Sensi Magazine - Southern Colorado (November 2017)

S OU T HER N COL OR ADO

THE NEW NORMAL

11.2017

PLUS Calhan PAINT MINES THANKSGIVING Edibles Advice and MORE!

GET TING DOWN TO

Nevada THE NEW FRONTIER

Veterans, Business WE SALUTE YOU Can Cannabis Treat PTSD? Professor Jim Parco Talks Shop

Boutique CannaShops Ode to Entrepreneurs In the Biz? What Not to Do

sensimag.com NOVEMBER 2017 1

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contents.

THE BUSINESS ISSUE

30

ISSUE 7 // VOLUME 1 // 11.2017

26

The Warriors’ Journey

30

S P EC I A L R EP O R T High Rollers

36

R u … hiring?

42

On Course

Cannabis may be one of the only effective treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder. How does it help, and where can veterans turn for guidance? Three Southern Colorado residents share their stories.

Can Sin City handle one more legal vice?

How not to get a job in the cannabis industry.

Former Air Force Lieutenant-Colonel. Doctor of Economics.

Professor of Business. Owner of Dispensary. College Instructor of Cannabis. Leader of Thought. Breaker of Stereotype. Jim Parco.

every issue 5 Editor’s Note 6 SensiBuzz 10 NewsFeed: BOUTIQUE DISPENSARIES 14 CrossRoads: ODE TO

18 EdibleCritic: A STUFFING TALE 22 TravelWell: ESCAPE ARTIST 48 SoCo: KALEIDOSCOPIC CL AY

36

THE ENTREPRENEURS

Sensi Magazine is published monthly by Sensi Media Group LLC. © 2017 SENSI MEDIA GROUP LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

42

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4 Southern Colorado NOVEMBER 2017

head.

V I VA L A S

Vegas

ISSUE 7 VOLUME 1 11.2017

A DV I SORY B OA R D 1906 New Highs // CHOCOL ATE Craft // RECREATIONAL CONCENTRATES Compliant Packaging // PACKAGING Dabble Extracts // MEDICAL CONCENTRATES

editor’s

NOTE

Welcome to the Business Issue. If there’s one thing

southern Colorado’s been up on, it’s business.

Our region has enjoyed slow but steady economic growth over the last year. Part of that is due to our cannabis industry, but there’s a lot more to it than just buds. Colorado Springs has the nation’s fastest growing real

Doctors of Natural Medicine // MEDICAL CENTER

estate market, and Pueblo’s home development is catching up to its

Equal Exchange Fair Trade Cannabis //

northern neighbor.

TR ANSPORTATION

Faragosi Farms // RECREATIONAL DISPENSARY GreenHouse Payment Solutions // PAYMENT PROCESSING

GRND Staffing Solutions // RECRUITMENT

Tech companies are relocating to our area in droves, new construction projects provide jobs for blue-collar and white-collar workers alike, and grants are creating novel academic research positions.

Things are looking real good here. So why does this issue feature two stories about Nevada?

At Sensi, we’ve been closely watching our movement’s progress, not just

Happy-Kitchens // HOME EDIBLE MAKER

in our state, but elsewhere as well. Since 2014, Colorado has been the un-

Herbal Healing // COMPLIANCE

opposed leader of the weed scene.

IHR // MMJ & HEMP WASTE MANAGEMENT King’s Cannabiz // MEDICAL DISPENSARY Lux Leaf // EDUCATION

But with Nevada’s legalization on July 1, and California joining the ranks of adult sales this upcoming New Year, our state may no longer be the top dog when it comes to top shelf.

California will undoubtedly boast the largest market for cannabis sales.

Maceau Law // LEGAL

The Golden State is, after all, the world’s sixth largest economy. Colorado

marQaha // SUBLINGUALS & BEVERAGES

can’t compete with that.

Monte Fiore Farms // RECREATIONAL CULTIVATION

Show Me Kindness // CAREGIVER Studio A64 // CANNABIS CLUB Taste Budz // CONFECTIONS

MEDIA PARTNERS National Cannabis Industry Association Women Grow

Nevada, on the other hand, has always been America’s playground for grown-ups. Nevada’s state and city legislatures have also been incredibly supportive of legal cannabis, unlike, say, the legislatures in Denver or Colorado Springs. So far, Nevada appears poised to be the least restrictive recreational market in the country, with 24/ 7 pot shops and social-use clubs backed by the state.

As cannabis becomes culturally normalized, giving adults more opportunities to enjoy cannabis in social settings will be necessary. Didn’t we legalize this plant to regulate it like alcohol? The New Normal is already here, but it still has a ways to go before it becomes truly normal.

Colorado may have sparked the fire, but states like Nevada will carry on the torch unless we catch up.

Cheers,

Randy Robinson

MANAGING EDITOR

SENSI SOUTHERN COLORADO

sensimag.com NOVEMBER 2017 5

THE NE W N O R M A L

by RANDY ROBINSON

sensi

buzz

TURKEY TERMS So, which came first: the bird or the country?

Answer: The country.

ALL LIT UP

Get into the spirit of the season.

Pueblo Parade of Lights November 25, 5:30 p.m.

PUEBLOPARADEOFLIGHTS.COM

The bird that’s served for Thanksgiving gets its name from the nation of Turkey. Ironic, since the bird originates from Mexico, not the Middle East. (By the way, the Mexicans call it guajolote, which apparently never caught on elsewhere.)

How did this happen? Historians aren’t entirely sure. Some suspect that during the 1600s, English or Portuguese merchants got the American bird confused with similar-looking birds imported from Madagascar or Ethiopia. The merchants dubbed the imported birds “turkeys” because they thought the fowl came from the Turkish kingdom.

Interestingly, the Turks don’t call the bird a “turkey.” They call it hindi, because they thought the avian originated from India. To make things more confusing, some Indians refer to the turkey as piru, due to yet another misconception that the bird’s birthplace was Peru.

Trinidad Holiday Lights November 25, 6:30 p.m.

Cripple Creek & Victor November 25 to January 1 VISITCRIPPLECREEK.COM

Grand Junction Parade of Lights December 2, 5:00 p.m.

DOWNTOWNGJ.ORG

Colorado Springs Festival of Lights December 2, 5:50 p.m.

COLORADOSPRINGSFESTIVALOFLIGHTS.COM

Town of Monument Tree Lighting Ceremony December 3, 5:00 p.m.

TOWNOFMONUMENT.ORG

As to how the Turks got their name, no one knows. It’s possible the word came from a Turkic root, which translates to “strong” or “powerful,” but, to date, there are no agreements on either the bird’s or the tribe’s etymological origins.

Electric Safari at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo December 8 to 10, 15 to 23, and December 25 to January 1, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

CMZOO.ORG

Studio Ghibli Fest

Alamosa’s Christmas Lights Parade December 15, 6:30 p.m.

ALAMOSAROUNDUP.COM

Telluride’s Christmas Eve Torchlight Parade December 24, 6:30 p.m.

ALLTELLURIDE.COM

In the past, Japanese animation, or anime, was considered a niche phenomenon. Today, it’s got spots on American primetime television,

bringing the biggest anime titles for limited theatrical screenings— and the final installment takes place this month.

and the industry continues to drive global media. Hit films such as

On November 26, 27, and 29, you can get lifted with Howl’s Mov-

The Matrix, Black Swan, Avatar, Inception, and even Disney’s The Lion

ing Castle (2004), Ghibli’s Oscar-nominated story of witches, scare-

King were all heavily inspired by anime.

crows, and magical strife that’s kind of like The Wizard of Oz meets

Studio Ghibli, one of Japan’s most prominent animation studios,

The Lord of the Rings. It is, to date, one of Japan’s best-selling films

long set the standard for anime’s family-friendly feature films. To

of all time. Hitch a ride to the fantastic during special showtimes at

commemorate the studio’s successes, film distributor GKIDS has

the Cinemark Tinseltown Theatres in Pueblo or Colorado Springs.

teamed up with Fathom Events to present Studio Ghibli Fest 2017,

Tickets start at $12.50, GKIDSTICKETS.COM.

6 Southern Colorado NOVEMBER 2017

CLEAN COMEDY

CR ACK UP

the rocking chair tour Jeanne Robertson, the “grandma gone viral,” is coming to Colorado Springs. Although she’s been a public speaker for nearly three decades, the former Miss North Carolina-turned-humorist found her spotlight in 2009 after videos of her giggle-inducing monologues became hits on YouTube. The six-foot-two septuagenarian has racked up more than 40 million YouTube views of her wry observational hits such as: “Don’t Send a Man to the Grocery Store,” “Don’t Mess with Teenage Hussies,” and “Mothers Vs. Teenage Daughters.”

Comprehensive MMJ Application Assistance & Se habla español.

Now open in Pueblo!

Denver: 1450 S Santa Fe #102 Denver, CO 80223

Pueblo: 106 2nd St Pueblo, CO 81003

How is a humorist different than a stand-up comic? “I have a message in my shows, though sometimes it’s not much of a message,” she told Star News Online. “The comedian’s sole reason is to get people to laugh. My message might be as simple as ‘look at the humor in things.’”

She’ll be at the Pikes Peak Center on Friday, November 17.

Tickets start at $25, AXS.COM.

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- Dr. Pac & Dr. Kun Nata of HelH HelH NataInit Init of

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by RANDY ROBINSON

UPSCALE UPLIFT Southern Colorado dispensary designs elevate the way we buy our favorite plant.

