Sensi Magazine - Southern Colorado (October 2018)

SOUTHERN COLORADO

THE NEW NORMAL

10.2018

{plus}

THE MOUNTAINS ARE CALLING

October Arts Week

TONS OF OFF-SEASON UPGRADES AT TOP SKI RESORTS

Pot-Friendly Politicians And More!

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GUT FEELING CAN CANNABIS HELP TREAT DEPRESSION?

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6 OCTOBER 2018 Southern Colorado

ISSUE 10 // VOLUME 2 // 10.2018

FEATURES 32 Gut Feelings

Cannabis could be one part of a holistic depression treatment that starts with the gastrointestinal tract, not the brain.

38

SP EC IAL R EP OR T

High on Hops

Cannabis was once thought to be a threat to the alcohol industry, but beer companies are now looking for new brews with a marijuana edge.

WINTER IS COMING Snowmaking is on in high country

every issue 09 Editor’s Note 11 The Buzz 16 NewsFeed

32

EAT YOUR FEELINGS Trust your gut and improve your mood

CANNABIS CANDIDATES

20 CrossRoads

CHANGE IS IN THE AIR

24 TravelWell

THE MOUNTAINS ARE CALLING

50 HereWeGo

OCTOBER IS ARTS MONTH

Sensi magazine is published monthly by Sensi Media Group LLC. © 2018 SENSI MEDIA GROUP LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

sensimag.com OCTOBER 2018 7

sensi magazine ISSUE 10 VOLUME 2 10.2018

EXECUTIVE FOLLOW US

Ron Kolb ron@sensimag.com CEO, SENSI MEDIA GROUP

Tae Darnell tae@sensimag.com PRESIDENT, SENSI MEDIA GROUP

Alex Martinez alex@sensimag.com CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER

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EDITORIAL Stephanie Wilson stephanie@sensimag.com EDITOR IN CHIEF

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M E D I A PA RT N E R S Marijuana Business Daily Minority Cannabis Business Association National Cannabis Industry Association Students for Sensible Drug Policy

8 OCTOBER 2018 Southern Colorado

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editor’s

THERE IS A SEASON

NOTE

As I write this, the first cool day of fall has ended the long string

of 90-plus degree days in September. There’s something about the waning days of the hot season that makes your body yearn for a little reprieve, to start to crave chunky sweaters, orange-hued decor accents, and steaming bowls of comfort foods. Around the equinox, the human body is primed for change, and I’ve found this feeling to be universal, no matter one’s current climate. I grew up in New Hampshire but spent 12 years in Miami on my way to Colorado; September and October were the height of hurricane season, among the hottest and most humid months year after year, but come mid-September, my instinctual brain would tell me it was time to start layering up.

The theme of change is running through this issue, an umbrella topic

MMJ & HEMP WASTE MANAGEMENT

uniting all of the various stories, from the special report on big-name beer

King’s Cannabiz // MEDICAL DISPENSARY

brands getting in on the marijuana magic to the intriguing feature on how

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gut health is essential to one’s mental health—a change in the long-term school of thought that depression starts in the brain.

There’s also a lengthy roundup of all the changes you can find at Colorado’s top ski and snowboard resorts this coming season—which may start this month, if A-Basin and Loveland have any say in it. But really it’s Mother Nature’s call, and despite the break in heat at the end of September, it doesn’t look good for any early-season runs this year.

I hope to be proven wrong; it happens often, something my Type-A brain finds challenging, but I am working on creating better habits, striving to make little changes to my daily routine in the pursuit of a better self. This quest is aided by some of the habit-tracking apps I rounded up in the Buzz this month—handy tools that make it easy to celebrate the little wins throughout the day.

This change issue came about as a way to do a politics issue without doing a politics issue the month before what’s on track to be one of the most consequential midterm elections of my lifetime. The NewsFeed this month deals with some of Colorado’s pot-friendly politicians, and it’s both informative and engaging—not always the easiest feat for a political piece, but one our senior editor handles with aplomb.

Change is in the air. Be the change you wish to see, to paraphrase that quote misattributed to Gandhi. Vote like your life depends on it.

Stephanie Wilson E D I TO R I N C H I E F SENSI MAGAZINE

sensimag.com OCTOBER 2018 9

10 OCTOBER 2018 Southern Colorado

END QUOTE

“Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

—Gandhi

High-End Infusions The LEVO II debuts this month.

It may look like a sleek espresso machine, but that’s not a caffeine buzz you’re feeling. The LEVO is the first-ever kitchen appliance designed to infuse butter or oil with any herb—in-

Except Gandhi didn’t say that. Nor did he write that; he was of the mind that personal and social transformation are interrelated—no one person can change the world. The closest verifiable phrasing from him is this: “If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. ...

We need not wait to see what others do.”

Someone, somewhere, for some reason, shortened that phrase to the smug statement above, and that misinformation has spread like hot gossip, proliferating in Instagram bios and on throw pillows of basic types everywhere. Fake news. Be the change you wish to see and stop spreading this falsehood.

– SW

cluding the elevating one with the herb nickname. An herb is an herb after all, as LEVO founder Chrissy Bellman often says. Bellman came up with the concept after watching her roommates struggle to make infusions, making a mess, smelling up the dorm room, and arguing about best practices the whole time. She knew there had to be a better way.

Groupies or

The resulting LEVO devices make creating infusions easier than brewing a cup of coffee. 1) Fill the herb pod with the herb of your choice. 2) Put it in the reservoir. 3) Fill the reservoir with the oil of your choice; 4) Hit the “infuse” button, adjust the time and temperature based on the handy Time & Temp calculator, and let the LEVO work its magic. 5) Dispense your infusion with the touch of a button—no filtering required—and enjoy. 6) Toss the components in the dishwasher and call it a day. The LEVO II, debuting this month in a spectrum of catchy hues, also features a range of new functions and features—including the cannabis-specific “activate” mode, which preps the plant for elevated infusions.

GANG MEMBERS? Juggalo (noun): A hardcore fan of horrorcore band Insane Clown Posse.

Juggalos (plural noun): A loosely organized hybrid gang, according to the FBI’s 2011 National Gang Assessment Report.

From lavender-infused sesame oil to Blue Dream-

Whether they’re a gang-

based cannabutter and beyond to basil-infused coco-

gang or just a gang of fans,

nut oil used to make body scrubs, there’s no limit to the

they’re gathering in Colorado

range of concoctions you can DIY. Tip: dispense into a

Springs. The Insane Clown Pos-

pretty jar, top with a bow, and voila! Homemade gifts for

se are playing a parking lot

the holidays.

LEVO I, $149.99; LEVO II, $349.99. LEVOOIL.COM

– Stephanie Wilson

show at the Black Sheep on October 27.

–SW sensimag.com OCTOBER 2018 11

Power Pickin’

It may be harvest time, but pumpkin picking on Saturday night isn’t exactly a rockin’ good time. Instead, watch the members of Meadow Mountain pickin’ strings at Front Range BBQ in Colorado Springs.

Self-Improvement Starts Now While the school of thought for decades was that it took 21 days to form a new habit, recent studies have shown it can take anywhere from 15 to 254 days to integrate a new behavior into your routine. So, if you want to kick off the New with routine, and there are so many apps out there designed to help you integrate new behaviors into your daily life. These are three of the top-rated options.

Productive Habit Tracker This app helps you build a whole routine of life-changing habits.

It’s fully customizable, making it easy to build a routine and stick to it. Set goals, track progress, get reminders based on location, build streaks for motivation, and celebrate victories with a swipe.

12 OCTOBER 2018 Southern Colorado

DINNER AT THE GROWASIS PHOTO BY S. LENTZ, COURTESY OF HARVESTWEEK.COM

Year with a new you, start working on it now. Developing any new habit starts

Not familiar with Meadow Mountain? Then you probably weren’t at RockyGrass in 2017 when they took home first place in the prestigious band competition.

