The Cannabis highs and lows of my week in Denver
Traveling from Toronto to Denver for a wedding- I was excited to explore the weed scene in one of the most popular cannabis destinations in the US! I spent days putting together a shortlist of places to visit, knowing I only had a day or two to check it out (and no car!). Lucky for me my bestie, Lora Galora, came to my rescue in her purple dinosaur and took me to a handful of smoke spots! So here are some of my tourist highlights exploring Cannabis in Colorado!
First of all, when you fly into the Denver International Airport, THEY HAVE A DISPENSARY. Can Toronto open one of these, please? It's such a delight as a traveller to know as soon as you arrive weed is waiting... Of course, it was closed because my flight was delayed, so I arrived weed-less (and super late) to the mountain mansion Airbnb, and everyone was asleep. But Colorado hospitality is real and I found a little pre-roll waiting for me on the kitchen counter. (Thanks Lora!!)
Colorado day one, our first mission was a local dispensary. I admit I was worried we wouldn't find a dispensary an being an hour outside the city, but they were everywhere. Less than 15mins drive from the middle of nowhere was the shop, Happy Camper. It was a delight to be able to smell the weed in the jars and before purchasing. Also, the store didn't give off high-security prison vibes; I could open the fridge, open the jars and look at the product like any average shop. It was awesome. I settled on two house strains and a Keef soda. The cannabis was good- but not especially spectacular. Keef soda is reliable and always packs a punch.
Over the next few days were wedding things, after which we went on a lovely Colorado camping adventure with the crew near even smaller towns filled with dispensaries and amazing products. What I loved most about Colorado is the abundance of CBD drinks in shops and convenience stores. Can we have more of this in Toronto? If you're thirsty, instead of buying a regular can of pop or flavored drink, you can get a CBD-infused beverage for the same price! I found a delicious CBD bevy and a mushroom elixir (reishi and lions mane) for under 5$ at a local mart. Nothing peps me up like a blast of CBD in a tasty drink that's conveniently priced to all the other non-infused beverage options.
After camping- which was fantastic- I had one day to adventure around before my flight! I started my day with a visit to the International Church of Cannabis. It is the number one place to experience the cannabis community in Denver! I wrote about my magical glittering experience here. After the Church, Lora took me on our last drive to two dispensaries I had listed as must-sees in Denver.
By the way, Denver is a very charming city. It's a mix of Portland and Vancouver, B.C. vibes, but with a million billboards for cannabis shops and products.
The first dispensary we visited was Apothecary Farms, also known as "Colorado's Top Cannabis Dispensary." This shop celebrates its expertise in terpene preservation and extraction. Obviously, I was super stoked. However, the staff was rude and super disinterested, didn't want to explain anything about the terpene technology, and only sold pricy concentrates and edibles. No flower, no beverages. A bad dispensary experience for me means I buy nothing. Hard Pass. Luckily, COOKIES was right down the block.
I know it's a big (over-hyped) brand, but I wanted the Cookies shop in DENVER experience. It's a big deal; I mean Snoop Dog's shopped there. At the time, they were advertising a Snoop Dog Party Pack, which was, sadly, sold out. Cookies dispensary has a one-on-one shopping experience for their customers. The staff were delightful and passionate about cannabis, and the shop was cool. The team walked us through the displays, featuring these little bulbs containing an eighth of their many strains that you could see and smell. Cookies Denver only sells their flower in eighths- no grams or smaller sizes. I would have preferred to buy a gram of a few different strains to try them out, but I was flying out the next day, so I asked a bunch of questions and eventually settled on the Pink Rozay. It immediately caught my eye when I walked into the shop, and I later learned it's one of their most popular strains.
Admittedly, the weed tasted glorious, and the aroma was overwhelming. The flower was perfection. I didn't have my jeweler's loupe, but Cookies is quality. Before leaving town, my last stop was MeowWolf. I split the Pink Rozay with Lora, and we said our goodbyes (I love her so much). As she drove away, I smoked a delicious fatty in the parking lot and spent the next 3 hours wandering around the immersive art exhibit—honestly, the perfect way to end a week in Colorado. Thank you, Denver. This quick trip was just the tip of the cola, and I will be back!
NGL 10/10 I look BLAZED @ MeowWolf.