We’ve made lengthy strides ever since adult

than simply look cool: they bring in patients and

use went legal in Colorado nearly four years ago.

customers who otherwise may feel a little squea-

Cannabis companies have elevated the branding,

mish purchasing something that was very much

packaging, and presentation of their uplifting of-

banned not that long ago. (And is still banned at

ferings to heights on par with some of Ameri-

the federal level.)

ca’s sleekest, savviest corporations. The prevalent

According to “Rebranding Marijuana,” a joint re-

brass-tacks, hole-in-the-wall dispensaries of yore

port between the New York marketing firm Sparks

are giving way to a legion of new upscale shops

& Honey and High Times magazine, half of all

with impeccably ingenious constructions. The new

cannabis customers in legal states would like to

face of cannabis is fresh, lively, artistically intrigu-

purchase their pot in grocery stores. The survey’s

ing, and—most importantly—inviting.

findings suggest that while one side of cannabis

This is what the New Normal looks like.

consumerism prefers to keep product in desig-

The shift toward brighter, bigger, and better

nated specialty shops, the other side would like to

dispensaries is partially a result of cannabis’s

get their stuff prepackaged along with their other

growing acceptance in the mainstream. The

daily provisions. Again, we see a shift toward fa-

counterculture remains alive and well, but as can-

miliarity.

nabis brands reach out to parents, grandparents,

In Southern Colorado, there’s no shortage of

and professionals, the plant’s image needs to

one familiar hang-out spot: the brewhouse. Ryan

change as well. Just as yesterday’s boutique

Griego, one of the owners of Cannasseur in Pueb-

storefronts catered to a multitude of city slickers,

lo West, describes his shop as one with “the feel

today’s pot shops target wider markets.

of an upscale brewery.” Cannasseur incorporates

Yet, there’s another facet to this trend. Al-

brown and adobe palettes to establish an inti-

though cannabis is becoming increasingly nor-

mate atmosphere that Colorado’s beer lovers

malized with each day, a stigma on the plant still

would expect from a cannabusiness that makes

exists. Many patients and customers, especially

most of its goodies in-house. Additionally, they

those who’ve been alive for a few decades or

installed a window that peers from the dispensa-

more, may prefer spaces that appear both safe

ry area into a grow on the other side of the glass,

and charming. They want something they recog-

making Cannasseur one of the only cannabis

nize. In short, boutique cannabis shops do more

stores in Colorado with this kind of on-site con-

10 Southern Colorado NOVEMBER 2017

© PHOTOGRAPHY BY JACQUELINE COLLINS

{newsfeed}

Cannasseur, Pueblo West Today’s Health Care II, Colorado Springs

sensimag.com NOVEMBER 2017 11

Tweedleaf, Colorado Springs

nection to its cultivation. “People love to gaze at

“Rebranding Marijuana” made one other point

the plants from the dispensing area and take pic-

crucial to understanding the shift to infuse a bit of

tures as a souvenir,” Griego adds.

swankiness into cannabis stores. Tokyo Smoke is a

TweedLeaf, located in Colorado Springs, takes an

Toronto-based lifestyle brand that sells high-end

entirely different approach from Cannasseur’s brew-

men’s clothing, craft coffee—and cannabis. Josh

ery aesthetic. The design here borrows aspects of a

Lyon, Tokyo Smoke’s head of marketing, told Sparks

posh spa, with sandstone hues that nicely contrast

& Honey that the brand has been successful using

with the emerald-toned flowers in TweedLeaf’s dis-

the same strategy for cannabis as it does for its

play jars. “It’s not to disparage any of the other dis-

other products: from a lifestyle perspective. Instead

pensaries. They appeal to their crowds, and I think

of promoting the offerings using the insider jargon

that’s awesome,” says Renae Peterson, one of the

only understood by seasoned connoisseurs, Tokyo

owners of TweedLeaf. “I feel completely comfortable

Smoke chose a more approachable route.

going in to other dispensaries, but I wanted to make

“Our consumer base,” Lyon explains, “is some-

something that my parents and women would feel

one who overall does not define themself as a

comfortable at. We just wanted to make something

cannabis smoker.” For casual consumers, high

a little different.”

THC levels and colorful strain names mean little.

Whereas TweedLeaf and Cannasseur built their

Instead, these customers desire to make pur-

dispensaries with a focus on the interior, Today’s

chases of value that can be explained in terms

Health Care II in Colorado Springs remodeled its 8th

they understand. To capture this audience, stores

Street location, raising the ceiling 8 feet and adding

have to take a more sophisticated approach.

skylights that beam the sun’s luminescence across

Will boutique cannabis stores ever supplant the

the lobby. “We wanted a very nice, natural feel that

original shops, the ones that lack the eye-catch-

was not only appealing but also inviting to custom-

ing thrills? Probably not. With beer, there’s always

ers,” says Aaron Grubbs, a manager at Today’s Health

someone who prefers a Pabst over a fine craft

Care. The dispensary’s granite countertops were in-

lager, just as there will likely always be demand

tentionally made longer than most conventional con-

for dispensaries that focus on churning out great

sulting counters to allow more people at the display

products for potheads, minus the frills. But the

cases and to nurture more interaction between the

growing demand for storefronts offering fully at-

patients and the budtenders. That this dispensary

mospheric experiences on top of good weed looks

replaced a former attorney’s office lends a smidge of

like it’s here to stay, too.

poetic justice to its layout, too.

12 Southern Colorado NOVEMBER 2017

sensimag.com NOVEMBER 2017 13

{crossroads}

by RICARDO BACA

ODE TO THE ENTREPRENEURS Here’s to the ones who dream Foolish as they may seem…

In Merriam-Webster speak, la-la land is “a euphoric

To succeed, dreamers have to do the work—and it’s

dreamlike mental state detached from the harsher re-

hard work. They conceive and plan, hustle and scrape,

alities of life.” And it’s hard to argue with that as a mind-

strive and overcome, crash and burn, fall and fall and fall,

set, right?

and keep getting up. There are sleepless nights, jaw-­

But when the film La La Land came out and reframed

clenching days, and a fair number of tears. They do it

the phrase as more of a tribute to the dreamers, to

with families and health issues and funding problems

those folks stepping out of their comfort zones on a

and never enough time, and then one day they wake up

daily basis to make big things happen, I found myself

to a comment from the US Attorney General that is the

thinking about how the countless entrepreneurs cau-

equivalent of a Hippies-Go-the-Fuck-Home sign.

tiously making their way in the evolving world of legal

The risks these dreamers take are very real. Operating

cannabis are forced to live and work in a kind of la-la

as a cash-only enterprise is nerve-racking in a safety

land themselves.

sense, and the compliance rules often seem designed

The courage and commitment required to navigate

specifically to sabotage. Meanwhile, Internal Revenue

this new cannabis frontier takes la-la land to a whole new

Code Section 280E basically says that any business

level, though. These risk-takers are doing all the things an

“trafficking in controlled substances”—

everyday entrepreneur would do, but they’re doing it in a

which on a federal level, marijuana

uniquely semi-legal environment, often with their very live-

still is, remember—cannot take

lihoods (and sometimes personal freedom) on the line.

any deductions.

In any realm, entrepreneurs push the planet forward.

They stimulate economic growth as they encourage change and create jobs. They innovate and revolutionize the way we do things. They further research and development, and they build foundations and legacies. And they do all of this while passionately pursuing their dreams.

Cannabis entrepreneurs aren’t just dreamers, though.

Cannabis entrepreneurs are doers.

14 Denver Southern //Boulder ColoradoNOVEMBER NOVEMBER2017 2017

DRE A MERS

hustle + scrape, strive + overcome, crash + burn, FA LL + FA LL +

FALL and keep

getting

up.

RICARDO BACA is a veteran journalist and the founder and original editor in chief of The Cannabist.

His content agency Grasslands works primarily with businesses and individuals in the cannabis and hemp industries on thought leadership and messaging via thoughtful and personalized content campaigns.

sensimag.com NOVEMBER 2017 15

Try running your non-cannabis business with that kind

hours poring over case law. Dreamers who fill rooms

of restriction. Not a day goes by that someone some-

with easels and paint and joints and joy, and dreamers

where in the trade doesn’t wonder, “Is the government

who connect us all for cocktails and elaborately con-

going to go after us and shut us down?” It’s a real con-

ceived meals.

cern, especially with an anti-industry Trump administra-

These are the people I’ve met through my work in the

tion scrutinizing their every move with a magnifying glass.

industry, of course, but they’re also some of my closest

And then there’s the stigma that persists in por-

friends—people whom I’ve known for a decade-plus who

traying people in the biz as potheads with no ambition,

were previously lawyers and journalists. One of these

stinky stoners lying around in their parents’ basements

friends is the general counsel for an industry-leading

with no jobs or future prospects, rather than the exist-

cannabis brand in Colorado, a mild-mannered gent who

ing reality that members of the cannabis community

surprised himself when he ended up scoring a pub-

comprise some of the most successful and ambitious

lic-facing job for a large cannabis brand.

people in this country.

Another is a former colleague who left journalism

But despite these incessant hurdles, there are hun-

and Colorado behind as she moved to Oregon to grow

dreds of thousands of dreamers in the cannabis indus-

CBD-rich hemp in that state’s regulated market, where

try right now. Dreamers who get up at 5 a.m. to check

she has hit every snag imaginable, including being

CO2 levels, and dreamers who fall into bed at midnight

kicked out of a credit union, snubbed by neighbors, and

still covered in dirt and stinking of fish emulsion. Dream-

turned away by gardening centers that blatantly re-

ers who investigate cleaner options for extraction and

fused to sell things like drip irrigation tape and nutri-

less environmentally harsh nutrients. Dreamers who lob-

ent-dosing equipment to “pot farmers.”

by for more leeway, and dreamers who spend endless

increased e n e r gy

Uplifting & Euphoric

e l e va t e d alertness

Heightened Creativity

SATIVA

We’ve got the whole spectrum covered

INDICA

z

z

z

Sleep Aid

deep relaxation

16 Southern Colorado NOVEMBER 2017

Pain Relief

appetite stimulant

And then there’s me, a longtime reporter and editor

who created what became an industry-leading canna-

But we also know that the payoff will propel us toward

bis news site—only to leave it behind in favor of creat-

a future where cannabis is accepted as a normal part

ing my own marijuana-centric content agency. I’m a

of our lives, and we celebrate the small and large victo-

storyteller by trade, and now my thought-leadership

ries—like the fact that 29 states and the District of

work with brands and executives provides me with the

Columbia currently have legal marijuana in some form,

A RE W E FO OL IS H ? NOT AT ALL.