Meadow Mountain’s self-titled debut album is set to be released November 2 on Time Tape Records, a label curated by The Infamous Stringdusters. Chris Pandolfi, the Grammy-winning, banjo-playing Stringduster himself, produced the 11-track album, which showcases a synergistic blend of old and new styles.

Rooted in tradition, breaking new ground, reaching for greatness. See them now so once they make it big you can say you saw them way back when.

–SW For show details: FRBBQ.COM . To keep up with the band: MEADOWMOUNTAINMUSIC.COM .

Done: A Simple Habit Tracker What sets this free app apart is the ability to set a goal and track it multiple times a day.

Because if your goal is to drink more water, drinking one glass and checking it off the todo list isn’t gonna cut it.

StickK Developed

by

behavioral

economists

at

Yale University, StickK is based on the science-backed idea that you are 300 percent more likely to achieve your goal if you put money on the line. So this app is based on a Commitment Contract you make with your future self, and allows you to bet real money on whether you will reach that goal. Lose that bet, and the money you’ve committed goes to the person or organization of your choice. The StickK developer suggests choosing an Anti Charity—an organization with a mission you oppose—for an extra layer of motivation. –SW

sensimag.com OCTOBER 2018 13

Scary Stuff

There’s a whole lot of science behind the reasons that humans are addicted to being scared, but we won’t go into that here. Instead, we’ll tell you about some of the area’s top ways to get your fear fix this month.

Hell Scream Haunt More than just a haunted house, this attraction also includes escape rooms, laser tag, and murder mysteries, which explains why it’s consistently rated as one of the state’s top haunted houses, thanks to blockbuster-worthy makeup and costumes, high-tech special effects, top-botch actors, and unexpected twists and shriek-inducing surprises.

This season, the experience has grown to include the Haunted Mines. The premise: builders digging to install a prop at the site of the former Sinister Haunted House in Colorado Springs uncovered a cavern and series of underground tunnels shrouded in creepy mystery. Tickets start at $22 for general admission to the haunted house and haunted mines, $28 for the escape room; VIP options for shorter lines are available at the haunted house.

3021 N. Hancock, Colorado Springs HELLSCREAMHAUNT.COM

Hells Trail

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“The evil is real” at this outdoor haunted spook trail near Pueblo, or so the slogan goes.

This is the 13th year the madness-causing attraction is running, and they’ve perfected the panic-inducing terrors over the Halloweens past. It’s described as an “extreme outdoor haunted trail,” and so be prepared for a mile-long trek of terror.

It’s open Friday and Saturday nights in October, and tickets start at $15 for general admission. There is, as expected, a VIP no-lines-no-waiting option available for a bit more. –SW 40320 Olson Rd., Avondale

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{newsfeed }

by L E L A N D R U C K E R

HIGH-MINDED CANDIDATES Looking at the future of Colorado cannabis under a new governor.

Adult-use cannabis will have been legal in Colorado five years as of Jan. 1, and, for the first time, when the legislature opens that month, John Hickenlooper will not be governor of our state. With about 40,000 Coloradoans involved in the industry and strong support for marijuana from the general public, it’s an important moment.

Hickenlooper, who has been in office eight years, has been, to be charitable, lukewarm to cannabis legalization. A beermaker and successful tavern and restaurant owner before serving as Denver mayor and as governor since 2010, the Hick openly opposed Amendment 64, which legalized the recreational market, and only grudgingly implemented its terms. Since then, he has wavered in his support, generally with the back-handed compliment that it hasn’t been as bad as he feared. On this issue, he’s even to the right of Sen. Cory Gardner, who opposed Amendment 64 but defends the state’s right to legalize even to Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Hick’s final stab this spring was to veto several cannabis bills supported by both parties, especially one that would have added autism to the list of medical conditions cannabis can treat and another that would have allowed limited social consumption and given tourists a few places to consume. There’s some speculation that he did it because he’s considering a presidential run in 2020 and it makes him look more conservative, but his vetoes stopped some of the momentum that has been building in the legislature to actually treat marijuana like alcohol, as the constitution states.

16 OCTOBER 2018 Southern Colorado

sensimag.com OCTOBER 2018 17

Term-limited Rep. Jonathan Singer is running as a representative from Longmont for the last time in November. Time was, right after voters passed Amendment 64, that Singer, not a cannabis user himself, was the dominant voice for cannabis reform in the legislature. He says that voters have a real choice in the governor’s race, which pits Democrat Rep. Jared Polis against Republican and state treasurer Walker Stapleton, and that the election will likely make a difference in how marijuana policy is formulated in the state for the near future.

“Basically, we have to deal with it or stick our heads in the sand in terms of where we’re going next,” he says. “I wish this weren’t true, but the next governor will dictate how much on the cutting edge we can be on marijuana policy in the next year. Polis has opened the door to thoughtful policies. Stapleton might be a step backwards.”

Polis has been a hardy campaigner for cannabis in Congress, though like Sing-

“Our goal is to showcase Colorado as a model for legalization and how it can work to increase revenue and jobs.”

—Gubernatorial Candidate Jared Polis er, he’s not a user himself. Who could forget his grilling of DEA administrator Michele Leonhart during a 2012 hearing on whether cannabis was as dangerous as heroin? He raised a hemp flag over the dome of Congress, and his business cards, he will proudly tell you, are made with hemp. There are a couple of things, he told me recently, that have defined his position. “As long as you’re not bothering your neighbor, it should be legal, and I saw it as an economic issue for the state for jobs and revenue.” At the same time, he says, “I’ve been watching failed decades of prohibition and how it has distracted law enforcement.”

With legalization part of the state constitution and enjoying overwhelming voter support, Stapleton can’t come out against it, but he has called for greater oversight of the medical marijuana industry, suggesting more oversight, especially about what he calls lax rules about obtaining a medical card, which exempts the buyer from state taxes, that he claims is hurting the state. He has also associated mental health issues with cannabis use.

“Our goal is to showcase Colorado as a model for legalization and how it can work to increase revenue and jobs,” Polis says. “Walker wants to phase out medical marijuana. We would make sure that it was safely available for patients.”

To that end, Polis has hired Jonathan Cherkoss as his cannabis outreach coordinator, the first such position in a gubernatorial race, but certainly not the last.

Cherkoss is the Polis-campaign’s go-to guy for information and spreading the news about legalization. “We think it’s important not only for economic growth and public safety, but we want to spread the word to everyone,” Polis says.

Singer says he’s most excited about watching other lawmakers from both 18 OCTOBER 2018 Southern Colorado

sides of the aisle step up for improving marijuana legislation. HB18-1286, which allows school nurses to give student medical patients their medicine was sponsored by freshman Rep. Dylan Roberts from the Steamboat Springs area. “He gets the credit. He saw how far we had gotten before,” Singer says.

“He jumped into it and got it passed.”

Polis has been visiting dispensaries and farms during his travels around the state in pursuit of the governorship. He says that talking with voters, he’s hearing from former naysayers that prohibition was a failure. “There are many great stories,” he says. “The Trinidad mayor told us that 20 percent of the city’s revenue comes from cannabis. Pueblo County is handing out scholarships with some of the money. We’re finding decreased crime, decreased underage use, and we’re hearing from patients who benefit medically.”

In other state races that could affect cannabis companies, Jena Griswold is running for Secretary of State against Wayne Williams. The office is known for overseeing elections and campaign finance, but it also works with business licensing. She’s a strong supporter of medical marijuana after seeing it benefit her grandmother when she had epilepsy. “I want to make sure that all businesses, including cannabis businesses, have all the tools they need when they organize,” she says. “A lot of people don’t know the steps you need to take to be compliant. I want to streamline that.”

All in all, if you support it enthusiastically or are just cannabis-curious, the governor’s race should be slam dunk. “I think the choices are stark,” says Singer.

“You’ll see a congressperson who is always pushing the envelope and a state treasurer who doesn’t fundamentally understand how it works in Colorado.”

