While sampling was rampant on the Cannabis Cup’s first day, you may be better off bringing your own. Out-of-state companies, along with Colorado businesses that don’t hold state licenses, were running low on samples by the end of Saturday after being swamped with visitors as the only outlets for free or paid samples.
Yes, paid.
One of the biggest lines on Day One stretched from the booth for Kurupt’s Moon Rock, which took a very unregulated-California (and illegal-in-Colorado) approach to the event. With every $30 “donation” to the booth, attendees walked away with a bandanna and a gram of their signature Moon Rock, what they call “the strongest bud in your galaxy.”
Multiple buyers confirmed the price and transaction details on Saturday and Sunday, and one of Kurupt’s booth employees, “GoldTeeth” Miller of Colorado Springs, also spelled things out for us.
“Basically with a $30 donation we give them a dab rag and a gram,” Miller told me.
How popular was the combo?
“We went through two pounds on the first day,” Miller said, noting it made for a $25,000 day. And the booth isn’t planning on running out of Moon Rock anytime soon. “We had it planned ahead.”
With 454 grams per pound at $30 per gram, it adds up to more than $27,000 in sales.
Kurupt’s website is littered with video testimonials from Snoop Dogg along with several other rappers. A take on what Coloradans often refer to as caviar, the bud is coated in hash oil and rolled in kief, a trifecta of THC pleasure.
Also, you get a bandanna.
But can such a transaction be legal? No, according to the law enforcement agency in charge at the Denver Mart, in unincorporated Adams County. A few days ago we asked Sergeant Aaron Pataluna, public information officer with the Adams County Sheriff’s Office, about the precarious laws and regulations surrounding pot sampling at the Cup — an admittedly tricky issue in these still-early days of legalization — and he confirmed: “It is the understanding of the Sheriff’s Office that samples provided by an out-of-state vendor would not be a violation of Colorado criminal law unless they … exchanged it as part of a financial transaction.”
Welcome to the wild west of cannabis, located in a parking lot just north of Denver city limits.
With tightened restrictions on who can offer freebies, today is when I’d expect to see booths start to run dry of samples. Unlike other events like Seattle’s HempFest, on-site sales from vendors or participants tend to be few and far between, so bring your own cannabis to be safe.
Look for me at The Cannabist’s booth from 3-4 p.m. today, where I’ll be happy to take your questions and talk all things Cannabis Cup.