ARE W E CRAZY ? PROBABLY. BUT WE AL SO KNOW THAT THE PAYOF F WILL PROPEL US TOWARD A FUTURE WHERE C ANNABIS IS ACCEPTED AS A NORMAL PART OF OUR LIVES, AND WE CELEBRATE THE SMALL AND L ARGE VICTORIES.

opportunity to tell more of these compelling stories—

with seven states and D.C. offering expansive legaliza-

ensuring that these cannabis entrepreneurs are prop-

tion and some states decriminalizing the possession

erly connecting with their peers and their customers.

of small amounts of marijuana. So, here’s to the ones

Are we foolish? Not at all. Are we crazy? Probably.

that dream, all right. We’re here because they did.

sensimag.com NOVEMBER 2017 17

{ediblecritic}

by J O H N L E H N D O R F F

E L A T G F F IN

A S T U sity r ules the sideable. tt D i ve r u r fe a s o l l i f t h at d i shes

that n inkling a t o g I ish l before h schoo g side d ig in h iv o g t s in k n ell nal Tha ead.

I was w traditio ubed br c a d t e o n lv o s v wa my sually in la sagna holes of uffing u y t b s b y u e c k r e t tu t my ed in th and tha sts tuck e table a a g r e f la t a s e d li n The ear ticut. ifts arou Connec ten in sh in a t e n e e r e m w s’ apart cranmemory dparent avy and n r a g r h g it n r w bo t turkey ish for Siciliansic roas pasta d s d la e c k r a u b yo lways a -AmerYou had re was a e Polish e h h t T r . o e f c t u ie was and krau berry sa isters. P ielbasa s k ’s d n m a o s m an o of my ausage the Itali Italian s arried tw ’s m y il o h m a w f s all of it. ull of the ican guy a bowl f ad loved s D a n w r o s b a , involved Austrian fing. My f u t s o t and pota

18 Denver Southern //Boulder ColoradoNOVEMBER NOVEMBER2017 2017

JOHN LEHNDORFF writes Nibbles for the Boulder Weekly. He hosts Radio Nibbles on KGNU.

shop Nanna and Papa Mazzola emigrated to the US almost a hundred years ago. Family lore is that Nanna had never seen a turkey before, never mind a stuffing. She

& mash LOCALLY

About 50,000 acres in Colorado’s SAN LUIS VALLEY annually produce more than 2 billion pounds of Russets, Yukon Gold, various fingerlings, Colorado Rose, Kennebec, Purple Majesty, and many other potato varieties.

sought advice from a French-Canadian woman named Rose who lived down the hall. Rose suggested a meat

of the stuffing always gets me going—but then so do

and potato stuffing reminiscent of the filling in tourtière

the second and third as I tweak the spicing.

pork pies. My grandmother improvised using the fen-

This stuff transcends its humble ingredients, espe-

nel-and-chile-flake-spiced Italian sausage my grand-

cially in what we call the “bird stuffing” that exits the

father made downstairs in his Italian market. It was a

carcass infused with even more flavor and fat. The stuff

quintessentially all-American dish.

baked in a pie pan is good, but we regard that as back-

I’m not a hardcore traditionalist, but I observe cer-

up “dressing.” There are many Southerners who have

tain rituals that connect me directly to my ancestors

vigorously disagreed with me about that naming dis-

on the day before Thanksgiving. To make the stuffing, I

tinction. We have hotly debated the proper ingredients

use a pan I inherited from Nanna to boil the spuds and

for a stuffing, i.e., bread, cornbread, oysters … at least

a huge, old cast-iron skillet to fry the sausage. While I

until they taste my stuffing. I love it when there are two,

work, the soundtrack is usually the Grateful Dead’s

three, or more kinds of stuffing on the table.

three-disc Europe ’72 album. This was the music I loved

Some worry about the moistness of the turkey, wheth-

listening to when I first started making the stuffing on

er the white and dark meat is equally roasted and the

my own in college.

skin dark brown. Most of us care a lot more on the fourth

The a-ha moment in the process comes just after I combine the potatoes, meat, spices, butter, and broth

Thursday in November about what’s within the bird and the array of side dishes, from deviled eggs to dessert.

and start muscling the separate parts into the ideal

There are foodie snobs among my friends who would

mashed-but-not-totally-mushed state. The first taste

virtually ban green bean casserole and ambrosia “salad” sensimag.com NOVEMBER 2017 19

{ ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND POTATO }

STUFFING!

>> 5 to 6 pounds (approx.) Colorado red,

Yukon gold and/or Russet potatoes, peeled and chunked 4 pounds (approx.) bulk Italian sweet sausage (hot and/or mild) >>

>>

2 medium sweet yellow onions, minced

>>

3 or more large cloves garlic, minced

>>

½ pound butter (or more)

>>

Fresh ground black pepper, to taste

>>

Salt, to taste

1 tablespoon poultry seasoning or ground sage, to taste >>

>>

5 large cloves garlic, minced

>>

Turkey or chicken broth, as needed

Optional: minced fresh celery; minced fresh made with canned fruit, sweetened coconut, marsh-

fennel; ½ cup pine nuts; other herbs

mallows, and Dream (or Cool) Whip. I figure every single one of us sitting down at the feast deserves to enjoy the dishes that say “Thanksgiving” to them, whether it is caramelized Brussels sprouts with pecans, pomegranate, and pecorino or baked candied yams under a toasted marshmallow toupee. We set aside our omnipresent diet for one day a year and indulge.

Feel free to ignore the measurements in the following recipe. I change it from year to year and sometimes include celery, fennel, and pine nuts. I know folks who make this stuffing with chorizo instead of Italian sausage and add roasted green chilies and others who substitute crumbled tempeh and mushroom broth. Now it is their family’s traditional Thanksgiving stuffing, a fact that always amazed and amused my mom, who taught me how to make it.

This Thanksgiving, may your home be perfumed with spicy sausage and sage and graced with a brace of pies.

At this year’s feast, let us raise a toast in gratitude to the immigrants who got us here so we could gather around the table again. Lift another to the folks who grew and harvested the crops in Colorado and elsewhere.

20 Southern Colorado NOVEMBER 2017

THE METHOD I usually peel the Russets but not the thin-skinned Yukon Golds. Boil potatoes in plenty of water until barely tender, not mushy. Drain the spuds. (I save the potato water for making turkey soup a couple of days after Thanksgiving.) Mash the potatoes in a large pot over low heat while adding butter. Crumble sausage in a frying pan with onions and garlic (as well as celery and fennel, if using) and cook until light pink. Drain fat. Do not overcook spuds or sausage. They will cook again in the bird/oven.

In a large pan combine sausage and potatoes along with pepper and poultry seasoning. Add broth as needed to make the elements marry. Taste repeatedly to tweak the seasonings. This recipe can be made and refrigerated up to two days before the feast.

When it’s time, push stuffing deep into all the nooks and crannies on both ends and roast the bird as usual.

This stuffing freezes well and pleases mightily when it appears on a weeknight dinner plate sometime in the doldrums of January or serves as a griddled base for a change-of-pace eggs Benedict.

sensimag.com NOVEMBER 2017 21

{travelwell}

by CHRIS T INA DAVIES

ESCAPE ARTIST Get away from the over-the-top glitz of the Las Vegas Strip and explore the artistic side of Nevada.

The 4.5-mile stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard known

leagues, I hear comments like “I can only take it for so

around the world as simply the Strip, for all its glory, can

long before I need to escape.” The city is a lot to handle,

put all your senses in overdrive. The bustling thorough-

there’s no doubt, which can make extended travel there

fare is festooned with pleasure palaces and gleaming

far more draining than, say, a week in San Francisco—a

megaresorts where debauchery is on display 24/7, where

fact of which many business travelers are aware. In 2016,

sin is celebrated (unless that “sin” is smoking cannabis,

the city hosted close to 22,000 conferences, conven-

but that’s a different story).

tions, and trade shows that welcomed a total of 6 mil-

The Vegas of yore, one defined by bare-­breasted wom-

lion attendees. A good portion of those professional

en in big feathered headdresses, is all but gone, displaced

networkers no doubt spent their days manning booths

by havens of the utmost luxury, pinnacles of world-class

and their nights indulging in behavior that inspires the

entertainment, and more modern convention and meet-

clichéd battle cry of bachelorettes everywhere: what

ing space than you’ll find in any other US city.

happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. But that doesn’t mean

So often when discussing Vegas with friends and col22 Southern Colorado NOVEMBER 2017

that you need to stay in Vegas, too, should you find

­ you feel. And thanks to recent a revitalization, visiting downtown has become a staple of any Sin City stay.

To get there, head north on Las Vegas Boulevard past the official end of the Strip for 2.9 miles. Not exactly far but it is a world away, downtown is where the crazy­wonderfulness of Vegas began. Keep an eye out for Vegas Vic, the towering neon cowboy marquee that once marked the entrance to the long-gone Pioneer Club.

Today, the smoking icon marks the entrance to the overthe-top Fremont Street Experience, a pedestrian mall/ tourist bait that occupies the five westernmost blocks of Fremont Street.

Vegas’s second-most-famous thoroughfare used to be the most famous part of town. All the casinos—or at least most of the good ones—were on Fremont, a neon-lined corridor that earned it the nickname “Glitter Gulch.” Fremont is where a lot of Vegas history happened.