VO Lik TE! It’s e Yo Rig ur ht

The midterm election on Nov. 6 will shape Colorado— and the nation—for years to come. Make your voice heard. sensimag.com OCTOBER 2018 19

{crossroads }

by R I C A R D O B A C A

IT’S TIME FOR CHANGE Changing Public Opinion = Changing Drug Policy.

C

H

A

N

20 OCTOBER 2018 Southern Colorado

N

Changing minds on long-held beliefs is a nearly impossible feat—something we witness daily in 2018 via flame-filled social media threads.

So imagine, then, how monumental our national conversation on cannabis has been in the last 25 years. I’ve written this before, but I regularly find it’s worth repeating: The legalization of marijuana represents the single-biggest drug-policy shift of our lifetimes—and that applies equally to the millennials entering high school and the senior citizens entering retirement.

But perspective can be difficult, especially in such a rap-

E

idly changing landscape, so let’s allow this simplified cannabis-in-America timeline to tell the story of how we’ve changed—how we’ve come around to marijuana—and how unbelievably fast this process has happened:

1998: As the first voter-approved cannabis ballot initiative in the world, Proposition 215 passes with overwhelming support in California, creating the first state-recognized medical marijuana program.

2004: Still eight years after Prop 215’s passing, only 20 percent of American Republicans support legal marijuana, according to Gallup, which has polled voters on this one question for more than 50 years.

2012: Eight years later, voters in Colorado and Washington state say yes to a regulated adult-use cannabis market, becoming the first municipalities in the modern world to embark on such a path.

G

2013:

The next year, a majority of Americans support legal mari4uana for the first time, according to Gallup.

2014: A year later, two more states and the District of Columbia legalize recreational weed—the same year as state-regulated recreational markets in Colorado and Washington state open for business, representing the first legal adult-use cannabis sales in the modern world.

2016: Nine states vote on recreational and medical marijuana initiatives. Eight of them pass, including adult-use in California and medical in Arkansas.

2017: The following year, a majority of American Republicans support legal marijuana, according to Gallup.

2018: Canada legalizes adult-use cannabis federally, becoming the first G7 country to do so.

Just look at how hard-fought that change came in those early days. There’s a 16-year gap between medical marijuana passing in California and adult-use passing in Colorado and Washington. But then, everything changes— most notably, our public opinion. sensimag.com OCTOBER 2018 21

A year after the big elections in Colorado and Washing-

to what they believe. Feeling even slight reservations about

ton—and still a year before they implement those mar-

your current beliefs can set the stage for shifting more of

kets—national opinion finally tips toward legalization

your support toward an alternative point of view.”

for the first time ever. And a few years later a majority of

Of course, the emotional attachment component of our

American Republicans come out in favor of legal marijua-

recent shift in public opinion on cannabis is everything.

na for the first time—a 155 percent increase from not

Californians said yes to medical cannabis when nobody

even 15 years before, when only 20 percent of conserva-

else was considering MMJ legalization in part because

tives supported legal cannabis.

they had a front-row seat to the AIDS crisis in San Fran-

It’s no coincidence: We changed our relationship with cannabis. Then we changed our opinions about marijuana.

And then we legalized it.

cisco, where terminally ill patients were finding unparalleled relief in cannabis.

More than 15 years later we had another compelling

Yet as historic as these varying marijuana markets are,

human story displaying the still-mysterious medical ef-

none of them exist without this change in public opinion

ficacy of marijuana in Charlotte Figi, the Charlotte’s Web

we’ve witnessed. And given that marijuana has been one of

namesake who was described by an International Business

those long-held issues that divides us, this very recent shift

Times headline as, “The Girl Who is Changing Medical Mar-

in public opinion is that much more compelling and important.

ijuana Laws Across the Country.”

As this smart Fast Company piece points out: “The sense of

That headline is true, though I’d argue that Char-

coherence many of us maintain over our beliefs reflects both

lotte’s amazing story changed hearts and minds before it

knowledge and emotion. Being settled in what you believe

changed actual laws. That’s how this works.

feels good. Ambivalence doesn’t. So to change someone’s

And while the shift in public opinion seems sudden, it was

mind, you also need to address their emotional attachment

actually the opposite. From that same Fast Company article:

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“From the outside, it may look like someone’s changed their mind suddenly, but that’s seldom the case. Usually the steady accretion of facts supporting an alternative position has taken time to build up. Some people may go through a period when they’re explicitly ambivalent about what they believe, but many simply go from strong support for one position to strong support for another…Belief change is a war of attrition, not a search for the knockdown argument that gets someone to see things differently in one fell swoop.”

And so to the many innovators and advocates who

nce: hip e d i c n tions o coi It’s n d our rela changed e e hang s. Then w rijuana. c e W nabi about ma it. n a c with pinions legalized our o then we And

came before us—including young Charlotte and Prop 64 author Dennis Peron, who died earlier this year—I give a deep bow of appreciation. Because of their extraordinarily difficult lives and hard work and sharing their stories far and wide, we have been gifted a world of legal cannabis and more compassionate drug policy.

RICARDO BACA is a veteran journalist and thought leader in the legal cannabis space and founder of Grasslands: A Journalism-Minded Agency, which handles public relations, content marketing, social media, events, and thought leadership for brands and executives in legal cannabis and other highly regulated industries.

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sensimag.com OCTOBER 2018 23

{travelwell }

by S T E P H A N I E W I L S O N

The mountains are calling with news about off-season upgrades you can look forward to during the 2018-19 season.

24 OCTOBER 2018 Southern Colorado

It was still deep in the heart of summer when the first photos of snow-speckled peaks near Vail began infiltrating Instagram feeds. While daytime highs in Denver may average near the 70s during October, out in high country, the nighttime lows dip below the freezing mark. And when that happens, the snowmaking begins.

In October, Colorado’s highest elevation ski resorts are in the annual Race to Open, and Arapahoe Basin is the reigning champion to beat. (Opening day at A-Basin in 2017: Oct. 13.)

Crested Butte Mountain Resort

Loveland, vying to reclaim the first-to-open bragging rights

tures for the coming winter.

it has earned eight of the last 13 seasons, announced plans

The majority of Colorado’s mountain resorts have spent

to begin snowmaking Sept. 28. And once that happens,

the spring, summer, and early fall elevating the high-ele-

opening day isn’t far off.

vation experience. At Breckenridge, Keystone, and Eldora,

Ultimately, it’s up to Mother Nature whether the 2018–

those upgrades focused on snowmaking efforts. Else-

19 ski and snowboard season kicks off in October, and

where in the Rockies, you’ll find new lifts, more terrain,

the vast majority of the state’s 28 ski resorts trickle open

fresh programs, enriched experiences, better dining, oh my!

throughout November. This month, teams are busy putting

Here are some of the latest and greatest reasons to endure

the finishing touches on a host of upgrades and new fea-

the traffic and hit the slopes. sensimag.com OCTOBER 2018 25

Arapahoe Basin

OPENING DAY: AIMING FOR MID-OCTOBER

way, adding new lodging, residences, and amenities to the resort. The first round debuts next month and includes the

New terrain—the most new terrain in Colorado—is the

new ski-in, ski-out Limelight Hotel. It’s going to be home to

highlight of A-Basin’s off-season upgrades. This year, 468

the Snowmass Mountain Club, a private club limited to 230

acres of new terrain will open, including high-alpine bowl ski-

members who gain access to private parking, lockers, and

ing, tree skiing, rolling groomed runs, and steep, rocky chutes.

lounge space at the base of the mountain. For the rest of

There’s 34 new runs in store (intermediate, advanced, and

us, the November reveal also includes a new central events

expert) PLUS a new four-person lift called The Beavers.

plaza with an ice-skating rink, fire pits, and other amenities

At the summit, there’s a a new European-style bistro

that serve the community gathering space.

named Refugio’s at Snowplume. While feasting your eyes on

Other than that, you can also expect some upgrades to

the high-alpine views that surround you, feast on a selection

the Aspen Snowmass App, including the introduction of re-

of antipasto, charcuterie, and imported cheeses. Toast to the

wards and enhanced year-over-year stat tracking.

experience with a split of wine or an imported beer.

