Author Toke of the Town

Dear Stoner: While driving along Speer Boulevard, I’ve seen ads for Weedmaps on the digital billboards outside the Colorado Convention Center and the Denver Performing Arts Complex. I know recreational marijuana is legal in Denver, but can the city itself accept ads for marijuana?
Bill Bored

Dear BB: We almost crashed our car when we spotted those Weedmaps messages, which were certainly a surprise considering the things you usually see advertised on those billboards: ballets, symphonies, touring Broadway shows. So we reached out to Brian Kitts, director of marketing and communications for Denver Arts &Venues. “Up to 20 percent of the digital LED signage at DPAC and the CCC always has been required for promotion of upcoming events, the Denver Theatre District and resident companies,” he says via e-mail. “The remaining time is available for sale as ad space, Visit Denver conventions, in-house promo for Red Rocks, etc.”

When you walk into a dispensary and ask a budtender to recommend a strain, you’re basically asking this: “What is your strongest?” Although the recommended strains will vary from shop to shop, many budtenders will pull out their version of the THC titan known as Ghost Train Haze.

Ghost Train Haze is available in a few phenotypes; as with Gorilla Glue, each of them is numbered. Ghost Train Haze #1 is by far the most popular in Denver, and many dispensaries have dropped the “#1” altogether. A true hometown success story, Ghost Train Haze #1 was bred by Denver-based Rare Dankness from Ghost OG and Nevil’s Wreck (another Rare Dankness strain) genetics. The sativa-dominant hybrid won awards at the High Times Cannabis Cup in 2012 and again in 2014, and is a regular on lists of the world’s most potent strains.

In this essay, retired Judge Mary Celeste (bio below) responds to the Trump administration’s comments on marijuana and opioids:

This past week saw two indications that the Trump administration is uneducated and clueless about drugs in this country. Its first irresponsible action is the potential halting of federal drug-control efforts. According to the New York Times, the White House is potentially eliminating the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy, which coordinates federal efforts to reduce drug use and drug trafficking. “The ONDCP’s website was ‘wiped clean’ when President Trump took office and it has not been replaced,” the paper reported.

Dear Stoner: Can I have a party in my business’s parking lot where people can smoke pot if the area is private?
Hopeful

Dear Hopeful: Yes, but there are some very important guidelines you must follow in order to keep a legal party from turning into an illegal drug ring:

Dear Stoner: I’m on probation for a DWAI from drinking beer. I’m worried that if I test positive for THC, I will lose my probation. I’m an MMJ patient and have been using it for stress-related issues instead of Xanax. I don’t get high and drive; I just need it sometimes at home. Do they really think it’s better to have me on the road zoned out on Xanax?
Gilly

Dear Gilly: They don’t want drivers zoned out on anything, whether it’s beer, cannabis or prescription drugs — and I think most of us agree with that. And, no, I don’t think law enforcement prefers that drivers be on Xanax behind the wheel, but it’s easier for probation officers to test for THC, which stays in your system longer, than for alcohol or prescription drugs. As a medical-marijuana patient who happens to be on probation for drinking and driving, you should know that.

I know old-timers will cringe when reading this, but I was introduced to Pineapple Express as a movie, not a strain (that’s how young I am). Not one to buy into commercial hype, I stayed away from the strain in my early years of toking, always thinking it was a ploy to sell some less-than-stellar herb. But nearly nine years after the stoner-action flick came out, I thought it was safe to give it a try.

The amount of Pineapple Express on the market has definitely died down since the movie’s release, so I feel more comfortable about its authenticity today. The strain carries an impressive lineage of Hawaiian and Trainwreck strains deserving of recognition, with or without Seth Rogen. Its heavy, dense buds may make users think it’s an indica, but its classic genetics and racy high are anything but. As the name implies, hints of pineapple are present in the strain’s smell and flavor, but bad growing practices and poor curing methods can rob it of both. Still, the strain’s resilient nature against pests and temperature fluctuation makes it a popular clone choice for home-growers, and its high THC content can make it as rewarding as it is easy in the grow.

Dear Stoner: I’m confused about the plant count for cannabis home grows in Denver. Are they different from the State of Colorado’s limits?
Pat S.

Dear Pat: Many towns and municipalities throughout Colorado, including Denver, have plant limits that differ from the state’s. For a definitive answer on Denver, I reached out to Dan Rowland, citywide communications advisor for Denver’s Office of Marijuana Policy, who says this: “The answer is yes, they are different and can vary from city to city. In Denver, adults may grow up to six plants, but it is illegal for there to be more than twelve plants in any residence, regardless of how many people live there and regardless of their medical patient/caregiver status and/or individual plant-count allowances. For growing in non-residential-zone lots (and not in licensed cultivation businesses), adults may grow up to six plants, but it’s illegal to have more than 36 plants per zone lot, regardless of how many people are growing there.”