Ricardo Baca is a contributing editor for The Cannabist. He was appointed The Denver Post's first marijuana editor in November 2013 and spearheaded the formation of The Cannabist, a division of the Post. Fortune magazine ranked Baca as one of the seven most powerful people in American cannabis while the Brookings Institution said he's one of 12 key people to watch in marijuana policy. Considered by Vice as 'the nation's most prestigious weed editor,' Baca is also the subject of the feature-length documentary 'Rolling Papers.' Baca also founded music blog Reverb and co-founded music festival The UMS.
“Nice, a little hashy, but it tastes like a clean flush — almost like movie theater popcorn.” Cannabist pot critic Jake Browne is getting high on national television again — this time on “CBS This Morning” as he tells longtime network correspondent Barry Peterson what he’s tasting, feeling.
Heard about the state of Colorado’s teen-oriented “Don’t Be a Lab Rat” campaign? The campaign will feature built-out “large, metal cages with a hamster water bottle on the side” with the widely agreed upon messaging that the developing brain can be significantly harmed by marijuana, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper told broadcaster Katie Couric on July 1. But will it be effective? Take our poll:
The Colorado government will soon have a new marijuana-cautious campaign aimed at teenagers telling them not to be a lab rat, Governor John Hickenlooper said Tuesday.
As Carla McFarland surveyed the Sonic bag filled with fast food on June 25, passing chicken strips and fries to her 8-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter, she came across something she hadn’t expected: A small bag of what appeared to be marijuana.
When Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper and veteran broadcaster Katie Couric get together at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado to have a conversation titled “The Dope on Pot” on July 1, what exactly will they be talking about?
As Colorado wraps up its sixth month of legal recreational marijuana sales, we at The Cannabist are looking back to see what we’ve gleaned in that intensely brief amount of time. One thing we’ve learned: Businessmen and women are striking while the iron is hot.
“Is that grass an indica or sativa?” Imagine what you’d overhear at a marijuana farmers market. On July 4th weekend, a group of ganjaprenuers will open a cannabis-only farmers market in Los Angeles.
Chromic Con: It’s a con for the chronic set, debuting at three marijuana lounges in Denver and Colorado Springs this fall with special appearances, artist signings, live music and plenty of cosplay.
As Colorado wraps up its sixth month of legal recreational marijuana sales, we at The Cannabist are looking back to see what we’ve gleaned in that intensely brief amount of time.
Remember when we introduced you to the food truck that sells only marijuana-infused sandwiches and soups? The converted bus first appeared in Denver on 4/20 weekend, but the truck will debut in its home state of Washington this weekend.
Imagine telling your friends and family you live at 420 Colorado Blvd. (420 is a stoner’s favorite number/time/date, and Colorado is the first state in the union to start selling legal, recreational marijuana.) Would they snicker out of jealousy, or would they gaze at your address plate in loving bewilderment?
Indie rockers Low aren’t often ones for controversy, so it was surprising when singer Alan Sparhawk posted on Twitter about losing a gig because of his so-called “ganja history” on June 25.
Matthew Taijeron had me at “marijuana piñata.” “We’ll have raffles and lots of free bud, DJs and a marijuana piñata,” said Taijeron, co-owner of the Speak Easy Vape Lounge in Colorado Springs. “And barbecue — you can’t have July Fourth without barbecue.”
The First Inn’s sign is not a joke or a Photoshop prank. The liberal approach of this Pagosa Springs business to Colorado’s still-newish marijuana laws make it stand out from the crowd; the clear majority of hotels throughout the state have tightened their already-strict smoking policies.
We’re somewhat stumped here at Cannabist HQ this morning. We’re looking at Legal Hemp’s website, where the company peddles marijuana-flavored candies — lollipops, chocolate bars, jelly beans — that have no THC in them.
“If it’s weed, it leads,” Denver city attorney Scott Martinez said in his opening statement at The Denver Post Marijuana Forum on June 17. Here are some of the more interesting take-aways from the event.
We know what President Barack Obama thinks about marijuana, but what about the Democrat many think will follow Obama in the White House? Click here
“As a cancer survivor, I know the ravages of a serious illness, and patients who are suffering deserve access to a medication that can provide them relief,” singer Melissa Etheridge wrote in her statement to N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo about the state’s proposed medical marijuana bill.
Denver-based DUI attorney Jay Tiftickjian’s primary message is simple: “Just don’t do it — don’t get behind the wheel if you’ve been smoking. The more people think about it, the less people are going to put themselves into that position — and for the public that’s a good thing. We want people to think.”
It’s a brilliant 2014 marketing ploy: Ask Canadian residents to sign up for your new, marijuana-rooted news-sharing platform, and promise one lucky new member free marijuana for one year — up to one gram per day for 365 days.
As Denver playwright John Moore considered topics for the play he would write for the Mile High 24-Hour Play Festival on June 7, he came across New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd’s June 3 piece on getting too stoned on marijuana-infused edibles in Colorado.
When Washington state kicks off its first legal recreational marijuana sales on July 1, will there be enough supply for the demand? Not likely. Why such a limited inventory? A short window for growing, for one.
