Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning meets with the media after practice on Jan. 23 at Dove Valley. (Photo by John Leyba/The Denver Post)

NORML offices in Denver, Seattle make Super Bowl bet

While Las Vegas oddsmakers are having a hard time discerning who is favored to win this year’s Super Bowlthe Denver Broncos or the Seattle Seahawks — the Colorado and Washington offices of NORML know who they’re betting on.

The two related marijuana reform agencies announced a bet Thursday that will humiliate whoever loses. If the Broncos win, the Washington office will make a video of themselves decked out in orange and blue singing Colorado’s second official state song, “Rocky Mountain High” by John Denver. If the Seahawks triumph, the Colorado office will don blue and green and make an attempt at “Purple Haze,” a hit from Seattle’s late favorite son Jimi Hendrix.


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The videos will be posted on the organization’s sites and social media “with an acknowledgment that the winning team’s state is simply awesome,” according to the release.

NFL fans have been hypothesizing about the possibility of a Denver-Seattle Super Bowl for weeks, and social media took a pummeling on Sunday night when both teams — the only two representing legal marijuana states — advanced to the league’s biggest game. People called it the “Bud Bowl” or the “Stupor Bowl,” and it got the NORML folks thinking about a wager.

“The thought of making a bet crossed all of our minds after the Seahawks won on Sunday night,” Rachel K. Gillette, an attorney and the executive director for Colorado NORML, told The Cannabist. “We thought, ‘Oh, goodness, it’s the two states who have legalized marijuana.’ The bet is a good opportunity to highlight marijuana law reform.

“Now we’re officially in trash-talk mode. I forgot the name of the head of Washington NORML and sent him an email with somebody else’s name, so I get a point for that. But we’re both equally trash-talking. And we’re going to keep it up.”

Gillette works with many marijuana businesses and focuses on business and tax law: “They have the same types of issues that normal retail business have. Primarily what I do during the day is marijuana-related.”

And now even her Super Bowl plans are marijuana-related: “The bet’s going to be fun, and we of course are going to win.”