But perhaps the best new addition to A-Basin: Tikka, a golden retriever puppy/avalanche rescue dog in training.

She’ll be out and about on the mountain this winter with her handler Erich, who’s showing her the ropes on the slopes.

Aspen Snowmass OPENING DAY: DEC. 8

Beaver Creek

OPENING DAY: NOV. 21 The luxe family resort added a second signature learning

area to its offerings for the 2018-19 season. Haymeadow Park has a beginner gondola and lift, adjacent magic carpet areas, and learning terrain—plus other off-ski amenities, including an ice cream parlor and a kid-designed

The upgrades here aren’t on the mountain so much as at

restaurant. More discerning palates can be satiated at the

the base. In the heart of Snowmass Village, there’s a 10-

new gourmet ski-in SaddleRidge Restaurant, serving Col-

year, $600 million resort development project well under-

orado regional cuisine.

26 OCTOBER 2018 Southern Colorado

PHOTO BY DAVE CAMARA, COURTESY OF ARAPAHOE BASIN

Opening Day at A-Basin 2017

But the star of Beaver Creek’s new offerings is undoubt-

recommend where to eat in town. Just ask her. Keep an

edly Willy the Mountain Safety Dog. The golden retriever

eye on the website for the number. EMMAISEPIC.COM

will be roaming the mountain with his handlers dispensing

Copper Mountain

safety tips and drumming up likes on social media with the #WillyBeSafe hashtag.

OPENING DAY: NOV. 16

This winter, skiers and snowboarders will enjoy swifter

Breckenridge

access to the trails. The two main lifts out of center village have been replaced, increasing uphill capacity by up to 40

OPENING DAY: NOV. 9 More than 50 snowguns on Breck’s Peak 9 were upgrad-

percent. American Flyer, formerly a high-speed quad, is

ed in preparation for the 2018–19 season. The result: more

now a six-person chair with bubble enclosures; American

snow made in less time using less energy.

Eagle, also formerly a quad, is now a combo of six-person

Also debuting this season: Emma, the Epic Mountain

chairs and eight-person gondolas.

Assistant, an artificial intelligence-powered digital re-

Near the American Eagle, the new Rocky Mount-

source for all sorts of information at any Vail Resorts

ain Coaster is making its winter debut after a success-

property. (In Colorado, that includes Breck, Beaver Creek,

ful summer run. Its bragging rights: with a track stretch-

Keystone, and of course Vail.)

ing 5,800 feet, it’s one of the longest alpine coasters

Got a question? Emma has answers. And you don’t

in the nation.

have to download an app and type in your query. All you

When you’re ready to unbuckle your boots, head to the

have to do is text her. Want to know if a trail is groomed?

new Downhill Dukes. Located between the two new lifts,

Shoot her a message. Wondering how long the lift line is?

this dog-friendly dining spot has a killer south-facing patio

She’ll tell you. Weather, conditions, parking—she’ll even

and a great cocktail menu.

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OPENING DAY: NOV. 22

Loveland

OPENING DAY: AIMING FOR MID-OCTOBER

What was known last season as “the last great ski

The second-oldest ski area in Colorado, Loveland began

town in Colorado” is going to experience an influx of

operations in 1937. Now, 81 years later, it has its first-ev-

skiers and snowboarders on the Epic Pass (sarcasti-

er high-speed quad, Chet’s Dream. Its namesake is former

cally known as “Every Person In Colorado”) this winter.

Loveland partner, the late Chester Upholm Jr. Upholm be-

This comes on the heels of the June announcement that

came a partner at Loveland in 1956 when it was named

Crested Butte’s family-owned parent company is being

Loveland Ski Tow Company. He soon convinced the other

acquired by corporate giant Vail Resorts. As of press

partners it was time to install the mountain’s first chair-

time, the transaction is still in the closing process, so

lift—only the third such lift in the state. The new Chet’s

the full details of what changes to expect under the new

Dream replaced Lift 1, cutting the ride time down from

ownership are under wraps.

eight minutes to just under three.

Keystone

OPENING DAY: NOV. 9 Improved snowmaking means more terrain open earlier

in the season. Plus there’s a new Kidtopia Signature Event Series, which kicks off Nov. 24 with a mountaintop lighting ceremony for the world’s largest snow fort. You should text Emma and ask what time it starts.

Another upgrade comes in the form of more mountain access. Loveland joined the Powder Alliance, which gets its season pass holders up to 54 free days at 18 other Powder Alliance Resorts, including Monarch in Colorado.

Steamboat

OPENING DAY: NOV. 21 Roaming the mountainside to satiate hungry skiers

and snowboarders, the Taco Beast is Steamboat’s new

28 OCTOBER 2018 Southern Colorado

GONDOLA PHOTO BY JACK AFFLECK

Crested Butte

Vail Gondola

snowcat food truck. It debuted this summer and will be

low-energy fan guns on the Born Free Trail. Elsewhere

in mobile operation throughout the winter, serving up

in Vail, the Colorado Ski and Snowboard Museum has

carne asada and al pastor trail tacos, breakfast burritos, a

reopened after a year-long $2.6 million renovation, the

street-food-style corn, and Mexican beers. (There’s also a

Vail Marriot Mountain Resort has undergone some ma-

new base restaurant called Timber & Torch, but that’s not

jor upgrades, and there’s a new float tank at The Lodge

nearly as exciting as slope-side tacos.)

at Vail, A RockResort—the only one in Eagle County.

Telluride

OPENING DAY: NOV. 22 The most epic news about Telluride this season? It’s on

the Epic Pass. Don’t worry: Telluride wasn’t swallowed up

by Vail Resorts; it’s still privately owned. This partnership was billed as a “long-term alliance” when it was announced last January. That alliance grants top-tier Epic Pass holders seven days at Telluride, plus 50 percent off additional lift tickets, with no blackout dates. Sorry, Epic Local Pass holders, this alliance doesn’t include you.

What else is new this winter in Telluride? Boutique Air planes touching down daily after nonstop flights from Denver. The United partner launched year-round daily service to Telluride Regional Airport, thanks to Telluride Ski Resort’s continued investment into air access. Along with up to six daily flights from Denver, the winter seasonal service to Montrose-Telluride Airport has new flights coming in

Text Emma and ask if she can help you book it.

Winter Park

OPENING DAY: NOV. 14 It’s last alphabetically but leading the pack in off-sea-

son upgrades. Last spring, Winter Park Resorts announced $30 million in planned improvements for the winter 2018-19 season. Roughly half of that—$16 million—went to the construction of a new 10-person gondola running from the base to the summit. The goal: move 1,000 more people up the mountain every hour, decreasing wait times at the bottom and increasing access to more runs from the top.

