The Cannabist Network

Recent posts by The Cannabist Network

Smoker Friendly, Boulder-based tobacco chain, making pot priority with Glass Werx

It doesn’t matter what they’re smoking — tobacco or marijuana. Smokers are smokers. And in the view of Smoker Friendly, they’re all potential customers. The Boulder-based tobacco purveyor is preparing to move aggressively into cannabis accessories with the new chain Glass Werx.

Pot tax: Caution trumps ambition as budget plan heads to Colo. legislature

A Colorado legislative committee on Tuesday approved a cautious plan for spending marijuana tax revenue in the next fiscal year — coming more than $20 million below what Gov. John Hickenlooper had requested.

Opinion: After much worry, Denver 4/20 rally goes just fine

As trip-hop music played through booming speakers, sun-drenched park-goers on Sunday sauntered through Civic Center with the pungent smell of marijuana hanging in the air.

Scenes from Denver’s 4/20 celebrations

A capacity crowd huddled under blankets, wearing coats, gloves and hats for sunrise Easter service at Red Rocks Amphitheater early Sunday. About 14 hours later, Wiz Khalifa and Snoop Dogg would lead a very different, but still capacity, crowd through songs such as “Young, Wild & Free” and “Smoke the Weed.”

Leftover Salmon, Method Man and Redman headline Denver 4/20 show

Organizers estimate about 5,000-6,000 people came through the gates of a mini-festival outside of Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom that had 26th to 28th streets closed on Welton Street.

Cannabis Cup draws thousands; strain sampling rampant

The sold-out High Times Cannabis Cup featured an outdoor expo at Denver Mart where marijuana companies offered samples to legally eligible attendees.

Contrasts at Red Rocks: Dawning with Easter service; Snoop, Wiz light up night

As the sun climbed above Red Rocks Amphitheatre on Sunday, April 20, a capacity crowd huddled under blankets. When the sun is setting on the same venue, an equally sizable crowd will be singing along with Wiz Khalifa and Snoop Dogg.

Denver 4/20 rally mellow; police ticket dozens

On the whole, authorities reported no major problems at Sunday’s 4/20 rally at Civic Center Park in Denver. By late afternoon, Denver police had issued 47 citations for public marijuana consumption at the downtown rally, as well as 16 other arrests or citations for other reasons.

Marijuana tourism booms in Colorado, though officials remain skeptical

Marla Cooley isn’t exactly being discreet when she advertises the marijuana friendliness of her vacation rental home near Lyons. She calls the rental “High in the Hills.” “I’m in a spot where I can enjoy life at its highest, and I’m welcoming people to share the experience up here,” said Cooley, who hopes to expand with extra cabins for guests.

Denver’s 4/20 rally has huge security presence

Beefy, black-clad security officers, donning bullet-proof vests and perched on a scaffolding, peered across Civic Center park through military-style binoculars Saturday as crowds began to grow for the first day of Denver’s 4/20 Rally.

“Edible marijuana is not candy” — Mintmaker sues Dixie Elixirs

A Longmont-based maker of marijuana-infused mints has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Denver edibles company Dixie Elixirs. Bridge Marketing alleges in the suit that Dixie Elixirs has failed to use Bridge’s trademarked design for packages of MED-a-mints, mint-like lozenges that contain THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.

Observatory Park shooting: man charged in wife’s murder; shop pulls edibles

Prosecutors have filed a charge of first-degree murder after deliberation against a 47-year-old Observatory Park man accused of killing his wife while she pleaded for help on a call with a 911 operator.

Stopped, frisked, groped in NYC: High Times editor gets intimate with NYPD

A few nights ago, I was stopped and frisked by the NYPD on the Lower East Side for smoking a hand-rolled tobacco cigarette. I know, I know — all you High Times readers are right now thinking to yourselves that I should have been blazing a joint instead. While I willfully acknowledge the idiocy of my occasional tobacco indulgences, the truth is, had I been hitting a fatty of Sour Diesel, I would have been given a two-day tour of the scenic Manhattan Detention Complex — nicknamed “the Tombs,” assumedly for good reason.