Vegas’s first hotel, telephone, paved street, gaming license, traffic light, elevator, and high rise were here.

Nowadays, it’s got another first: Viva Vision, the world’s largest video screen (shown to the left), at 1,500 feet long and 90 feet wide,. It’s suspended above a pedestrian walkway lined with casinos, shops, and dozens of restaurants. The whole Experience-with-a-capital-E is kitschy, yes, but don’t dismiss it. This is the birthplace of Vegas, and with a recent resurgence, it has gotten a lot busier and more boisterous in the past few years as visitors leave the Strip seeking spots that are less glam and more authentic than the big fancy resorts.

Amid the classic neon marquees, penny slots, and street performers are some spots you’ll want to see yourself in town on business with some time to kill.

and things you’ll want to do.

When you need to get away from the glitz and experience

First up, check out the Neon Museum and Boneyard,

the serene, Nevada has a lot more than neon lights to of-

which chronicles the history of Las Vegas through a

fer. The state is a grab bag of wonders, a glorious mix of

collection of glittering signs rescued from destruction.

the unfamiliar and the predictable. And just outside the

Then explore the impact organized crime has had on

gleaming confines of the Strip are reminders that the

Vegas at the nearby Mob Museum, steps off Fremont

world is full of remarkable and wonderful things to be-

Street. Fremont Street Experience gives you the oppor-

hold, if you take the time to find them.

tunity to zip-line from a two-story slot machine or splash through a shark tank. If that’s what you’re into,

D OW N T OW N V E GA S TRAVEL TIME :

Just a few minutes from the Strip

have at it. But if you want to see a softer, realer side of Las Vegas, it’s just around the corner.

Downtown Vegas feels like the Anti Strip. Or the an-

Fremont Street East has undergone a major trans-

tidote to the Strip, depending on how casino row makes

formation over the past five years, thanks in no small sensimag.com NOVEMBER 2017 23

part to the efforts of Zappos founder Tony Hsieh, a whiz

SE V E N M AGIC MOU NTA INS

15 minutes west of Las Vegas

of an entrepreneur with a knack for turning small start-

TRAVEL TIME :

ups into multinational forces by focusing on culture.

If you’re yearning to escape the Strip for a few mo-

When Zappos’s headquarters relocated to downtown

ments of respite in a serene space surrounded by nature

Vegas in 2013, Hsieh saw an opportunity to breathe new

where you can contemplate the lasting impact of artifice,

life into the area by approaching the making of a city

you don’t have to go very far. Ten miles south of the in-

much like he would a startup.

tersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and St. Rose Park-

He invested $350 million of his personal funds into

way, a large-scale public artwork by Swiss artist Ugo

the area’s revitalization efforts, allocating it to people

Rondinone sits just off the Interstate in the desert at

and businesses that would provide not merely a return on investment but rather a ROC: return on community.

a location physically and symbolically between the

The efforts have resulted in more than a thousand new

Seven Magic Mountains consists of 33 boulders

jobs and over 165 new businesses.

natural and the artificial, incorporating elements of both. weighing anywhere from 20,000 pounds to 25 tons,

A bunch of those are located within Downtown Con-

stacked into seven hoodoo-like towers drenched in Day-

tainer Park, an open-air shopping center and entertain-

Glo. The colorful anomaly appears to either blend with

© SYDNEY MARTINEZ / TRAVEL NEVADA

the natural landscape or pop against the desert backDowntown Container Park

drop, depending on the lighting and your perspective, which changes as you approach along Interstate 15.

Feel free to pull over and walk around to fully appreciSeven Magic Mountains © SYDNEY MARTINEZ / TRAVEL NEVADA

ment destination made out of 43 repurposed shipping containers. DCP now houses 39 shops, galleries, rest­ aurants, bars, and more, plus outdoor stages and entertainment areas with free live music every weekend. It’s located on Fremont Street, and it’s hard to miss: just look for the giant fire-breathing praying mantis sculpture.

ate the mammoth scale of the gravity-defying balanc-

You’ll also want to explore18B, the Las Vegas Arts

ing act that’s as much an engineering feat as a work of

District described as the closest thing the city has to a

art. The site-specific showcase—one of the largest

bohemian enclave. The name is a nod to the original 18

land-based art installations in the US in the last 40

blocks designated as part of the artsy spot. 18b is an

years—will be on view through May 2018.

urban mix of cultural, commercial, and residential spaces, including eclectic galleries and studios, shops, eateries, and bars. There’s a new Circulator Bus offering

G OL DW E L L OP E N A I R M US E U M TRAVEL TIME :

About two hours north of Vegas

free rides with stops at the major attractions of down-

The evocative landscape of the Amargosa Desert

town. Hop on, hop off, and see what the buzz is about

along the eastern edge of Death Valley National Park

at spots like the Velveteen Rabbit, a craft cocktail and

is a barren and lonely part of the world—and it’s just a

beer bar described as a “unique libation experience for

short drive away from the sensory overload of the Strip.

seekers of the beyond” that’s run by “witchy women”

Though the heat may be brutal, there’s a striking beau-

who will “elevate (and perhaps even levitate) your sens-

ty here. That beauty is what led to the creation of the

es, calling upon the cosmic and mystical forces.”

“un-museum” just outside Rhyolite, Nevada, a spec-

24 Southern Colorado NOVEMBER 2017

tacular ghost town off the road leading to Death Valley, California. It’s a short distance west of Beatty off State Route 374, basically in the middle of a literal nowhere. Which is part of its intrigue. The monumental and somewhat eerie sculptures scattered across the landscape are the other part. The artworks almost demand that you question their origin: who created them, and why? And, more importantly, why here?

It started in 1984 when the late Belgian artist Albert Szukalski began this self-described “art situation” with the creation and installation of “The Last Supper,” a major sculpture featuring life-sized ghost figures posed as Christ and his Disciples as depicted by the Da Vinci painting. In the subsequent decades, other prominent Belgian artists joined Szukalski in the desert and created the colossal on-site sculptures you’ll find within the vast upper Mojave desert.

Today, the 15-acre outdoor sculpture park is open to the public 24/7, and Goldwell remains a place for those who are seeking adventure in their art making in a spectacular and challenging landscape, according to its mission statement.

Red sandstone formations at the Valley of Fire State Park

VA L L E Y O F F I R E STATE PA R K TRAVEL TIME :

About an hour northeast of Vegas

Want to see some ancient artwork? Head to this park, famous for its striking landscape and prehistoric remnants. The park is named for the bright red Aztec sandstone formations formed by shifting sand dunes 150 million years ago. When the sun hits them just right, the rocky outcrops appear to be aflame.

The striking scenery has inspired people for millennia. Throughout the park—throughout all of Nevada, in fact—2,000-year-old rock art petroglyphs are still visible. One of the most striking examples is found near the beginning of the Mouse’s Tank trailhead in this park. According to experts, this example is one of the only to showcase human interaction. The figures depicted appear to be holding hands.

The oldest state park in Nevada, Valley of Fire earned its designation in 1935. Today, it covers about 40,000 acres, and the Nevada Scenic Byway, Valley of Fire Road, allows you to explore them by car.

There are also many intriguing trails throughout the park enticing hikers to get moving. For info on the best day hikes, stop by the visitor’s center. While you’re there, peruse the exhibits on the geology, ecology, prehistory, and history of a region that may be best known for being adjacent to Las Vegas but is so much more than that.

sensimag.com NOVEMBER 2017 25

Warriors’ Warri

Warriors Warriors Warrio ’’ THE

JOURNEY

by RANDY ROBINSON

Cannabis MAY BE ONE OF THE ONLY EFFECTIVE TREATMENTS FOR POST-TRAUMATIC

S T R E S S D I S O R D E R , A M E D I C A L C O N D I T I O N A F F E C T I N G U P T O 20 P E R C E N T O F A M E R I C A’ S COMBAT VETERANS. HOW DOES CANNABIS HELP, AND WHERE CAN VETERANS TURN FOR GUIDANCE? THREE SOUTHERN COLORADO RESIDENTS SHARE THEIR STORIES. In 2013, after years of struggling with PTSD, Matt

never return to Afghanistan, or to any other combat

Kahl was offered a joint by a friend. The first time this

zone for that matter. That’s when he took a turn for

happened, Kahl threw his friend out of his house. The

the worst.

second time around, Kahl gave in.

Wracked by constant hypervigilance and a lack of

“My brain actually relaxed for a second,” says Kahl.

purpose, Kahl didn’t leave his house for nearly a year.

“I just kind of spiraled off to a random thought pro-

“Outside,” he says, “there are too many variables. There

cess. I wasn’t looking for where the next threat was

could be a threat around any corner.” He lost most of his

going to come from. I wasn’t looking out the windows.

friends. He felt estranged from his family. The only things

It was the most peaceful thing I felt in six years.”

his doctors could give him were more pills.