Another $4 million went to upgrading the 42-year-old snowmaking system, increasing the capacity by three times in hopes of opening more terrain earlier in the season. In Village Plaza, there’s a new stage, chairlift chairs from the historic Timberline Lift, and a fire pit. In the Ea-

from Dallas-Ft. Worth, Charlotte, and Salt Lake City.

gle Wind Territory, an expert-level tree-skiing spot, log-

Vail

timber and introducing new lines into the powder-heavy

OPENING DAY: NOV. 16 The biggest on-mountain enhancements to this resort

are to snowmaking, with 10 upgraded large-capacity,

gers cut glades into 21 acres, removing dead or dying area. And to help you navigate all the offerings, there’s the new Adventure Concierge to make your mountain experience even better. sensimag.com OCTOBER 2018 29

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sensimag.com OCTOBER 2018 31

Cannabis could be one part of a holistic depression treatment that starts with the gastrointestinal tract instead of the brain.

by R O BY N G R I G G S L AW R E N CE

32 OCTOBER 2018 Southern Colorado

depressed, OR MAYBE WE’VE BEEN THERE OURSELVES. IT’S A SAD COMMENTARY ON THE WORLD THAT SOME 150 million people

WE ALL KNOW SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN

SUFFER FROM DEPRESSION, EXPECTED TO BE THE SECOND CAUSE OF MORBIDITY BY 2020. ONE OUT OF EVERY SEVEN OF US WILL HAVE A DEPRESSIVE EPISODE AT SOME POINT IN OUR LIVES. If you’ve been there, you know what a debilitating black

definitively, that “dysregulation to the gut microbiota is ca-

hole life becomes. Maybe you join the more than 30 mil-

pable of facilitating the behavioral and physiological symp-

lion Americans (one in seven women) who use antide-

toms of depression and anxiety.”

pressants, which are among the most prescribed, bestsell-

How can this be? Well, it turns out that some 90 to 95 per-

ing drugs in our pharma-soaked country. Maybe the

cent of our serotonin is produced not in the brain but in the

doctor promises, as she scribbles out the script, that

gastrointestinal tract, and production is highly influenced

Prozac will deal with the chemical imbalance in your

by the bacteria that make up our intestinal microbiome.

brain, and you take that and run with it, because who can’t

This, in turn, influences brain functioning and behavior.

see that something’s really, really wrong with your brain?

When we eat bad food that’s high in refined carbohydrates

You take the Prozac (or the Celexa, the Lexapro, the

and sugars and take other toxins such as alcohol into our

Paxil, the Zoloft, the Cymbalta, the Effexor, the Abilify… ),

digestive system, our guts respond with inflammation,

and serotonin—the neurotransmitter that regulates mood,

which eventually spreads to cause havoc in our brains.

appetite, and sleep—starts pumping in your brain. Despite

“Some 40 trillion cells, almost three pounds of your

the bloating, cramping, and gastritis you were told to ex-

body mass, is bacteria,” Dr. Jack Gilbert, a microbial ecol-

pect as side effects, you feel a bit better. Those thoughts of

ogist who directs the Microbiome Center at the Universi-

suicide? An unfortunate side effect. Those brain zaps

ty of Chicago, explained to the Chicago Tribune. “They

when you try to go off the drug? Totally normal.

live mostly in the intestine. It’s like an ecosystem, like a

Or maybe you’re among the 40 percent of people whom the National Institutes of Health (NIH) reports

rainforest that lives inside of you—a living, breathing environment—which we can affect by the things we eat.”

can’t find any relief using antidepressants. That’s a lot of people, and that statistic (which many believe is lower than reality) has sent even mainstream medical institutions like the NIH scrambling to seek alternative therapies. They’re finding solutions, but not in the brain. The key to depression, it appears, actually lies in the gut.

Our Mood is What We Eat “Prozac was supposed to be a massive cure for depression that would reduce institutionalization. Instead, we’ve seen an increase in institutionalization,” says Dr. Mary Van, clinical director at ThriveX medical spa in Fort Lauderdale, who specializes in both pharmacy and nutrition. “It becomes readily apparent that mainstream medicine missed part of the puzzle.”

In recent years, the microbiome (all the bacteria, fungi and viruses in your body)-gut-brain axis has emerged as a significant player in the development of depression, and medical researchers believe gut microbiota (colonies of organisms) may play a causal role. Regulating microbiota with diet, probiotics, and a new treatment called fecal microbiota transplantation may have important benefits for preventing and treating depression, according to an NIH report. The New York Academy of Sciences reports, more

Eat to Beat the Blues A plant-based, fiber-rich diet devoid of processed foods, sugar, and high fructose corn syrup has been proven to keep depression at bay. Include lots of the following: • Fermented foods such as kimchi, sauerkraut, kefir, kombucha, and miso are rich in probiotics.

• Cruciferous vegetables (sulfur-smelling ones like kale, cauliflower, and broccoli) provide roughage that feeds prebiotics in the gut, says Dr. Mary Van. • Legumes, seeds, and nuts are high in zinc and amino acids, which feed serotonin transmitters.

• Black chia seeds are full of omega-3 fatty acids, which are being proven effective against major depression.

(Herbalist Brigitte Mars soaks them in water, then adds other super-nutrient foods like blueberries, goji berries, bee pollen, and maca for depression prevention.)

• Leafy green vegetables and lemon water help cleanse the liver, says Mars.

• Organic extra-virgin olive oil should be your staple fat; avoid butter, canola oil, and palm oil. sensimag.com OCTOBER 2018 33

These discoveries have led to an emerging health care practice aimed at preventing and treating depression known as nutritional psychiatry. At its most basic, this “new” field recognizes that what we eat directly affects our brains’ structure and function and, ultimately, our moods, according to a Harvard Medical School report. Diets high in refined sugars promote inflammation and oxidative stress, which impairs brain function and worsens depressive symptoms. Studies have found that Mediterranean and traditional Japanese diets high in vegeta-

Cannabis and Depression: Still an Unknown

bles, fruits, unprocessed grains, and seafood and void of

Depressed people have been self-medicating with

processed and refined foods—those staples of the Amer-

cannabis for as long as cannabis has been available, and

ican diet—lower the risk of depression by 25 to 35 percent.

the modern medical community has been condemning

“We dig our graves with our forks,” says herbalist, author,

them for just as long. Traditional doctors argue that can-

and natural food chef Brigitte Mars. “We really need to stop

nabis use can trigger depressive episodes and make de-

thinking the body is not affecting the brain or that our

pressive symptoms worse over time. But if gut and brain

moods are not affected by our physiology. When treating de-

inflammation truly are major factors in depression, as

pression, a good holistic practitioner will ask if you’re eating

research is showing, it only makes sense that canna-

enough leafy green vegetables to nourish the liver and help

bis—renowned for its anti-inflammatory properties—

the body better utilize oxygen, and will make the diet more

could be good therapy.

rainbow-like with fresh, local fruits and vegetables. The

THC and CBD have been proven beneficial for depres-

American diet has gotten very beige, and that is depressing.”

sion in animal models, and states with robust medical

According to the “evolutionary mismatch” or “paleo-defi-

cannabis programs have seen a 5 percent decrease in to-

cit disorder” theory of depression, the poisons of modern

tal suicide rates and an even greater decrease in suicides

living—processed food, environmental toxins, isolation,

among men in their 20s and 30s, according to Project

constant stress—are pushing people into depression, which

CBD. But as is so often and sadly the case with cannabis,

according to holistic women’s health psychiatrist Dr. Kelly

clinical research is lacking.

Brogan “is simply a message from our bodies trying to protect us from the madness of the modern world.”

Toxic Gut, Toxic Brain

In one of the very few studies that has been done on cannabis and depression, researchers analyzed data from Strainprint, an app used by medical cannabis users to track changes in symptoms as they experiment with different

Van says most of the patients she treats for depres-

doses and strains, and found that 50 percent perceived a

sion also have digestive disorders such as diarrhea or

reduction in depression after two puffs. However, cannabis

constipation. “It’s all intertwined, and it’s all due to tox-

use appears to have exacerbated baseline symptoms of

icity,” she says. “Our bodies work in a biofeedback loop.

depression over time.

You cannot touch one part and not affect another part.

At Washington State University, researchers found

First and foremost, you have to understand that if you’re

that adults reported that their depressive systems were

depressed, it’s not just your brain. It’s every part of you.”

reduced after just one puff of medical cannabis high in

One of the first things Van must determine when

CBD and low in THC. Just like the Strainprint study,

treating a severely depressed patient is whether they’re

however, the researchers found that long-term use of

in crisis, or suicidal. If so, bringing down their anxiety

medical cannabis could aggravate depression.

level and getting them out of physical danger is crucial.