Dixie Elixirs and Edibles is already one of the biggest names in Colorado’s bustling marijuana marketplace, where its popular marijuana-infused drinks, candies, tinctures and topicals are sold throughout the state. But now the company is eyeing other states and even Canada.
The directions for Foria are unlike any other THC-infused product on the market: “Apply 4-8 sprays directly onto the clitoris, inner and outer labia and inside the vagina,” the instructions begin.
Golden, home to perhaps Colorado’s best-known export, Coors beer, banned another adult substance Colorado has become known for when the city council voted down recreational marijuana sales in city limits.
New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd has lived an enviable life and crafted an impressive journalistic career that includes a Pulitzer, a Damon Runyon Award and a Woman of the Year nod from Glamour magazine. You can read all about Dowd’s professional achievements on her Wikipedia page, and if you keep reading you’ll also come across a new entry: “2014 Colorado candy bar incident.”
Washington resident Scott Johnson is getting ready to spend five years in prison for growing and trafficking marijuana. But ex-trafficker Johnson, who used to grow pot and ship it across the country in a loaded RV, doesn’t think Washington’s soon-to-start legal recreational marijuana sales would have damaged his business.
Embattled New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd reacted on June 5 to the controversy around her June 3 column, where she wrote about a nightmarish experience with too heavy a dose of legal marijuana-infused edibles in Colorado.
Cannabis and coffee, together. It’s a fresh take on the popular stoner rite of passage “wake and bake.” And it makes perfect sense that such a creation is coming out of coffee-crazy Washington state.
When New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd came to Denver in January to report on recreational marijuana — the same trip where she ate too much of a cannabis-infused candy bar — she contacted a number of local experts and industry types to get the lay of the land.
When Maureen Dowd’s column on her edibles overdose in Colorado first appeared on The New York Times’ website on June 3 it became an immediate touchstone in marijuana legalization in 2014. And of course Twitter reacted in a big way:
As I walked out of LoDo Massage’s economical RiNo studio near downtown Denver I felt centered and straightened, corrected and focused. The marijuana-infused body tuneup I’d just received was like nothing I’d ever experienced.
“I became convinced that I had died and no one was telling me,” the New York Times’ Maureen Dowd writes in a June 3 column about her scary experience with marijuana edibles when she visited Colorado.
While the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws has chapters all over the U.S., NORML only has one actual office outside of its headquarters in Washington DC — and it just opened in Denver this week.
Looking to invest in cannabis? You’re not alone. Before giving your money away read this one piece of advice from the CEO of angel-investor ArcView Group.
Have questions or concerns about recreational marijuana in Colorado? Or are you just a little bit curious about the burgeoning industry that finds its ground zero in Denver? Come to The Denver Post’s marijuana panel on June 17.
Former defensive tackle Tank Johnson says: “Managing and tolerating your pain is essentially how you make your money in this game. The NFL is all about pain management.” Broncos wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders also shares his views on cannabis, which is still part of the league’s anti-drug policy.
Families from throughout the U.S. are continuing to write convincing letters to Attorney General Eric Holder, pleading with the federal government to remove marijuana from the list of Schedule I drugs and make it more available as medicine.
What would you do if your cat showed up on the doorstep with a baggie of marijuana? Here’s what a New Zealand woman did with her kitty’s unexpected gift.
These dancers and performance artists were told to act as if they were “dancing on the ashes of the drug war.” And this is what happened.
When comedian Ron Funches heard a loud siren in downtown Denver before his show, he automatically assumed it was a “weed siren” — because Colorado.
There are certain truisms in Weed Firm. What have we learned from the hours we’ve lost playing the popular game, letting the gangsters kick our butts, precariously watering the pot plants with small water bottles, paying off the cops, ignoring the advances of Jane the stripper and growing some premium Purple Haze?
WATCH: An illegal hash oil extraction operation ended up in flames on Tuesday night in Puyallup, Washington — looking like a raging house fire and sounding like fireworks gone wrong in a home video filmed by a neighbor.
Apples has removed the popular Weed Firm game from the App Store. Game maker Manitoba Games released a statement on May 21 saying, “As you might have noticed the game is no longer available on the Apple App Store. This was entirely Apple’s decision, not ours.”
How does the head of the International Faith Based Coalition feel about Clover Leaf University offering state-accredited, college-level cannabis classes in Colorado?
Late-night hosts are indebted to the legal weed industry in Colorado — for the jokes, the wacky skits and now the Top 10 lists.
Weed Firm is the hottest iPhone game in America. So why are we so moved to grow and sell marijuana in this fictional universe? It’s a legitimately addictive game, and it’s compelling to watch your cash pile grow larger as your clientele becomes more and more demanding.
Michelle Malkin is a conservative hero, yes, but she’s also an advocate for medical (and even recreational) marijuana. Our expansive interview:
When Uruguay President José Mujica goes all the way to Washington DC to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House to talk about expanding trade and commodities exports, surely they would also talk about their feelings and experiences with legal marijuana? Actually, no.
Why did 3 of the biggest names in the medical profession recently change their feelings about marijuana legalization? A look at Drs. Gupta, Oz and Besser.