As an infantryman in the 506th Infantry Regiment,

Like most combat veterans, the Army prescribed

Kahl experienced some of the most grueling moments

Kahl dozens of pharmaceuticals to manage his catalog

of America’s mission in Afghanistan. From 2009 to 2010,

of symptoms: chronic pain, moodiness, short temper,

his daily routines overseas meant taking cover from fire,

depression, insomnia. He says over a four-year period,

keeping an eye out for roadside IEDs, and witnessing

Veterans Affairs (VA) assigned 86 drugs to him, and

the loss of friends. On his second tour of duty, an IED

on any given month, he took 18 to 20 different types of

sent him face-first into the metal shield of a .50-cali-

pills. Kahl’s story here is typical: a 2014 VA study states

ber turret. He sustained multiple injuries, including a

80 percent of veterans with PTSD receive similar drug

pulverized jaw and a shockwave blast through his skull

cocktails. Yet a 2015 study published in The Journal

—an otherwise irreparable wound known as trau-

of the American Medical Association found that these

matic brain injury, or TBI.

cocktails don’t work for two-thirds of PTSD patients,

Given Kahl’s state, Army doctors recommended he

of which there are 24 million in the US alone.

be sent home to Kentucky for good. Of course, he fought

It’s no wonder then that a growing number of pa-

his doctors’ orders. He tried to return to the fray, but his

tients with PTSD are turning to cannabis for relief. Un-

commanding officers denied his request. He would

fortunately, cannabis, according to the federal govern-

26 Southern Colorado NOVEMBER 2017

ors’

resources

ment, is still a Schedule I drug—the most restrictive class

reserved for only the most dangerous substances with “no accepted medical value.”

After that fateful meeting with his friend’s joint, Kahl knew

something had to change. “My brain remembered that and wanted that feeling of peace again. Of course, I immediately asked my family if we could move somewhere where cannabis was legal, so I didn’t have to be a criminal just to heal myself.”

The Kahls ultimately settled on Colorado after looking at

other states with legal cannabis. After several months of weaning off the pharmaceuticals, he says his symptoms went

FOR VE TERANS INTERESTED IN MEDICAL CANNABIS

Canna-Patient Resource Connection KEEPITLEGALCOLORADO.COM

Grow for Vets

GROWFORVETS.ORG

Veterans Cannabis Project VETSCP.ORG

The American Legion LEGION.ORG

into full remission, and he no longer takes the VA’s drugs for either his chronic pain or his PTSD. “If cannabis is a placebo effect, then what were those other 20 medications I was on?” he asks. “What were they treating? And how come those 20 medications didn’t work, but one plant did? I am not a placebo effect.”

Family MATTERS

Cannabis heals more than just the individual veteran. It helps their families heal, too.

Bridget Seritt married her husband, Harlin, years after he got out of the Army. Harlin served as a sergeant in the Marine Corps during the US invasion of Panama and later in Africa during the First Liberian Civil War. Unlike a lot of combat veterans, Harlin never sought medication for his PTSD. It was something he just dealt with on his own.

The Serrits moved to Colorado Springs from Georgia due to Bridget’s health. Bridget was diagnosed with autoimmune disorders, and doctors recommended a change of scenery to help her deal with the conditions. Cannabis, however, wasn’t on her radar at the time.

Only after living in Colorado did Bridget learn about the benefits of medical cannabis. She soon discovered it brought significant relief to her pain and inflammation. “Before I couldn’t walk 200 feet,” she says, “but just last week I went on a two-and-a-half mile walk in Breckenridge. I didn’t even break a sweat.” After seeing it work for his wife, Harlin gave it a try, too— but not for his PTSD, initially. At first, he just wanted a good night’s sleep.

“It was a gradual change,” Bridget says about cannabis’s effect on Harlin’s PTSD, “but we noticed he wasn’t yelling or irritable in the morning. He became calmer, better able to think things out logically rather than be reactive.”

Today, Bridget credits cannabis for helping her family’s relationships vastly improve. “My kids say, ‘Ever since we moved to Colorado, you guys have been super chill.’ We get along now, all of us do.” Since trying can-

sensimag.com NOVEMBER 2017 27

nabis, Harlin has grown closer to his son, and his sense

ize, ‘They are my flesh and blood.’ I spent that whole

of humor has been restored. “His silliness comes out,”

day in the backyard. I showed them how to swim,

Bridget shares.

above water and underwater.”

Another Colorado Springs resident, Dave Gambrell,

“I was so doped up on VA meds from 2003 to 2011,”

fought in Iraq in 2004 during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

he continues, “I couldn’t see my kids for who they re-

As a member of the 101st Airborne Division, he took

ally were.” Today, like Kahl, Gambrell says he’s gotten

part in the first phases of ground fighting during Amer-

rid of the VA drug cocktails and stopped drinking al-

ica’s War on Terror.

cohol. Cannabis is all he needs these days.

Today, Gambrell is a full-time family man. He is also the subject of a VA study into the long-term effects of

MOVERS

and SHAKERS

cannabis use on veterans. This functional observation

There’s a common myth around cannabis, one that

study tracks Gambrell’s daily movements while he’s

discourages vets from even considering it: the amotiva-

elevated and regularly checks up on him to see how

tional syndrome. Supposedly, marijuana causes some

he’s doing mentally, physically, and socially.

people to become lazy and detached. Kahl, Seritt and

“They want me stoned 24-7,” he says through a grin.

Gambrell all say that’s a totally bogus claim, and they’re

Gambrell first encountered medical cannabis in

living proof.

2011 at the suggestion of a Korean War vet who lived

Kahl, for example, is an incredibly busy man. He’s a

two doors down. At the time, Gambrell was in Arizo-

hemp farmer in Divide, Colorado. He’s also a member

na with his two preteen children.

of the Colorado Department of Agriculture’s cannabis

“The moment I put a joint to my mouth was the mo-

pesticide board. In addition to farming and regulations,

ment I formed a real father-child relationship with

he spent years fighting to get PTSD listed as a qualify-

my kids,” he recalls. “It slowed my mind down to the

ing condition for medical marijuana in Colorado and

point that I could stop and look at my kids and real-

even joined a lawsuit against the state to get that done.

28 Southern Colorado NOVEMBER 2017

Warriors veterans affairs’ Warrio

only new qualifying condition since the state passed its medical marijuana bill in 2000.

Bridget says both she and her husband are far more active since cannabis, too. “I started Canna-Patient Re-

source Connection,” a non-profit educational and advo-

cacy group, “and my husband is more productive at work.

In fact, he was so productive we won a trip to Hawaii.”

Gambrell is no slacker, either. He devotes most of his free time to educating the public, fellow veterans, and

Warriors arriors’ ’

In June, they won: PTSD became Colorado’s first and

MEDICAL CANNABIS POLICIES · Contrary to popular belief, the VA will not deny

a veteran services or benefits simply because that vet takes medical cannabis.

· The newest policies, released by the VA office just a

few months ago, permit vets to use cannabis so long as they live in a state with a medical marijuana program.

the VA on the medical potential of cannabis. He acts as

· Veterans in states without legal medical marijuana

a peer mentor for other veterans living with PTSD, and

programs may have their VA benefits suspended or

he hosts “The Wake and Bake Show” every morning on

denied, so keep this in mind.

Facebook Live.

Myths aside, Bridget understands why some vets would be concerned about cannabis, but she says there

· The VA may deny the veteran opioid prescriptions

while taking cannabis.

are plenty of resources—and support groups—to help

· The VA is separate from the Department of Defense.

them out. “I would first find out why they’re afraid to

There have been zero reported cases of veterans losing

try it. Some are afraid of an adverse reaction. Others

their retirement benefits or other military privileges due

are afraid of the stigma. I would wholeheartedly say

to using medical cannabis—once they are out of the

try it. Experiment. It could give you your life back. Just

service. Active-duty service members are banned

like with the pharmaceuticals you’re given, you don’t

from consuming cannabis for any reason.

know what’s going to happen until you try it.”

sensimag.com NOVEMBER 2017 29

by LELAND RUCKER

REPORT 30 Denver Southern //Boulder ColoradoNOVEMBER NOVEMBER2017 2017

Can SIN CIT Y handle one more LEGAL VICE?

SPECIAL

OVER THE DECADES,

Las Vegas,

THAT GLEAMING EMERALD CIT Y IN THE

DESERT, HAS SHONE A BE ACON ON INIQUITY AND TRANSGRESSION. GAMING? THEY GOT IT COVERED. PROSTITUTION? THEY CAN REGULATE IT. VICE? ARE YOU KIDDING? AND NOW ADULTS CAN POSSESS AND PURCHASE CANNABIS, A SUBSTANCE THAT HAS ALWAYS LINGERED AROUND THE EDGES. LIKE PROSTITUTION, WHICH IS LEGAL IN SOME NEVADA COUNTIES, CANNABIS IS ALSO BANNED ON A FEDERAL LEVEL. CAN VEGAS ADD ONE MORE INIQUITY TO ITS ALREADY REGULATED SINS?

As if to up the ante on itself, the state opened its recreational shops July 1, just less than eight months after Question 2 passed with 55 percent voter approval in 2016 and beating the original target date by six months. And in this case, what happens in Vegas is not staying there. Entrepreneurs are putting their chips on the state’s booming sin-tourist trade and its history of regulation to make marijuana another tool in Nevada’s box of iniquities.

The TOUR I S T Trade and P O T on the S TR IP

It’s not like Colorado, Washington, Oregon and California aren’t tourist destinations. The Colorado Tourism Office reported that 30 million tourists visited Denver in 2016. The difference is that Colorado’s economy, like the others, is more diverse and not as dependent on tourism. The state’s population of 5.5 million dwarfs Nevada’s 2.9 million, with about two-thirds residing in the Las Vegas Valley.

Leslie Bocskor is CEO of Electrum Partners, a consulting firm for cannabis businesses, and he thinks the state is doing things correctly. “In Nevada, they said, ‘let’s do it fairly, slowly, the right way,’” he explains. “The difference between Nevada and the other states is that we have the opportunity to show 45 million international tourists from all over the world what a legal, well-regulated market looks like. That’s why we’ve been diligent.”

sensimag.com NOVEMBER 2017 31

The biggest problem facing tourists is one familiar to Coloradans.

We’re almost four years into legalization here, and the state hasn’t come close to figuring out how to allow public consumption. Like here, the only legal places to use it are private homes and hotels/B&Bs that allow it. And it’s prohibited on the Strip, and in or around casinos.