Cannabis is an unpredictable herb, says herbalist

She could prescribe medications like Xanax or Valium,

Brigitte Mars, who sometimes recommends it along

but she finds them too harsh. Instead, Van often recom-

with other herbs such as lemon balm, lavender, and St.

mends a high dose of one-to-one ratio of THC and CBD

John’s wort to patients as part of a holistic approach to

“just to get the edge off so the patient can think clearly.”

treating depression that includes dietary changes, light

“We have to get patients out of the red zone, where they’re freaked out and can’t think, they’re catastrophically indecisive, or maybe they’re shut down emotionally,” Van says. “Cannabis therapy with a high dose of THC 34 OCTOBER 2018 Southern Colorado

therapy, aromatherapy, and even feng shui.

“I’m totally a fan of cannabis and every herb,” says Mars. “But don’t just take an herb.”

gives them a calming sensation, helps regulate their

mordial, but often that is the cause,” she says. “They’re not

sleep and helps them deal with anger issues and feelings

sleeping and not utilizing the bathroom properly.”

of not knowing what to do next. CBD also helps with anxiety and sleep, but THC evokes a more rapid response.”

Science Says

While the patient is getting cooled down, Van checks

The link between microbiota and depression is not a

out the inflammation in their brain and digestive tract.

new discovery. German physician Hermann Senator sug-

If it’s bad, and usually it is, she often continues cannabis

gested in the 1860s that mental health disorders could be

therapy with high doses (25 to 50 milligrams) of oral CBD

rooted in intestinal “self-infective” processes, and a new

to control anxiety and bring the immunological and in-

frontier of autointoxication research began exploring the

flammatory response down. She’ll also suggest the pa-

role of harmful intestinal bacteria in mental diseases.

tient change their diet to include more cruciferous vege-

“Oral bacteriotherapy” was a health trend in the 1920s, led

tables and probiotics, live bacteria and yeasts found in

by producers of probiotic-rich acidophilus milk and char-

yogurt and fermented food. She asks about their poop.

acterized by ads like this one for Walker-Gordon: “It’s a

Most patients—particularly older women who were

fact—and your doctor will agree—that your attitude…is

taught not to talk about such things—don’t want to dis-

largely influenced by the condition of your intestinal tract.”

cuss their chronic constipation or diarrhea, Van says,

Drinking acidophilus milk to build good bacteria, another

even though most of them have one or the other. She

ad promised, would bring results “nothing short of amaz-

jokes with them that they need 12 inches in their lives

ing. Not only a banishing of…depression but a flooding of

every day and recommends they add more fiber to their

new vitality throughout the system.”

diets to regulate their bowel movements. Having seen the

Today, we have science to back up these claims—and ev-

exorbitant amount of antidepressants elderly patients

idence is mounting. Earlier this year, Canadian researchers

take when she worked in nursing homes, Van is well

found in a clinical trial that 32 percent of people who

aware of how rampant depression is among that popula-

changed their diets went into remission from depression,

tion. “Sometimes we have to get very primitive, very pri-

while only 8 percent in a control group did. Australian re-

sensimag.com OCTOBER 2018 35

“You cannot touch one part and not affect another part… If you’re depressed, it’s not just your brain. It’s every part of you.”

—Mary Van, ThriveX Medical Spa

searchers found that one-third of study participants report-

consumed in Western diets, where we have substituted

ed significant improvement in symptoms of major depres-

certain types of beneficial fats—polyunsaturated and

sion after 12 weeks of eating a plant-based, fiber-rich diet.

monounsaturated in nuts, vegetable oils, and fish—for the

In perhaps the largest study to date, European researchers analyzed the diet and lifestyle of more than 12,000 peo-

saturated and trans fats found in meats, butter, and other products such as mass-produced pastries and fast food.”

ple over six years and found that polyunsaturated fats

More human studies and clinical trials are needed,

(fish and vegetable oils) and olive oil were associated with

everyone agrees. Gilbert, for his part, is pushing hard for

a lower risk of depression. The study’s authors wrote that

that to happen sooner than later. He’s driven, he told

they believe the global rise in major depressive disorder

The Scientist, because “there needs to be a revolution in

could be because of “radical changes in the sources of fats

how we deal with mental illness in our society.”

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SP ECIAL R EP OR T

Once considered a threat to the alcohol industry, cannabis is the new darling of the beer industry.

Keith Villa is no stranger to beer. THE CREATOR AND FORMER HEAD

BREWMASTER OF THE BLUE MOON CRAFT BEER LABEL TURNED A TINY COMPANY INTO A MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR BRAND THAT HE SOLD TO MOLSON COORS BREWING CO. FOR A BOATLOAD OF BUCKS BEFORE RETIRING FROM THE LABEL IN JANUARY 2018, AFTER 32 YEARS. Now he’s creating a line of beer-ish products under

the CERIA label that will be on shelves in the coming

adult sales this month and which has far fewer regulatory hurdles than states in the US where cannabis is legal.

months. Instead of alcohol, these beers will contain

“This is an enormous opportunity to create a full indus-

THC, the psychoactive chemical in cannabis. The goal

try comparable to the beer industry,” says attorney Steve

is to offer a THC high with the predictability of beer, and

Lenn, a partner at the Greenspoon Marder business law

he hopes to have it on the market by fall. “You know

firm, which works largely with mergers and Fortune 500

what happens when you drink one or two or three

companies. He says an investment this large helps legiti-

beers,” he says. “We want you to get that same experi-

mize the industry. “Think of what that means in the ramp

ence every time.”

of opportunity,” he says. “This kind of money is going to

It’s a tall order, but Villa is just one of many entrepreneurs loitering at the growing juncture between craft

draw investment bankers like honey to bees. In terms of the world market, I don’t know how big it could become.”

beer and pot. People love beer, and they love cannabis,

In the States, hemp/hop beers are popping up around the

and who can blame people for trying to find some syner-

country. Colorado beer maker New Belgium sells Hemperor

gy between the two? You can get cannabis in tinctures

HPA—a new style of IPA made from hemp and hops—and

and salves and consume cannabis oil via vaporizers and

Lagunitas Brewing Company, a California brand owned by

dab rigs. Why not inside a carefully crafted beer?

Heineken, last year released a limited run of SuperCritical

The market possibilities are mind-boggling. Legal

Ale, a THC-free brew made with hops and infused with can-

cannabis is now about a $15 billion business, but the il-

nabis terpenes. This spring, the company introduced Hi-Fi

legal market is at least three to four times larger than

Hops, an IPA-inspired sparkling water infused with THC, to

that, making it appetizing for investors. American con-

dispensary shelves in California. As legalization spreads, it

glomerate Constellation Brands, the corporate overlord

seems, the sky’s the limit for beer and pot.

of Corona and Modelo Especial beers, now owns a $3.9 billion stake in Canopy Growth Corporation, the largest

CBD in Hops Plants

Canadian cannabis grower, and there’s speculation that

Family bonds are another reason for the symbiotic

the move might be the beginning of a bid for complete

relationship between the cannabis and the hops plants.

ownership. At the least, it confirms a commitment to

Dr. Bomi Joseph was the first to identify the cannabi-

become seriously involved with Canopy.

noids THC and CBD in a plant that isn’t cannabis when

Molson Coors, Blue Moon’s parent company, is also looking into the Canadian market, which is set to open for legal

he found them in Humulus, or hops, which give beers their distinctive flavors. sensimag.com OCTOBER 2018 39

Cannabis and hops both belong to Cannabaceae, a small family of flowering plants that also includes

“And I wanted to get my hands on cannabidiol and couldn’t find it.”

hackberries. Joseph was seeking substances that might

He had to look elsewhere for a CBD source and found

have a positive effect on liver cancer cells when he ran

several strains in Humulus plants. Because all hops

across cannabidiol (CBD), and soon found out that it is

plants in the United States are controlled by beer com-

federally illegal because it comes from the cannabis

panies who find the right combinations of flavors and

plant. “I was restricted from using cannabis,” he says.

compounds, patent them, and reproduce them endlessly, Joseph roamed the Silk Road regions of India and Mongolia to find wild varieties. “We started looking for nothing more than wild hops,” he says. “If you want the wild stuff, you have to go into the wild.”

