This week I was criticized by a reader for not offering a true “confession” like the title of this blog suggests. Alright I have a reader! The thing is though, there is not much to expose about being a budtender. There are no secrets that need uncovering, no whistleblowing that needs doing, and no oppressive leader that needs toppling. I am not an investigative journalist up here to call out the weed industry for their abuses of power, I am just a dude who works in a weed shop. “Breaking News! Nobody likes strains that are low in THC, more on this story next week”. I like to make fun of... Read More

Until recently Colorado’s little experiment has been overseen by a group charged with coordinating efforts to implement regulation for Colorado’s recreational and medical marijuana industries. This was a group of lawmakers and medical professionals made up to aid in the roll out of legalization. The group was recently disbanded by the governor, so it can be assumed that he feels the experiment has worked thus far. Hopefully, this also means that the cannabis industry will get a little break. Every six months or so, since 2014, this industry faces changes that cause our entire business model... Read More

With the abundance of new cannabis strains flooding the market every harvest, how is one supposed to choose? Weed is expensive and when you are looking at more variety than Rob Lowe had in the 80’s it is easy to feel overwhelmed that you may choose the wrong one, but seriously though, you will never pick the wrong one. It is always nice to go into a dispensary with a little familiarity though and that is what I am here to help with. Consider me your own personal research and development guy…for weed. This week I picked up some Watermelon Man and Maui Wowie. Here is my confession, lol. I smoked... Read More

It’s true, you can’t make this stuff up! The cannabis culture is colorful and full of interesting facts and fallacies. Here are a few facts that may tickle your funny bone or leave you scratching your head in confusion. Pot for Sale Online in 1971. The very first online purchase was an undisclosed amount of marijuana between students at two prestigious colleges.  In the early 70’s,  long before eBay and Amazon, students at Stanford University using Arpanet accounts at Stanford University’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, engaged in a commercial transaction with their buddies... Read More

On any average day, I would say I see more out-of-state visitors than Colorado ones. So, for the sake of this blog, I began asking customers their thoughts on how long they think it will be until they see any kind of a legalization within their own states. The response I got from most people was, “my state will be the last to legalize weed”. These are grown men and women telling me they have no hope for their state, meanwhile, everyone in line behind them is also from their home state. Why choose to be so dire about the possibilities of legalization back home, regardless of your state’s... Read More

I bet if you were asked what country was the first to legalize cannabis from production to consumption, you probably would not think, “duh, Uruguay!” But it’s true. Although recreational drug consumption has never been outlawed in this open minded, liberal country, the cultivation and sale of cannabis remained forbidden. This month, however, pot smokers in Uruguay became the first in the world to sign up to buy state-produced weed for recreational use. How the law works is somewhat fascinating. Legal marijuana will only be available at pharmacies. Those wanting to purchase legal cannabis... Read More

We have a cat fight, folks! Meow! Remember last week when Attorney General Jeff Sessions lowered a cloud of despair across the country with his revival of the War on Drugs? Well, a bipartisan, forward thinking group in Congress have introduced legislation to counteract Sessions. Let’s discuss. Our regressive Attorney General directed federal prosecutors to charge people with the most serious provable offenses to trigger mandatory minimum sentences. As we’ve discussed, these sentences provide for “one-size-fits-all” sentences of pre-determined lengths. They fail to consider the individual... Read More

As the budtender, I get in a lot of conversations about why cannabis should be legal. One common argument made is that cannabis should be legal because alcohol is legal. To start with, marijuana should not be legal just because another thing is legal. Marijuana, oops I mean cannabis, should be legal because it is a benefit for humans. We all understand why this argument gets made though, alcohol and cannabis are both substances that get you a little impaired and can affect your judgment. In our society, they are two of our social norms for changing the mindset and relaxing, but they are very different... Read More

One night after a long day at work, I sat down with my IPad (and my pipe) and started watching Last Week Tonight with John Oliver segments on YouTube.    As is normally the case, one segment turned into two and then three and then…well you get the point.   Anyway, one of those segments featured the topic of doing business in the cannabis industry, and its main focus was on how federal law makes it rather difficult for companies in states like Colorado and Washington to do business as a “regular” or “normal” business would. The segment focused on several different things but the one... Read More

As of this week, Vermont became the first state legislature to pass a bill to legalize recreational marijuana. That may be surprising to you, since eight other states currently have legal recreational weed. The difference? Those states passed public ballot initiatives. So, if signed by Republican Governor Phil Scott, Vermont will remove penalties for possessing one ounce of marijuana or less and allow adults to keep two mature plants. Ahhh, so nice to see a legislature opening its eyes to reasonable drug policy. Alas, in the same week of continued progress at the state level, “Debbie Downer”... Read More