Heather Azzi of the Marijuana Policy Project helped write and pass Question 2. “It leaves tourists in a tough position, left with no place to consume. Regulation is definitely needed. The Legislature has made an attempt, and I expect them to revisit it.”

“We need clubs, lounges and smoking areas at festivals, rodeos, carnivals, Burning Man,” Bocskor says. “There are places to go to smoke cigarettes and drink beer, and there should be a place for people to use it.” He adds only half jokingly, “If we have more people smoking pot at

these events, we will have fewer incidents of violence, better managed events, and participants will eat more food.”

Sean Luze, CEO of NuLeaf, which operates dispensaries in Lake Tahoe and Las Vegas, says all budtenders advise people about the rules and restrictions on public consumption. Still, he says, it’s not like people haven’t learned how to use cannabis without attracting attention. “People have spent decades to find places to consume,” he adds, “and that will continue.”

Not surprisingly, since they emit vapor rather than smoke, vaporizers have become popular items, and the edibles market is booming and expected to continue since it’s the most discrete way to use cannabis without detection or bothering anybody else. “We’re expecting a boost in edibles, especially in Vegas,” says Jamie Schau of the Brightfield Group, which does market research and analysis for the industry. “And at the end of the day, people will find a way around it, just like they always have.”

Gov. Brian Sandoval, like Colorado’s John Hickenlooper, has come out publicly against any kind of consumption lounges, at least for now, arguing that allowing them might attract federal attention and possible intervention. Apparently disagreeing, the state’s Legislative Counsel Bureau ruled in September that nothing in the language of Question 2 disallows public consumption, and that individual counties should be left to decide whether to allow it and what the rules would be. At press time, none have done that.

Regulating S IN

Derek Peterson, CEO of Terra Tech Corp, a cannabis- focused cultivator, says that allowing counties to create their own regulations has helped the state move more quickly. “The way we operate in Vegas and the way we operate down the road is entirely different,” he says. The

32 Southern Colorado NOVEMBER 2017

state also originally limited permits to medical businesses already in operation to help ease conversion to recreational sales. “Nevada does a good job of regulating and being friendly to entrepreneurs. They listened to the industry and let people make suggestions.”

Dispose

Responsibly.

The state’s successful history of controlling otherwise suspect activities is a big part of the cannabis gamble in Vegas, says Mark Zobrist of Friday Night Inc., a licensed cultivator and CBD infused-product company in the city. “It is used to regulating industries that need control, and it applied the same philosophy to cannabis. The state has been a model for inspections, control, and regulations. That’s different from most other states that don’t have a regulatory background. It’s organized and able to do it.”

Schau admits this is still pretty much new territory for everyone involved, and that regulation is complicated. The recreational industry is overseen by the Nevada Department of Taxation; the medical industry by the Health and Human Services department. “You have politics to deal with, and we’re moving quickly to come up with all the rules,” she says. “A lot of states don’t realize the complexity.”

Nevada allows out-of-state applicants to apply for licenses, something Colorado still doesn’t permit.

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SUSPECT ACTIVITIES is a BIG PART of the VEGAS

CANNABIS

GAMBLE.

And it instituted a rigorous testing program for medical and recreational products. Currently, in Colorado, only recreational products are tested.

“The testing regimen is regarded as just on the ac-

sensimag.com NOVEMBER 2017 33

ceptable side of draconian, which is what we want,”

cannabis. Retail shops are not allowed within a thou-

Bocskor admits. “And as a result, our crops are not con

sand feet of the Strip. Smoking is prohibited in most

taminated. We’re producing thousands of pounds of

hotel rooms, although several people say the smell of

the cleanest cannabis in the world, and nobody is hav-

cannabis often lingers in casinos and hotels. This

ing a hard time doing it the right way.”

month’s Marijuana Business Conference and Expo is

Early news stories about legalization in Nevada cen-

being held at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

tered around long lines at dispensaries and a short-

Casino reaction has been much like larger banks

age of product. Originally, alcohol distributors were

avoiding dealing with cannabis companies in legal

CANNABIS is

states. The Cole Memo, issued by the Department of

NOT ALLOWED

in CASINOS or HOTELS. RETAIL SHOPS are NOT ALLOWED within a

THOUSAND FEET

of the STRIP.

Justice in 2015, said banks would be allowed to do business with cannabis companies under certain restrictions, but few opted to, with most claiming they were still afraid of prosecution. To end all discussion, Nevada gaming commissioners in August announced that as long as marijuana remains a Schedule I drug, gaming licensees aren’t allowed to conduct business with any entity that promotes cannabis.

Nobody was willing to speculate on how long it will take, but that will change. “Eventually you will see flower girls with pre-rolls, like bottle service on the Strip,” says Peterson. “It’s just a matter of time, but that’s what Nevada does well. I’ve been around the world, and the best services, from a macro standpoint, are in Vegas.

It’s a city built on service, not like other markets.”

CALIF ORNI A

and the F UT URE

When California’s recreational market comes online Jan. 1, everybody is expecting more changes, but

given exclusive rights to move cannabis products from

beyond taking away some Nevada business, most see

grows to production facilities to dispensaries, the

it as a positive. “When you have a big state, the sixth

reasoning being that they already had the infrastruc-

largest economy in the world, legal, it’s gonna be a

ture in place to do the job.

game changer,” says Luze. “But so many people will

But as the deadline for shops to open approached, few distributors stepped up, and the state put in place

be able to see how orderly it is and that there are no problems. It will help the support for legalization.”

emergency measures that allowed others to distrib-

All this talk of tourists and making the world sit up

ute product. And state regulators rejected an alcohol

and take notice of Vegas made me wonder about regu-

distributors’ lawsuit against new rules that now al-

lar Nevadans. Foster Boone is director of operations for

low pot companies to transport product.

the Apothecarium shop in Las Vegas. “Our dispensary

The CASINO Quandry

At this point, and at least for the near future, the biggest point of contention will be between casinos and the

is about a ten or 15-minute drive off the Strip, so about 80 percent of our customers are locals. They like cannabis, too, and there are plenty of benefits to buying it legally. People like cannabis no matter where they live.”

cannabis industry. Cannabis is not allowed anywhere in

What I found is that, like perhaps anybody heading for

casinos or their hotels, even to the point of not letting

Vegas, the industry, regulators, and legislators are betting

cannabis conventions or expos to be held in casinos.

on Nevada becoming a model for legal cannabis. “These

One owner, Sheldon Adelson, CEO of the Sands, contrib-

little bumps happen,” says MPP’s Azzi. “It’s a new market.

uted five million dollars to try and defeat Question 2.

We haven’t done this before except in a handful of states.

But the reality is deeper than simple opposition to

34 Southern Colorado NOVEMBER 2017

It’s good that people are learning from other people.”

sensimag.com NOVEMBER 2017 35

by

ROBYN GRIGGS L AWRENCE

HIR ING How NOT TO get a job in the CANNABIS INDUSTRY.

FINDING

your place

IN THE COLORADO CANNABIS INDUSTRY CAN BE

A LONG AND WINDING ROAD. IN A DYNAMIC ATMOSPHERE, WITH REALIT Y SHIF TING ALMOST DAILY, IT HELPS TO BE SELF-MOTIVATED AND READY TO DON A FEW HATS YOU NEVER THOUGHT A B O U T I N O R D E R TO M A K E I T W O R K .

Nothing on the Irie Weddings & Events website sug-

me, I think, because it seems to be a very chill job, and

gests the Colorado-based company is hiring, but own-

as a stoner, this would be ideal.” A picture of the appli-

er Bec Koop gets a good handful of emails from job

cant smoking a joint is included.

seekers every week. That’s not terribly surprising, giv-

Nancy Whiteman, co-owner of Colorado-based lead-

en that Koop’s company is the leader of a glamorous

ing edibles manufacturer Wana Brands, is constantly

niche in the country’s fastest-growing industry and

amazed at how many people wanna job at Wana. Among

shows up on the reg in major media venues like News-

those who submit a decent résumé and cover letter with

week and CNBC. What is surprising is how many of

the company’s name spelled right and make the cut for

those emails are written with terrible grammar and a

an interview, a shocking number ask a question that

clear disdain for punctuation and spellcheck. The best

takes Whiteman aback every time.

one ever simply had “ R u …” in the subject line and “hiring?” as the message.

“They will ask me, ‘Do you think working in the cannabis industry will hurt my résumé long-term?’” White­

“Are you kidding me?” Koop says. “How lazy are you?”

man says, then pauses. “I tell them, ‘That’s a decision

Salwa Ibrahim, executive director of Blum Oakland,

you need to make on your own.’”

a retail medical cannabis dispensary in Oakland, Cal-

They don’t get the job.

ifornia, may be able to top that. She and her staff have been saving “Hall of Fame” applications since Blum

“THAT’S NOT KARMA. THAT’S POOR PLANNING.”

opened in 2012. The winner? “This is a great job for

Anyone who has been building a career in cannabis

36 Denver Southern //Boulder ColoradoNOVEMBER NOVEMBER2017 2017

Get in it for the money.

“There’s a perception that we’re all printing dollars in the back room and that’s going to flow through to everyone we hire,” says Wana founder Nancy Whiteman.

“The truth of the matter is, we have to watch costs and margins like any other business—perhaps more so.”

Call yourself a “lifestyle brand.”

Nobody knows what that means.

Parade your problems, personal or otherwise, in front of professionals on social media.

Relentlessly stalk potential employers and mentors online and in person.

Write “looking for work” or “seeking opportunities” as your main identifier on LinkedIn and other career networking sites.

If and when you do meet your prey, bitterly tell them, “I emailed you.”

Post a cannabis leaf instead of your photo on social media profiles and/or call yourself anything resembling Dank or Dabby.

