home?

It’s a totally different social atmosphere. We’ll also have entertainment available on weekends and certain nights will be talent nights, that sort of thing. The whole social atmosphere is to just be around people who smoke. It’s a very comfortable setting.

Why open on Montreal Rd. in Vanier?

There’s a recovery centre across the street, so there are much more heavier eyes going over there. We’re right across the bridge from the downtown core which should make us a great target on the weekend, we’re hoping. We wanted to blend in in a nondescript neighbourhood. We’ve got a head shop just down the road. There’s a lot of restaurants and a hooka place next to us, a tattoo shop, so we thought it was a good area to blend in.

NEIGHBOURS DOOBIE-OUS

BuzzOn might need to drum up grassroots support, or face the threat of being choked off by the community.

Several residents and business owners stopped in front of the storefront Monday to read the makeshift signs for the pot “lounge.”

Some people chuckled at the idea and shook their heads. Others voiced concern.

Ralph Mefleh, who co-owns a web design company on Montreal Rd., was surprised to learn a weed-smoking business moved onto the strip.

“I don’t think it’s good for the area,” Mefleh said. “Vanier is going through a gentrification process right now.”

Vanier resident Francois Pharand said he’s not offended by the business, but shoppers at neighbouring stores might be. Pharand just doesn’t understand the business model.

“I don’t know why you need a place to smoke,” Pharand said.

Pierre Alain, who also lives in the area, worries that allowing pot could open the door to other drug use.

“Heavy drugs. That’s my concern,” Alain said. “When you talk about crack or something, forget it.”

DRUG UNIT INVESTIGATING

BuzzOn’s Wayne Robillard concedes that smoking pot inside his business is illegal because marijuana possession is illegal if you don’t have a licence.

There could be other regulatory pitfalls, too.

Robillard said he doesn’t have a municipal business licence because he couldn’t find a category of licence that fits.

He said BuzzOn doesn’t allow blunts — marijuana rolled in cigar paper, which has tobacco — since the law doesn’t allow tobacco products to be smoked in businesses.

It’s hard to say if BuzzOn fits within city bylaws. The city referred all questions to police, which said the drug unit is investigating.

Twitter: @JonathanWilling