Toke of the Town

This Livestreaming Stoner App Connects Potheads Around the Globe

By Toke of the Town on August 11, 2017 Culture, Global

On Toke.tv, a marijuana-centric livestreaming app based in downtown L.A., users broadcast themselves rolling joints, packing bowls and admiring their bongs. Between hits, they talk about what’s on their mind.

User @silenttoker expressed her annoyance that a McDonald’s had run out of Fanta Orange. Another woman held her cat up to the camera. A recent @treeofgreens livestream begins with a guy laid out on the couch before he repairs to a patio to take dabs with his buddies. The video lasts 92 minutes.

Their audiences send their appreciation with short messages and a constant stream of heart and cloud icons that bubble up on the screen. Like Facebook Live or Periscope, the streamers see the messages and can respond in real time. Cultivators, glassblowers and other specialists also have found an online home on the app.

Jeff Sessions Replies to Letter From Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington Governors

By Toke of the Town on August 11, 2017 Cannabusiness, Follow that story, Legalize It, Legislation

Colorado’s cannabis industry has been holding its collective breath ever since President Donald Trump nominated Jeff Sessions for attorney general. And since he was sworn in, Sessions, a proponent of the war on drugs, hasn’t been shy about saying that marijuana should remain illegal federally.

In a proactive move, on April 3 the governors of four states with recreational cannabis businesses up and running at the time — Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington — sent a letter to Sessions and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, urging that federal officials “engage with us before embarking on any changes to regulatory and enforcement systems.”

Dear USA Today: Marijuana Hasn’t Devastated Colorado

By Toke of the Town on August 10, 2017 Follow that story, Legalize It, Opinion, Say what?

Jeff Hunt, the vice president of public policy at Colorado Christian University, invited Westword and others to share his op-ed titled “Marijuana Devastated Colorado, Don’t Legalize It Nationally” earlier this week. Although we declined, USA Today obliged in spreading Hunt’s reefer-madness gospel on August 7. And Hunt’s piece — as well as the alleged facts, studies and sources he used to hammer home his point — elicited quite the response.

Ask a Stoner: How Do I Report a Shady Marijuana Employer?

By Toke of the Town on August 10, 2017 Cannabusiness, Dispensaries, Growing, Medical, Say what?

Dear Stoner: Those pictures of mites and mildew on plants at westword.com were disgusting. What are marijuana employees supposed to do when they see stuff like that by a shady employer?
Concerned

Why Colorado Tokers Love Blackberry Kush

By Toke of the Town on August 9, 2017 Cannabusiness, Culture, Dispensaries, Opinion, Products

As a self-appointed expert on underappreciated fruits, I feel confident saying that blackberries don’t get the love and attention they deserve. Blackberries are bigger than raspberries, sweeter than blueberries, and don’t require any pitting or spitting like cherries and strawberries. Get rid of açaí and add more blackberries to your life, America. Let’s make breakfast bowls great again.

Blackberry Kush has been largely overshadowed by the Blueberries and Grape Apes of the strain world, but it’s achieved a moderate shine in Denver, where I’ve found at least a dozen pot shops carrying it over the past year.

Ten Ways to Enhance Your Hike With Cannabis

By Toke of the Town on August 8, 2017 Culture, Opinion, Stoned Sports

Using cannabis to enhance your outdoor experience is a great way to reset your inner hard drive. We should feel lucky to live in Colorado, where we can escape into nature for therapy minutes outside of Denver. There’s something spiritual about summits, hikes along rivers or even lying in fields of wildflowers that makes the connection between human and earth feel rooted.

Ask a Stoner: Is There an Age Requirement to Buy CBD Products?

By Toke of the Town on August 8, 2017 Cannabusiness, CBD, Dispensaries, Hemp, Legalize It, Products

Dear Stoner: Does someone have to be eighteen to buy CBD products? What if they’re made from hemp? I see some in dispensaries and others in regular stores.
J.W.

Start Your Day With Pot-Infused, Chocolate-Covered Coffee Beans

By Toke of the Town on August 7, 2017 Cannabusiness, Products, Say what?, Stoner MacGyver

It takes some planning to combine your morning coffee break and a wake ‘n’ bake, two rituals widely practiced throughout the country that can produce widely opposite results. The folks at 1906, a cannabis-infused chocolatier based in Boulder, are ready to help you out with a new twist: You eat both your cannabis and your coffee.

Are Any Pre-Rolls Worth Your Money?

By Toke of the Town on August 6, 2017 Cannabusiness, Dispensaries, Opinion, Products

The first time I wrote about pre-rolled joints, I labeled them the hot dogs of the cannabis industry: “Cheap to make, easy to consume and extremely convenient – but do you really want to know what’s inside?” Most of the time, you don’t.

Over the past few months, though, shops have started to carry more pre-rolls — not from their own grows, but from wholesale companies dedicated to joints and little else. They may be more expensive than what you’re used to, but at least they’re full of whole flower and not leaves and snickelfritz buds.

Are they worth the money? I smoked them all to find out.

Colorado Governor Talks Jeff Sessions, Pot Industry and Opioids on Politico

By Toke of the Town on August 5, 2017 Legislation, Media, News, Opinion

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper can’t seem to give a national interview without legal cannabis grenades being hurled at him. As a result, he’s become a seasoned veteran on the topic.

During a Facebook Live interview with Politico’s Playbook Exchange in Denver on August 1, Hickenlooper talked about his efforts to connect with Denver suburbs and rural Colorado, health-care coverage, his brief brushes with President Donald Trump and, inevitability, pot.

Author Toke of the Town