It happens surprisingly often, says Simply Pure CEO Wanda James. “Would anyone go to an interview at Coors with flip flops and a beer in their hand? You wouldn’t do it. So why would you come to us thinking, they get high, they’ll be cool with it?

No. I am not.”

Let people know what you’re great at and be specific about what you want.

Show up for an interview wearing flip flops and smoking a joint.

Show off your extensive knowledge of growing, selling, or consuming cannabis.

“Somebody who thinks they know everything will be difficult to train,” says Blum Oakland executive director Salwa Ibrahim.

Use slang terms for cannabis.

“At this point, it should be common knowledge that the word marijuana was formed as a racially motivated tactic.

There’s no excuse for it in an industry built on activism against the drug war,” says Cultivated Synergy and Harvest 360 co-founder Sebastian Nassau.

DO NOT make stoner jokes.

It’s 2017.

sensimag.com NOVEMBER 2017 37

for any amount of time—and for an industry born less than two decades ago, five years is a lifetime—is inundated with daily requests from friends, acquaintances, and, most of all, social media followers for advice about how to break in, even though every mainstream media outlet from Forbes to CBS has done that piece.

They have a great idea for a project (but never say what it is), would love to “pick your brain” over coffee (because you have nothing better to do and just love a good brain picking), or want to know more about what you’re doing (a backward way of finding out if you’re hiring and

“I LOVE PEOPLE,

I love weed,

I LOVE LIFE,

I’m artsy.”

NO.

JUST NO.

a dis to all the work you’ve put into your LinkedIn profile and social media posts).

Jane West has seen it all. Last

year, West left Women Grow, the networking and education organization she founded in 2014, to focus on her luxury cannabis accessories business, Jane West Enterprises. When West started her first cannabis company, Edible Events, in 2013, her search for other cannabis companies on LinkedIn yielded less than 10 pages of listings. Today there are more than 2,900 pages, and Jane—whose profile describes her as “the most widely recognized female personality in cannabis”—has well over 11,000 followers. Every day, one or more of those connections contacts West without any clear idea of what they actually want.

“They’re reaching out to the world to see what happens,” West says. “That’s

38 Southern Colorado NOVEMBER 2017

not karma. That’s poor planning.”

cannabis industry. That’s awesome. So am I. So is ev-

If West responded to all the inquiries she receives

erybody,” says Humiston. “But like any industry, like

from multiple platforms, she would do nothing else.

any job, companies are looking for what you bring to

Last year, she told a Women Grow gathering in Boul-

the table outside of being passionate.”

der she was responding only to people who could

Maureen McNamara, who teaches safe, responsible

help her raise a million dollars. She was only half

practices to cannabis professionals through her com-

joking. If you want the busy entrepreneur’s attention,

pany, Cannabis Trainers, is appalled at how many peo-

you’d better shoot straight: define what you want in

ple tell her they’ll do “anything, just anything” to get

one sentence, don’t kiss too much ass, and include a

into the business. “That’s ridiculous,” she says. “I can’t

signature with a personal photo recogni­zable across

introduce a job seeker to a potential opportunity with,

social media platforms.

‘This person will do anything.’ It’s not a winning plan.”

Kendal Norris, who fields constant inquiries as the

It never works for Koop, who was deeply insulted

owner of Mason Jar Events Group, a company that draws

when a job applicant said she didn’t care what Irie

people from all over the world to Colorado for cannabis

Weddings & Events did because she just wanted to

food and yoga pairings, has had it

work in the cannabis industry. “I was like, how dare

with job and advice seekers who

you,” Koop says. “We’ve busted our asses to build this

aren’t paying attention. They

business. Would you apply like that to any other job?”

send résumés that “look ridicu-

The “pick-me” attitude is a shame, McNamara adds,

lous,” Norris says, and can’t fol-

because the industry can accommodate “almost every

low simple instructions. She’ll

type of talent that exists in the world” if job seekers

send an email offering some-

are specific about their aptitudes and desires.

one 15 minutes within a two-

Kara Janowsky, who worked in dispensaries before

hour time window, and they

she founded Hired Productivity, a bookkeeping, account-

will inevitably block out the en-

ing, and office administration company for cannabis

tire two hours.

businesses, says too many people aim low when break-

“I’m not having a two-hour

ing into the industry. “You don’t necessarily need to go

meeting with you,” Norris says. “I

for the minimum-wage budtending job, especially if you

don’t even know you.”

“I LOVE PEOPLE, I LOVE WEED, I LOVE LIFE, I’M ARTSY.”

have a degree and a specialized education,” she says.

“It’s a very, very long road if you start from the bottom.”

Conversely, says Sebastian Nassau, co-founder of cannabis networking hub Cultivated Synergy and business development firm Harvest 360, an inflated view

Far too many people—like the Blum

of what you bring to the table will get you nowhere.

Oakland job applicant whose résumé read

“Having a home grow doesn’t translate into commer-

“I love people, I love weed, I love life, I’m art-

cial cultivation with potentially tens of thousands of

sy”—don’t understand that breaking into the

plants. An Instagram model is not a social media ex-

cannabis industry requires more than being

pert simply because that person has amassed a follow-

crazy for chronic. Candidates hurt them-

ing,” Nassau says.

selves when they go on at length about how cannabis saved their grandmother’s

“TRADE A JOB FOR A JAR OF SEEDS?”

life while failing to even mention how their

If cannabis IS your area of expertise, selling your

professional skills could move a company

decades of experience—especially in cultivation—

forward, says Karson Humiston, CEO of

can be tricky. Vangst Talent lead developer Mike Olson,

leading cannabis industry staffing agen-

who created a job board that serves as a “safe zone” for

cy Vangst Talent, whose motto is “keep

cannabis companies and job candidates, points out

your career, change your industry.”

“Many candidates are super excited about cannabis and about the

that “some companies don’t want to know that you’ve been growing weed illegally in your basement for the past 20 years.”

sensimag.com NOVEMBER 2017 39

BE professional BECAUSE IT IS A

PROFESSION. Huminger advises applicants to withhold that information because “companies that come from traditional industries are uninterested in people who are bragging that they were a criminal.”

Flaunting your illegal activity puts cannabis business owners, who spend countless hours and thousands of dollars ensuring they comply with laws, in an awkward spot. Ibrahim tells of another Blum Hall of Famer, a grower of some experience who sent a long list of the reasons he hasn’t been able to get a job in the industry, including an abysmal credit score and a host of personal problems. He ended by offering “a nice jar of seeds.”

“Is he proposing I trade him a job for a jar of seeds?” Ibrahim asks in disbelief. “I don’t know how to work with that.”

“THE EQUIVALENT OF HAVING A VEGAN WORK AT A STEAKHOUSE.” On the flip side, says Wanda James, CEO of

40 Southern Colorado NOVEMBER 2017

tensive knowledge of the industry and make some effort to learn our lingo and specifics.”

Koop is more straightforward. “We can’t have you on our team,” she says, “if you don’t even understand the lingo.”

“THE IN-AND-OUT GUYS ARE COMING …”

McNamara can spot people who could care less about the cannabis plant’s wellness and healing benefits and are strictly interested in “the potential or perceived financial windfall” a mile away. As soon as she senses they’re in that camp, she says, “I just dissuade them.”

People often weed themselves out Simply Pure, a popular Denver dispensary and edi-

with their own bad ideas. Philip Wolf, owner of Cultivat-

bles manufacturer, nothing is more bizarre than

ing Spirits, a premier tour company offering cannabis

people who don’t consume cannabis seeking a job

pairing events and dinners in Colorado, recalls a recent

with her company. “ It’s the equivalent of having a

conversation with someone he thought was a poten-

vegan work at a steakhouse,” she says. “It doesn’t

tial investor, a man who seemed to be getting it as

make sense.”

Wolf described Cultivating Spirits’ elegant multi-

James does not hire non-imbibers, period. “We’re so

course dinners designed to gently introduce the

early in this that everybody who works for me has to

mainstream to cannabis’s healing benefits. Then the

be about the movement in some way, shape, or form,”

guy laid out his own vision of Wolf’s guests: blissful

she says. “Show me something in this industry that

from indulging in fine food, wine, and cannabis, they

you care about, not that you just want to make money.”

board the bus, settle in, and pick up the strippers.

The prevalent belief that everyone in cannabis is

Wolf realized the guy could care less that his idea

making bank—laughable to insiders—has inevita-

was miserably wrong for Cultivating Spirits’ clientele.

bly brought gold diggers, business owners, and exec-

This non-investor figured that guests who spend $200

utives who don’t consume and are clearly in it for the

on a cannabis-paired dinner would easily throw down

coin. They don’t sit well with industry veterans like

another $250 on Crystal and Candy. When Wolf ex-

Jan­owsky, who has watched moneygrubbers come

pressed dismay at the idea, the man explained that he

and go since she was president of Students for Sen-

was an “in-and-out guy,” someone who “goes in, gets

sible Drug Policy at the University of Colorado in

the money, and gets the fuck out.”

2009 and then founded the Boulder Women Grow chapter in 2014.

“That’s exactly what is wrong with our industry right now,” Wolf says. “The in-and-out guys are coming in,

“The culture surrounding this industry is not very

trying to make a buck, and aren’t in this for the bigger

prone to accepting that,” Janowsky says. “It’s a good

picture. But those are also the people who are not last-

idea to at least recruit a team member who has ex-

ing in the cannabis industry.”

sensimag.com NOVEMBER 2017 41

ON

COURSE PUEBLO’S

Jim Parco

D I D N ’ T S TA R T O U T A S A C A N N A B I S S U P P O R T E R .

A S A G R A D U AT E O F T H E P R E S T I G I O U S A I R F O R C E A C A D E M Y, H E F I R S T S E R V E D H I S C O U N T RY A S A D I S T I N G U I S H E D M I L I TA RY O F F I C E R T H E N S E R V E D H I S C O M M U N I T Y W I T H H I S D O C TO R AT E O F E C O N O M I C S .

