The narks of the social media have reared their ugly heads and set their crossed-eyed sights on purging Americans’ newsfeeds of vital information regarding the medicinal properties of marijuana. To be more specific, there is some meathead Ivy Leaguer who considers himself an “Internet Deputy,” fighting from behind his computer to shutdown an established Facebook group dedicated to spreading the good word of patients medicating with cannabis oil.
About six months ago, a Reddit user posted a photo of a sign pretending to peddle fake CBD-infused firewood. The Internet reacted as you’d expect, shaking a collective fist and rabble-rousing over something that was clearly intended as funny commentary concerning exactly what the Reddit readers thought they were mad about: CBD is being used and abused.
Colorado’s cannabis community was surprised when iBake Denver, one of the state’s longest-running consumption clubs, announced that it would close at the end of the year because it would not be ready to comply with a new state law that licenses social pot use. Open since 2013, the club started as an Internet radio show hosted by Thurlow “T.L.” Weed, but slowly transformed into a cannabis club under Weed and his wife, LittleTree Oppy, whom he met when she was a weekly caller to his radio show.
This cauliflower mania is starting to freak me out. As if bastardizing mashed potatoes weren’t enough, now they’re trying to take down pizza crusts. We’re not saving animals by sacrificing taste, people.
If you didn’t like Scooby-Doo when you were growing up, you’re probably not a dog person now. And I don’t trust people who don’t like dogs. Ergo, if you didn’t watch the show, you’re not allowed in my house. Not that I ask people before they visit or anything; that’d be weird. But if I find out? Peace.
Toke of the Town is joining forces with one of the Internet’s best cannabis guides to give consumers and marijuana businesses greater access to a national platform of online resources.
Toke’s parent company, Voice Media Group, owns and operates the cutting-edge digital advertising agency V Digital Services and publishes an array of iconic print newspapers and websites, including Phoenix New Times, Denver Westword and Miami New Times. In 2017, V Digital Services posted 40 percent year-over-year growth and was named to Inc. Magazine’s list of the 5,000 fastest-growing companies in the U.S.
Our new partners at Herban Planet publish one of the most comprehensive online cannabis guides, offering a one-stop ecosystem for cannabis producers, business owners, consumers, medical professionals, patients, caregivers and activists. Now Herban Planet’s content will be available directly from Toke of the Town – see the nifty link at the righthand side of our top navigation bar. We’ll also be linking to Herban Planet from from the websites of VMG’s core branded properties, putting a vast nationwide marijuana database at our readers’ fingertips.
VMG chief executive officer Scott Tobias notes that VMG and Herban Planet are already leaders in providing readers, consumers and businesspeople with information about the cannabis industry. And thanks to its decades of doing business in major markets across the country, VMG brings something else to the mix: Hundreds of long-established relationships with business owners, dispensary owners, cultivators and leading figures in the industry. Those carefully nurtured local, regional and national relationships should accelerate growth of Herban Planet’s market share.
Denver Westword was the first publication in the country to hire a marijuana reporter and is known for its expert coverage of the industry. And V Digital Services has long specialized in helping marijuana businesses maximize their digital footprint through its work with Marijuana Marketing Xperts.
As a division of VDS, industry-leading MMX has the advantage of focusing solely on marketing for the marijuana industry and helping business owners in the rapidly growing field devise smart digital strategies designed to increase web and mobile presence, generate leads to expand their customer base, and navigate a maze of legal restrictions and regulations. Equally unique is its programmatic advertising network for cannabis, a pioneering technology specially engineered to engage audiences interested in medical and recreational marijuana.
Combining Herban Planet’s thriving web platform with VMG’s technology, marketing and media muscle is the goal of the new partnership, says Tobias. “Joining with Herban Planet to help grow a national marijuana platform made perfect sense,” he adds. “We are very excited about this partnership.”
Herban Planet founder and chief executive officer Babak Motamedi says he’s also excited about the synergies made possible by the partnership. VDS marketing services will now be available to Herban Planet customers at preferred prices, and the companies will also continue to explore additional content-sharing opportunities on their websites.
“People in the industry have a choice between platforms,” says Motamedi. “Now Herban Planet will be powered by a multi-market media company, so obviously we will have broader reach. We think we can really change the industry, both in terms of connectivity and bringing it more mainstream.”
Shopping for retail marijuana in Denver is like time-traveling both into the future and back to the past. You can buy products here that aren’t available anywhere else in the world, and that includes on the Internet. Unlike clothes, electronics, books and even groceries, you can’t order cannabis delivered to your door in Colorado (although legal states Nevada and Oregon allow it, our state currently bans that option). And while the consistency of infused products’ effects has greatly improved since required potency and homogeneity tests began, it’s just as hard to keep up with cannabis trends today as it was when this all began in January 2014.