4/20 in Denver: The rise of a new entertainment holiday

April 20 is now a full-on entertainment holiday in Colorado with promoters and entrepreneurs looking to capture a slice of the massive audiences in the same way they might on Halloween or New Year’s Eve — and music fans are the winners with a dizzying array of music throughout the city.

Editorial: Urgency for Colo. lawmakers considering pot bills

This is big, Colorado. Two people in the space of a few weeks apparently consumed edible marijuana products now sold in retail stores and seem to have lost their grip on reality.

Observatory Park shooting: Affidavit says man ate pot candy, may have taken painkillers

The 47-year-old man accused of killing his wife Monday night while she spoke to a 911 operator allegedly consumed marijuana candy hours before he began hallucinating in his Denver home.

Fatal fall investigation: 6 servings of pot cookie consumed; products tested

A college student who jumped to his death from a Denver hotel balcony last month ate six times the recommended amount of a marijuana cookie before his death.

Denver 4/20 rally’s smoking riddles remain

Sales of recreational marijuana may be legal, but organizers of this weekend’s 4/20 festival in Denver — billed as the largest in the world — have a fine line to walk. They nearly got the two-day event cancelled after the organizers’ attorney asked the city to endorse public pot-smoking by attendees.

Medicine Man: Family’s bonds showing strains as business evolves (series)

Sitting at a conference table in his accountant’s office, Andy Williams has a number in mind: $11.5 million. That, he says, is what it would take for him to sell his stake in the marijuana business he and his brother started from nothing.

Neighbors and pot conflicts — ways to clear the air

Neighbors can feud about nearly everything — barking dogs, unkempt front yards, loud parties, cigarette smoke. And now, with marijuana legal for adult recreational use and more available than ever, weed joins the list.

Lawmakers consider new looks for edibles

Rep. Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch, is sponsoring a bill that would require candies and other foods infused with marijuana be shaped, marked or colored in a such a way that anyone could identify them as a gateway to several hours of altered consciousness.

It’s official: Denver 4/20 rally organizers get permit for two-day festival

Denver Parks and Recreation have given the official go-ahead to organizers of this year’s 4/20 rally at Civic Center Park, which has grown into a two-day festival. Parks officials apparently have resolved any concerns remaining from a fight over whether the city should sanction public consumption of marijuana during the massive April 19-20 event, which is expected to draw tens of thousands.

Colorado farmers wonder: How to get hemp seeds?

Farmers in Colorado are learning about how to plant, cultivate and harvest hemp legally for the first time since the crop was outlawed decades ago. But one thing remains unclear: getting the seed. “It’s kind of a catch there right now,” said Ron Carleton, the state’s deputy commissioner of agriculture.

Feds give Washington state access to FBI database for background checks

After a year of requests, the U.S. Justice Department said Thursday it is giving Washington state access to an FBI database so it can conduct nationwide background checks on people who apply to run legal marijuana businesses.

Adams City H.S. pot offenders try new treatment program created by CU

A handful of high school students in Commerce City identified as high-risk marijuana users can avoid traditional punishment by enrolling in a pilot, school-based treatment program created by substance abuse researchers from the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

Congress in urgent need of chilling out (opinion)

Legal marijuana is spreading like a weed across the land but it has yet to take root in the place where people might benefit most from inhaling: the U.S. Capitol. Our ever-indignant representatives need urgently to chill out and free their minds, writes Dana Milbank of the Washington Post Writers Group.

Denver County Fair doubles size of Pot Pavilion, but still turning away sponsors

Pot plant-growing competitions. Pot brownie judging. Pipes. Vaporizers. Rolling papers. And oh, by the way, there’s also a county fair taking place. Denver County Fair organizers say that the fair’s “Pot Pavilion” will now occupy an entire floor of the National Western Complex during the event Aug. 1-3.

Centennial: Shop elsewhere for recreational marijuana

Centennial City Council is set to ban recreational marijuana stores, citing community feedback. Council had placed a moratorium on recreational establishments after Colorado voters approved Amendment 64 in November 2012. Centennial voters were against Amendment 64.

Pot property financing entices private investors

When some banks began calling commercial notes they held on properties leased to marijuana businesses, it opened the doors to private financiers willing to take on the fledgling industry and its associated risks.