“I’d never even so much as seen a cannabis plant,”

Parco’s ground-level research meant he got his hands

he says, recalling his younger days with his wife, Pam.

dirty. As he learned more about cannabis cultivation,

“We didn’t drink or do drugs. Good kids just did not

manufacturing, and selling, his paradigm toward pot be-

smoke marijuana. That’s what we were always told.”

gan to shift. After about four or five months of working

Parco’s interest in cannabis started with a spark struck by his econ and business students at Colorado

behind the scenes, he says he had a realization: “I was really misinformed about what marijuana was.”

College in Colorado Springs, right around the time Colo-

Parco supplemented his hands-on experience with

rado voted to legalize recreational use. Both during and

a mountain of peer-reviewed research. When he wasn’t

after his classes, students continually asked him about

sweeping up stems, he was delving into published

the cannabis industry: How does someone get into it?

studies about cannabis’s short- and long-term effects.

How much seed money does it require? Who can invest

He looked at the economic consequences of both pro-

in it? What are the risks? What are the payoffs?

hibition and legalization. He came to each study with a

Parco, a scientist first and foremost, decided he bore

skeptical, inquisitive mind. When he finally emerged

a “moral responsibility” to find the answers to these

from the flood of papers, he was no longer convinced of

questions. To better educate his students, he took a sab-

prohibition’s claims. “I had to discount a lot of what I

batical and did what any studious educator would do.

read, because a lot of it was politically motivated,” he

He became a janitor at a local pot shop.

says. As far as he’s concerned, the verifiable evidence

“I washed buckets. I trimmed. I mopped floors,” he

for legalization is undeniable at this point.

recounts. “I was doing an ethnography, where you live among the native employees.”

42 Southern Colorado NOVEMBER 2017

Shortly after his stint as a cannabis custodian, he and his wife decided to build their own licensed can-

by RANDY ROBINSON

Former AIR FORCE lieutenantcolonel. Doctor of ECONOMICS. PROFESSOR of business. Dispensary owner. College INSTRUCTOR of cannabis. THOUGHT LE ADER. Breaker of stereotype. JIM PARCO. nabis company. They took an abandoned building

To sign up for his cannabis course, students must be

adjacent to his family’s farm in Pueblo and renovated

21 or older. On the first day of class, they must present a

it. Today, it houses the Mesa Organics dispensary. Its

government issue ID. In accordance with campus poli-

sister company, Purple Bees, manufactures CO2 con-

cies, no marijuana product is allowed in his classroom.

centrates.

Parco’s course doesn’t have a textbook for the weed

But his journey doesn’t end there.

business, either, since the industry is incredibly new.

Last year, Parco spearheaded a campaign against

Instead, his students pick what aspect of the industry

Propositions 200 and 300 in Pueblo County. If the ini-

they want to study—lab testing, cultivation, manufac-

tiatives had passed, they would have shut down all of

turing, or retail sales—then, just as he did while work-

Pueblo’s pot operations—and the city’s newly flour-

ing as a custodian, they have to go do it.

ishing economy—for good.

“When they leave this course, they understand not

Luckily, Pueblo won out, and the voters defeated

only the regulatory structure, the history, the culture,

Props 200 and 300. The fight isn’t over yet. Cannabis

the efficacy of what the plant does,” he says, “but

remains highly regulated in Colorado, and it’s still il-

they also know what it takes to get licensing in the

legal at the federal level. Parco’s strategy is to duke it

state of Colorado.”

out on two fronts: through his business and through his college course.

KNOW THYSELF

Parco designed one of the world’s first accredited

To complete his course, students must develop a mock business plan for a cannabis company. They’re required to fill out application forms for a state license, then they pitch their idea to him as if he were the County Board of Commissioners.

business courses devoted to cannabis. At first, the

“I structured it in a way that the college became

administrators at Colorado College—which forbids

very supportive,” he says. “Even the board of trustees

cannabis on its Colorado Springs campus—weren’t

knows about it. It’s no secret.”

too keen on his idea. Although they initially did not turn him away, they didn’t embrace the prospect or put the course on the schedule, either.

SOUND ADVICE

Having worked practically every position possible

But Parco persisted. A year later, he pitched the

at a small cannabis business, Parco, surprisingly, does

course a second time. “By then, they had their own data

not recommend cannabis as a way to create quick,

of what had gone on in Colorado,” he says. “They said,

easy cash. He acknowledges some industry compa-

‘Yeah, we’re so over that now. Go ahead, teach the class.’”

nies are making a killing right now, but the success

sensimag.com NOVEMBER 2017 43

they’ve managed to scale immensely.

“Do you want to know who’s the number-one player that’s making all the money right now?” he asks rhetorically. “It’s the government.”

As a caveat to would-be entrepreneurs, Parco points to the US tax code. Under Section 280E, deductions are not allowed for businesses that generate revenue by “trafficking in controlled substances.” Cannabis is still Schedule I under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. That means all expenditures for labor, repairs, maintenance, marketing, manufacturing, cultivation, transport, upgrades, and upkeep receive no kickbacks. Any other business in the US can claim these deductions.

“In the cannabis industry, our effective tax rate is near 100 percent. It’s not really a money-making enterprise,” Parco says. “It will consume all of your life savings and then some. You will work very, very hard just to break even. That’s just the nature of the business.”

Parco believes cannabis will become much more lucrative for momand-pop shops once the federal government removes it from scheduling.

Until then, he suggests industry newcomers should start a business not because they want to get rich, but because they want to push the envelope, to be part of a social movement.

“I think we’re doing God’s work. If people stepped back and looked with an open mind at what cannabis actually does—it gives me goosebumps.

I wish people could see who comes into our store every day. They not only tell us we changed their lives—some tell us we saved their lives.”

44 Southern Colorado NOVEMBER 2017

© PHOTOGRAPHY BY JACQUELINE COLLINS

stories, he says, are the exception. They pull such high profits because

sensimag.com NOVEMBER 2017 45

DABBLE EXTRACTS

P R O MOT ION A L F E AT URE

The Best of Both Worlds IN COLORADO, WE HAVE TWO CANNABIS MARKETS: MEDICAL AND RECREATIONAL. MANY COMPANIES TODAY PROVIDE PRODUCTS FOR BOTH MEDICAL PATIENTS AND ADULT SOCIAL CONSUMERS, AND DABBLE EXTRACTS ENSURES THE SAME PROCESS FOR QUALITY APPLIES TO BOTH THEIR MEDICAL AND ADULT-USE CLIENTS. Based in Colorado Springs, Dabble Extracts

cause of the consistency between extract prod-

started as a medical edibles company. As the

ucts. Every dab of equal size should have the same

demand grew for hash—and as concentrates

cannabinoid and terpene combinations, so long

technology became more sophisticated—the

as it comes from the same sample. “Concentrates

company moved away from infused foods and

helped these patients immensely,” he says. “It’s an

toward high-grade extracts.

instant, potent dose of THC.”

Dabble specializes in shatter hash—a con-

However, Hindi notes for social settings, dab-

centrate with a glassy look and feel—composed

bing also offers a hassle-free way for friends to get lifted together. “You can try different products in between hits,” says Hindi. “You don’t have to make it through a massive, charred bowl of flower before switching products. No one gets the ‘cashed’ part of the rotation.”

Dabbing in a social setting is also an easy method to guarantee each individual enjoys the same terpene profile each time they dab.

“Everyone gets a good hit. No one gets to call ‘greens’ with dabs,” he says, referring to the custom of reserving the first puff of flower as the best, “because it doesn’t make a difference.”

almost entirely of THC. They also produce wax

For patients and recreational consumers, Dab-

or “budder,” another form of concentrate with

ble Extracts products are available at dispen-

high amounts of both terpenes and THC. Both

saries and retail shops across the Southern

types of concentrates have their own advan-

Colorado region. Cultivators and dispensaries may

tages, and both confer the plant’s multitude of

also contact Dabble for processing house strains

benefits to medical patients and partiers.

with Dabble’s proprietary closed-loop extraction

Joshua Hindi is the founder of Dabble Extracts.

process.

He acknowledges that dabbing, a popular way to

“We wanted to create a product we were

vaporize concentrates like shatter and wax, is

proud of, a product I could give to a sick or ailing

typically associated with social use. Yet he first en-

person, and feel good about giving it to them,”

countered dabbing when working closely with

says Hindi. “Dabble Extracts’ goal is to make the

cannabis patients, who relied on dabbing be-

cleanest, tastiest concentrates in existence.”

46 Southern Colorado NOVEMBER 2017

sensimag.com NOVEMBER 2017 47

{soCO}

by RANDY R O BI NSON

K A L E I D O S C O P I C C L AY

Calhan Paint

MINES Located about a mile south of Calhan, the Paint Mines are El Paso County’s other fascinating collection of odd rock formations. Unlike the more wellknown Garden of the Gods, the Paint Mines are composed of a series of rainbow-splattered hoodoos and spires formed by compressed stacks of colorful sediment. The gritty prism looks like a giant slice of earthen layer cake cut by eons of erosion.

The Paint Mines are more than just clay-caked gullies, rocks, and caves. They also serve as an “interpretive park,” a locale that fuses archaeological, geological, ecological, and historical significance in one spot. Archaeological evidence suggests this site was once inhabited, or at least regularly visited, by Paleoindian peoples, the first human inhabitants of the Americas. The Paleoindians likely began collecting clay from the site for pottery over 9,000 years ago, making the Paint Mines area one of the oldest human settlements in the Rocky Mountain region. Today, you can meander four miles of trails that weave through what the Mother Nature Network rated one of the top 12 most colorful natural wonders in the world.

48 Southern Colorado NOVEMBER 2017