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Charlotte Southern for New York Daily News
Reporter Justin Rocket Silverman checks the quality in a grow room at 3-D Cannabis in Denver.DENVER — “Rocky Mountain High” is no longer just a cheesy song, but a rallying cry for a new kind of tourism.
It’s still hard to believe, but on Jan. 1, Colorado became the first state to legalize recreational marijuana sales and consumption — both for residents and for out-of-staters.
Finally, you don’t have to just get high on the Centennial State’s scenery.
“Our visitors are interested in recreating in a nontraditional way,” says Bruce Brown, a district attorney whose jurisdiction includes premier skiing destinations such as Breckenridge and Vail. Brown has already noticed a boomlet of visitors coming to buy weed. Really, really good weed.
The newly legal pot shops sold an estimated $ 5 million in ganja during the first week of legalization — many to the new narco-visitors.
It’s no wonder that short-term apartment rental sites such as airbnb.com already have many listings that specify things like “Pot Tourists Welcome!”
Charlotte Southern for New York Daily News
Dawn Blackwell is a “cannabis concierge” with Colorado Rocky Mountain High Tours, a company catering to adults who want to tour the recreational marijuana scene. She’s displaying grass grinders for making joints.
The epicenter of the weed boom is Denver, a friendly city that had more medical marijuana dispensaries than Starbucks locations even before this month.
Unlike the legendary stoner mecca of Amsterdam, there are no coffee shops in Denver where a person can buy and smoke weed. In fact, lighting up is prohibited in any public place, indoors or out.
This creates an interesting challenge for visitors. Many hotels in Denver are completely smoke free. Even when you can find a smoking room, like at the La Quinta Inn downtown, there’s no guarantee it will be a place you actually want to sleep in — unless you enjoy the reek of stale cigarette smoke.
The Warwick Hotel, also downtown, has hundreds of rooms with smoking balconies. But when I asked the front desk clerk if marijuana smoking was okay, she offered an emphatic, “No!” Then the manager gave me a disparaging glance.
Finding the actual pot is easy. There are currently 18 retail shops in Denver selling recreational marijuana, and the city keeps a handy map of their locations at denvergov.org. The tourist information counter at Denver International Airport also has this list. But be prepared to wait on hour-long lines for legal weed.
Charlotte Southern for New York Daily News
Reporter Justin Rocket Silverman ponders the many varieties of recreational pot at a Denver shop.
As in any tourism boom town, tour operators are sprouting up like buds in a hydroponic grow house. My 420 Tours is the most established, and has been showing off the medical cannabis industry to visitors since last April.
Colorado Rocky Mountain High Tours is a new operation that offers a “cannabis concierge” to limo an older, more sophisticated stoner crowd to various dispensaries and supply them with rolling papers, pipes and, of course, lots of munchies.
“Anyone of my generation who says he never smoked pot is lying,” says CRMHT founder Addison Morris, 66, who explains her customers quickly “turn back into freshman in college, laughing and giggling and stuffing cupcakes in their mouths.”
The tourism boom is not limited to young stoners. There are plenty of graying grassheads lining up to light up.
“I haven’t smoked pot in 35 years,” one 57-year-old Denver local named Paul said last week. “But my wife and kids went out to the movies and I had nothing to do.”
Paul said he wasn’t sure what he would do with the 2 grams of pot and the small glass pipe he bought at the Evergreen Apothecary, but it’s likely he will figure something out.
Those who want to skip the lines can wait until late night and head over to the Bud Med pot shop in Edgewater, a town west of downtown Denver. Unlike other pot shops in the area that close at 7, Bud Med is open until midnight, though it really quiets down after 10 p.m.
Charlotte Southern for New York Daily News
After tax, 1 gram and a single joint came to $ 31.52.
Buyer beware: What they sell at these shops is not just any old bag of grass. This is medical-grade stuff now being used recreationally. Also be aware that the THC chocolate bars, lollipops and even bottles of soda for sale can produce an effect much longer-lasting than smoking. Perhaps longer than you’d like. So go easy on it.
Visitors with more than a few days to spare would be crazy not to head up into the mountains. Breckenridge is a two-hour drive from Denver and is surrounded by sweeping vistas, great bars and yes, plenty of legal grass.
The Breckenridge Cannabis Club is right on Main St., across from a Starbucks and a Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant. The similarity to Times Square ends there. BCC, which has a much shorter line than the shops in Denver, features cozy little rooms for mulling over the marijuana choices.
“The supply we thought would last us four months is not going to last even one,” said Caitlin McGuire, 24, co-founder of BCC.
Charlotte Southern for New York Daily News
A marijuana plant in a grow room at 3-D Cannabis in Denver.
Breckenridge has the same shortage of smoking rooms for tourists as Denver. But the sheriff of Summit County has a solution in mind.
“I could see 420-friendly bed-and-breakfasts popping up in town,” says Sheriff John Minor. “We will go along with this great experiment. I’m fascinated as a peace officer to see where this is going to go.”
The sheriff is more than fascinated. Clearly, he doesn’t mind not having to bust people for smoking a doobie at home. Even when reminded of the purpose of my pot tourism trip, he certainly didn’t tell me not to touch the stuff.
“Try not to get too stoned when you’re here,” he said.
jsilverman@nydailynews.com
Charlotte Southern for New York Daily News
A marijuana plant that is ready to harvest in a grow room at 3-D Cannabis in Denver.
IF YOU GO
Air:
Round trips can be found on multiple airlines for roughly $ 250.
Stay:
These hotels have smoking rooms, though airbnb.com may be the best option.
La Quinta Inn Denver Central: 3500 Park Ave. W., Denver; (303) 458-1222.
Quality Inn Central: 200 W. 48th Ave., Denver; (303) 296-4000.
Smoke:
Evergreen Apothecary: 1568 South Broadway, Denver.
3-D Cannabis Center: 4305 North Brighton Blvd., Denver.
Bud Med: 2517 Sheridan Blvd., Edgewater, Colo.
Tours:
my420tours.com; coloradorockymountainhightours.com.
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