New cafe offering CBD-infused E shisha to open in Sunderland

Cafe 420 is opening on the site of the former Funky Indian in Borough Road, in the city centre, and will specialise in E-shisha and street food.

A variety of vaping flavours will be available including E-shisha infused with CBD, which stands for cannabidiol.

CBD is becoming more mainstream and, although it is found in cannabis plants, it doesn’t contain the THC of marijuana which has addictive and psychoactive side effects.

Some GPs offer CBD in oil form to help alleviate stress, aid restful sleep and manage pain and the owners of Cafe 420 hope their offering will bring something different to Sunderland.

Businessman John Clark, whose dad John ran a string of pubs in the city before he passed away, has taken over the lease of the site in partnership with Nedhi Singh.

He said: “As well as bringing something different to the city with the E-shisha, the CBD-infused choices also have a lot of health benefits which people are interested in.

“There’s a lot of misconceptions about CBD, but it’s totally legal and all ours has been fully tested. It doesn't make you high like people think.”

Around £75,000 has been invested in transforming the two-storey site, which will open with a soft launch from 8pm on Friday, December 20, which is open to everyone.

Cafe 420 upstairs will have a Caribbean, informal theme and will be selling food such as parmos, burgers, salads and pizzas.

Downstairs, however, will have a luxe theme and will open as late night bar Truth, named after the nightclub in Netflix series Power.

John said: “Downstairs has a totally different theme and is very glamorous with a VIP area that can be roped off.”

Both the cafe and late night bar will open on December 20 for a soft launch and will be fully operational in January. The venture has created six full time and eight part time jobs.