Joseph spent nearly three quarters of a year collecting the plants he needed. “It took eight months of mucking around to get samples. I was possessed,” he says. “When I think about it now, today I wouldn’t have done it. My friends said, ‘What are you thinking?’”

He came back with plenty of specimens and hired botanists and experts to crossbreed the strains, and they came up with an oil containing 18 percent CBD. He has applied for a patent for Real Scientific Humulus Oil (RHSO-K), the first non-cannabis CBD oil on the market, for sale at the

DEADLY COMBO?

If you’re silly enough to drive…

company’s website, REALSCIENTIFICHEMPOIL.COM. Joseph admits the hops/cannabis connection is more marketing tool than reality. “Everybody uses the word hops for our stuff,” he says. “But if you’re a botanist, you say, ‘What the heck’s going on?’ It is a Humulus, the same species, but not the plant that gives you beer flavor.”

Buds and brew go together, brah, and sometimes they don’t. Mixing beer and pot isn’t generally a good idea, and it’s especially bad if you’re getting on the road. A 2017 Colorado Department of Transportation study found more alcohol-related deaths than any other, but it also found that the number of drivers with cannabis and some other substance in their systems rose dramatically–and that’s scary.

There isn’t a lot of solid science on how cannabis and alcohol interact in the body. I know from personal experience that the effects of both become more profound and dramatic and I should stay the hell away from driving my car.

Big Science Blue Moon’s Villa explains that CERIA Beverages is vying to introduce a line of cannabis-infused nonalcoholic craft beverages containing THC. Basically, he says, they will brew beer, then extract all the alcohol and infuse it instead with special concoctions of cannabinoids and terpenes to produce the desired effect.

His goal is for all consumers to have quantifiable, comparable experiences every time. There’s a lot of science involved, and CERIA partnered with Colorado-based cannabis research company Ebbu to create the infusions for the new brews. Ebbu has been researching terpenes and cannabinoids since 2013 and sells a line of exclusive oil products.

Ebbu president Jon Cooper says the company is working with others beyond CERIA that are interested in cannabis and beer collaborations. There’s a growing market for cannabis-curious people who don’t want to smoke cannabis, he says. “We know how to drink.

Our piece of the technology is to figure out how to control the experience like with a beer in a product that tastes the same and smells the same.”

40 OCTOBER 2018 Southern Colorado

Cannabis plants are notably dissimilar and contain

Staying Nimble

dozens of compounds that vary even from plant to plant.

After Lagunitas Brewing Company released Super-

“It’s like chemical chaos,” Cooper says. “How can we

Critical beer made with hops and hemp, the state shut it

create a consistent experience from the chaos of the

down. “We were told we couldn’t do that,” says Laguni-

plant? We tear it down to individual ingredients, so you

tas’ marketing rep Karen Hamilton. “No CBD or THC. It

have what you need to make a consistent product. To

was unexpected. We didn’t realize that.”

deliver that awesome experience, we have to get super geeky. It’s the same way we do in medicine.”

While waiting for things to change, the company did its research and came up with a fun idea in Hi-Fi Hops, which are 12-ounce cans of sparkling water in-

HI-FI HOPS

12 OZ CANS OF SPARKLING WATER INFUSED WITH CBD AND THC

fused with cannabis. There are two varieties or doses: one with 5 milligrams of CBD and THC, and the other with 10 milligrams of THC. Both varieties are now on sale in California.

The company is marketing Hi-Fi with some clever hints that it contains cannabis—“this drink will get you high, just don’t call it beer”—and Hamilton says that sales have been going strong in dispensaries. “It’s sell-

Ebbu scientists separate specific sets of cannabi-

ing like crazy, so we had to limit how much per person

noids to deliver certain experiences and eliminate any

each consumer could buy,” she says. “That’s a good

chemicals in THC that might make people anxious or

problem to have.”

paranoid. “I don’t believe in full spectrum,” Cooper says.

New Belgium Brewing in Ft. Collins, CO is celebrating

“Besides being inconsistent, you have some compounds

the passage of the 2014 Farm bill, which changed the

doing what you want and some doing what you don’t.

way the federal government regulates industrial hemp

This way you’re not limited by what the plant does.”

and could loosen restrictions, with its Hemperor hemp-

sensimag.com OCTOBER 2018 41

and-hops HPA, which public relations coordinator Jesse Claeys says “showcases the game-changing union of hop and hemp.”

At first, Hi-Fi was made from hemp flowers. When this ran afoul of the federal ban on hemp, so New Belgium started using de-shelled hemp seeds instead.

New Belgium has partnered with Willie Nelson’s Willie’s Reserve cannabis company for an education campaign about bringing hemp back into the mainstream.

“Right now all efforts are about using beer to have a conversation,” Claeys says. “We really think we have a good shot on the Farm Bill this year. Let’s get the laws changed and updated, and then let’s brew the beer we want to make.”

42 OCTOBER 2018 Southern Colorado

"WE KNOW HOW TO DRINK .

OUR PIECE OF THE TECHNOLOGY IS TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO CONTROL THE EXPERIENCE ."

—Jon Cooper, Ebbu

sensimag.com OCTOBER 2018 43

DABBLE EXTRACTS

Being First Brings Risk and a Competitive Advantage DABBLE EXTRACTS WEATHERS CHANGING REGULATIONS WHILE LOOKING TO THE FUTURE OF CONCENTRATES.

It’s been a tough time for any Colorado cannabis

cility in Pueblo. Today its products are available in 25

manufacturer, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.

medical stores in Colorado Springs, 13 medical/rec

That’s the message from Joshua Hindi, who has been

stores in Denver, and a handful of med/rec stores in

in the cannabis industry for about ten years “on and off”

nine other cities. Dabble Extracts is poised to ramp up

and is owner and founder of Dabble Extracts, a can-

its recreational offerings with distillates and a line of oil

nabis processor and manufacturing company. “When

cartridges. “We are focusing now on brand-building en-

medical first started to take off in Colorado in 2008, it

deavors and product-line expansion as we get into a

was definitely a rough industry to be in because you

more competitive marketplace,” he says. “We want to

really never knew what was going to happen when it

work on increasing our manufacturing efficiencies and

came to law enforcement. Even with all of the proper

invest in equipment, and maintain the growth of the

patient paperwork, you never knew if you were protect-

business with as little debt as possible.”

ed by the law or at risk of prosecution,” Hindi says.

He says that Dabble may jump back into edibles in

Four years later, in 2012, he started Dabble Extracts in a

the future, but he wants to make sure that fits in the

900-square-foot building in Colorado Springs. “When we

company’s wheelhouse. “As we keep moving into a

first started, dabbing was new, and there were not a lot of

much more competitive industry, I think specialization

people making concentrates,” he says. “And I noticed all

is the key to success,” Hindi says. “What I see is a lot of

of the concentrate products out there were pretty horri-

people trying to do everything, and they end up not

ble, and I knew we could do better as an industry.”

very good at anything.”

He originally started making edibles, he says, but switched to processing concentrates—shatter, wax and budder products—in 2013 after buying an ExtractionTek Solutions 1200 closed-loop hydrocarbon extraction system that he started playing with.

Eventually regulators in the state decided a processing facility like his should use closed-loop systems and made it mandatory. “When the state released regulations that mandated the use of a closed-loop system, we had already been working with ours, and our competitors had no idea how to properly use one,” Hindi says. “But we had it down.”