Newer, stronger forms of concentrates, more refined edibles brands and innovative infusion techniques are improving at a rate that’s tough for industry insiders to track, much less the average consumer. Just when you think you’ve figured out live resin and pressed rosin, distillate and isolate show up. Think lotions, patches and balms are the only topicals out there? Think again. These days, picking out the right product can feel more like spinning a roulette wheel of pre-filled vaporizers and CBD/THC mixtures than making an educated choice. To help you catch up, we’ve picked out our favorite cannabis products for the season, choosing edibles, drinks, concentrates and accessories that go exceptionally with hoodie weather and pumpkin-patch vibes.
Remember dial-up Internet? I can still hear that scratching beep on the phone line. Cable and DSL made life a little easier and porn a little clearer, but wi-fi made that era look like the Stone Age. Wireless Internet has been a game-changer: sharing information, bar debates, family dinners — it’ll never be the same. White Fire OG Kush, known as WiFi OG for short, came around in the early 2000s, about the same time I got rid of my ethernet cord. It didn’t change the world like Facebooking on your phone at Starbucks has, but it’s made a mark on dispensaries all the same.
Is smoking pot a guaranteed religious freedom?
Excerpted from the newsletter WeedWeek. Get your free and confidential subscription at WeedWeek.net.
The activist known as New Jersey Weedman will be able to argue in court that raids on his Trenton, N.J. “cannabis temple” violate his religious freedom.
Kayvan Khalatbari, a prominent activist and businessman in Denver, discussed the industry’s lack of diversity with Vice.
Sports Illustrated travels to Humboldt to ask about the industry’s impact on high school and college sports there. “There are probably no other public schools in the world that have ever offered clipping trays — trays for clipping marijuana on — as part of their auction for the PTA fair,” local journalist Kym Kemp says.
NFL running back turned cannabis investor Ricky Williams is the subject of a new Sports Illustrated documentary. He estimates that 70 percent of NFL players smoke marijuana.
Harper’s Bazaar visits the annual Spirit Weavers Gathering, a getaway for New Age-inclined women, that the article calls “the world’s chicest cult.” There, author Marisa Meltzer hears of a California pot farm that has fertilized the plant with menstrual blood for two generations.
A Canadian known as Marijuana Man makes $78,000 a year getting high on Youtube. He told an interviewer that he’s had internet “since 1984.”
There’s a crowdfunding campaign to bring “industrial hemp building and farming ambassador” Klara Marosszeky to California for a visit. She’s based in Australia.
Wired visits high-end edibles maker Défoncé Chocolatier. (Défoncé means ‘wasted’.)
“The Summer Fair,” a festival in Portland this month, will have free pot giveaways.
Netflix will make “Disjointed,” a weed sitcom starring Kathy Bates.
The Reductress recommends “ Healthy Snacks To Balance Out All The Junk You’ll Devour When You’re High Tonight.”
Home gardening in Washington D.C. just got a lot more fun.
The following is excerpted from the newsletter WeedWeek. Get your free and confidential subscription at WeedWeek.net.
Washington D.C. consultant Natalie Carver has started a business assisting home growers. “She rolls her joints with rosemary, lavender, and mullein, a bronchial dilator used by Native Americans in spiritual ceremonies.”
A rabbi and an African-American pastor are among the parties competing for grow licenses in Maryland.
The German bestseller “ High Hitler: Drugs in the Third Reich,” is being translated into English.
Product Earth Expo, the U.K.’s largest cannabis convention, took place for the second time. An Australian man called the cops on his father for burning his crop.
There has been a resurgence of the red cannabis associated with Calabria, the rugged “toe” of Italy. In another piece, Leafly’s Enrico Fletzer asks if legalization is coming to Naples, where organized crime controls the market. Fletzer also calls Bologna the “ Hemp capital of Europe.”
Rival pro-legalization groups had an altercation outside the Vancouver Art Gallery. An organizer with Cannabis Culture said he was attacked by someone wielding a yoga mat. I’m just juvenile enough to mention that western Canada’s premiere art museum is known as “ the VAG.”
Washington D.C. consultant Natalie Carver has started a business assisting home growers. “She rolls her joints with rosemary, lavender, and mullein, a bronchial dilator used by Native Americans in spiritual ceremonies.”
Contrary to internet rumors, doughnut chain Tim Hortons will not start selling pot next year.
The video game Hemp Inc. resembles Farmville, with one predictable difference. Vice also interviews some female dealers.
The new 419.99 mile markers on Interstate 70 in Colorado, do not get stolen as often as their 420 mile predecessors.
Olympics-branded weed is available in Rio.