Dabble Extracts has continued to grow, with multiple closed-loop machines at its newer facility in Colorado Springs, and inside the most-recent 5,000-square-foot fa44 OCTOBER 2018 Southern Colorado

For more information, visit:

DABBLEEXTRACTS.COM

sensimag.com OCTOBER 2018 45

STUDIO A64

A Safe, Sustainable, Social-Consumption Club STUDIO A64 IS TOO OFTEN A TARGET OF MISTAKEN PERCEPTIONS AND MISGUIDED RULINGS.

When you take a shot at something people really

ries haven’t told them what to expect, with no guidance

want, in a business with some murky rules on both the

or direction on how to use them. We really can’t control

state and federal levels, keeping that business operating

that. So we have to deal with the consequences of that

and making money is a huge challenge. That’s the situ-

all the time because people don’t know how some of

ation for cannabis social-use clubs in every state where

what they bought will affect them.”

recreational cannabis is legal. You can buy it, but there

She says that the mayor and the City Council don’t like

is no place to consume it. And no legal body seems to

her business. At one point the club was allowed to op-

want to help fix that.

erate under a gray area “reimbursement” program creat-

Studio A64, based in Colorado Springs, has been oper-

ed by a lawyer who worked on Amendment 64 that let

ating since February 2013, and since the beginning has

them sell THC products. But the police eventually came

had to deal with what being a cannabis social-use club

in and shut them down.

means to the powers that be in the city.

Later, the city changed direction and created a license

The 1,000-square-foot club, with a 48-customer ca-

to sell non-THC products. The only way the club contin-

pacity served by a staff of six, isn’t allowed to sell any THC

ues to make money today is from its food service, she

products, but has a selection of CBD pre-rolls, dabs, shat-

says, and from people who come back because of her

ters and tinctures, and provides rigs and bongs for any-

reputation. “The city really created that license to save

one wanting to come in and partake. On another level, in

face, but they actually intended for it to put us out of

another 1,000-square-foot area, food and drinks are sold.

business,” Racek says.

Around 80 percent of the club’s customers are tourists,

Even with all of the drama and unfair perceptions

which makes managing the business tricky because of

surrounding her business, she says, she is still hanging

fluctuations in tourist traffic and the lack of local regu-

in there because she believes that a business like hers

lars. “The tourists can bring in their own products. And

needs to have a voice, needs to fight the good fight for

that’s a problem,” Ambur

social consumption done correctly, using a model that

Racek, co-owner of Studio

makes money, educates the customer, and creates a

A64, says. “The dispensa-

safe space for consumption.

“Cannabis has been decriminalized, but they are still making us feel like criminals,” Racek says. “They don’t understand that this is a lifestyle. They are happy to take our tax money and then treat us like shit. Who has the voice that they are going to listen to?”

For more information, visit:

STUDIOA64.COM

46 OCTOBER 2018 Southern Colorado

Dabbleextracts.com #dabbledaily 719.390.7269 sensimag.com OCTOBER 2018 47

LOS SUENOS FARMS

A Cannabis Grower’s Dream Farm for Retailers A HUGE GROW OPERATION PROVIDES RELIABLE, CONSISTENT TRIM—AND SOME BUD—COUNTED ON BY CANNABIS RETAILERS. “It looks like a Christmas tree farm.”

That’s Owner Bob DeGabrielle’s take on what people see when they look at his farm—actually four farms combined—which were licensed in 2014 and began operations in 2015.

Today, there are 36,000 cannabis plants covering a half mile at the 36-acre Los Suenos Farms (LSF) in Pueblo, Colorado, which now leases to four licensed retail cannabis cultivation companies: Farmboy, Baseball 18, Los Suenos, and Emerald Fields Grow.

“We were always an outdoor grow but have since built four different greenhouses,” DeGabrielle says. LSF has 40,000 square feet of greenhouses. “We are tailored to fill the mid-market,” he says. “The majority of our product is done for the concentrate market, with a smaller percentage for the bud market,” he says. “The majority of our customers are in the vape category or edibles or ointment or tinctures or creams. For many, we are their largest supplier, if not their only supplier, of product.”

LSF is now into its fourth season of cannabis farming, with plants so big that it takes a chainsaw to harvest them. Greenhouse harvest goes from Aug. 10 to September 10; outdoor harvest begins Oct. 1 and ends Nov. 10. Harvested cannabis—about 1,000 plants a day—is then sorted into bud product and trim product, using a grading system.

LSF has increased its plant count every year, DeGabrielle says, allowable by state regulations that say cannabis farms need to sell at least 85 percent of what is produced each year before adding more plants.

LSF employees 60 people—15 per license. The chief grower comes from a background in organic growing, and it’s that methodology that informs how the cannabis crop is grown here. “Since we started, we have always been as close to an organic farm as we can be,” DeGabrielle says. “We got 300 chickens out here to do our pest mitigation, and we built nests out here 48 OCTOBER 2018 Southern Colorado

for birds who are natural predators of caterpillars and grasshoppers,” he says. “We have shied away from using any additional pesticides other than those allowed.

For our customers, who are mostly extractors, any sort of pesticide could show up even more in their product. We made a business philosophy not to incorporate those things in our agricultural growing techniques.”

DeGabrielle is not a natural-grown farmer himself.

“No, not hardly,” he says with a chuckle when asked about his farming background. “I have a real-estate development background. I came to Colorado from Florida to see how the market operated once they passed regulations for adult use,” he says. “This state has the longest running regulatory system in the country, and it was light-years ahead of other states. I saw it as a great place to be based and to be able to help understand the industry, to develop supply-chain relationships so you could operate like any normal business, and take away the mystery about what this plant was about.

“The plant is like any other plant,” says DeGabrielle.

“It’s a living organism and you have to treat it with respect, use science to get the maximum potential out of the plant, and get the cannabinoids and terpenes that your customers are looking for.”

For more information, visit:

LSF.FARM

@

3732 Astrozon Blvd., Colorado Springs, CO 80910 (719) 344-9614

sensimag.com OCTOBER 2018 49

{HereWeGo }

by S T E P H A N I E W I L S O N

Expand Your Cultural Horizons October is Arts Month. Get out there and experience something new.

In a 2016 Presidential Proclamation declaring October Na-

•

tional Arts & Humanities Month, former president Barack Obama said, “The arts enrich our souls, inspire us to chase our

Hall on Oct. 20.

•

dreams, and challenge us to see things through a different lens.”

This month, your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is have one new cultural experience. Why? Because it’s the fifth-annual Arts Month in the Pikes Peak region, an area that’s home to more than 400 arts and cultural groups generating an economic impact upwards of $125 million. That’s according to stats compiled by the Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region—COOPeR for short—the organization spearheading the campaign encouraging everyone to experience art in a brand new way.

Whether you’re a regular arts patron or a novice, you’ll find a wide range of ways to expand your horizons this month.

All of the happenings are nicely organized and highlighted on PEAKSRADAR.COM , the region’s online cultural hub and calendar. There, you’ll find details on everything from Artini, the official Arts Month kickoff celebration on Sept. 28, to the special edition of First Friday Art Walks on Oct. 5, to ArtPOP, a program of 20 pop-up art performances and presentations popping up all month long. Not to mention info on the hundreds of other activities spanning the full spectrum of artistic genres— visual arts; theater and film; poetry, prose, and comedy; music and dance—taking place throughout the region.

Grab a friend and get out there. Some suggestions to get your creative juices flowing: •

Write Drunk; Edit Sober improv writing class at Bar K on Oct. 10.

•

Live Tattooing with Fred Legarda at Self Made Tattoo on Oct. 10.

•

Sonic Listening Walk at Fountain Creek Nature Center on Oct. 13.

50 OCTOBER 2018 Southern Colorado

Viking Fair Bazaar and Brunch at Viking Silk Scarf Painting at Bemis School of Art on Oct. 20.

•

Emma Crawford Coffin Race & Parade in Manitou Springs on Oct. 27.

•

The Rocky Horror Picture Show at Butte Theatre throughout the month.

Visit PEAKSRADAR.COM/ARTSMONTH for all the details.