Article by Bryan Jansing
While legislators, pro- and anti-pot advocates point at elevated, proposed and expected revenue numbers, there’s no doubt that the business of marijuana is on the up-and-up. And no other company exemplifies this better than My 420 Tours. While I waited to interview Jenny from My 420 Tours and stood outside of the Grand Plaza Hotel in downtown Denver, one of the few pot-friendly hotels in the state, two journalists from Sweden interviewed the passengers as they dismounted a Limobus. For the world watching, what is unraveling here in Colorado is, in the words of Governor Hickenlooper, “the great social experiment of the 21st century.”
“There’s a huge brainwash, you know, stigma,” said Paul from Atlanta. “There’s no way you could be a professional and smoke weed. We came out here to smoke legal marijuana.”
“Where I’m from,” Nick from Kentucky explained, “everybody smokes, but nobody talks about it. The tour is the best way to experience this new experience of legal marijuana. Where else or how else can you go into a grow facility?”
Jerrod from Memphis subscribes to travel alerts online. He was alerted to a $160 flight to Denver and googled marijuana tours. My 420 Tours popped up.
Nick, who does sales and marketing for My 420 Tours, came out on a tour last year and decided to move to Colorado to join in what he saw as a thriving industry. “I hadn’t talked to My 420 Tours, but eventually they let me into the family. It’s fun. You get to meet people from all over the country. The people in Colorado are already pretty chilled about it anyway.”
Part of the logistical nightmare for the state in pinpointing the amount of revenue that will be collected is that while predictions of sales of marijuana were made, many Coloradoans are still buying from their black market connections. In time, they believe, this will change. But 90% of the tourists at My 420 Tours are from out of state, 10% are from out of the country. In short, not many Coloradoans are taking these tours.
In Michigan a radio station is giving away tickets for an all-inclusive trip with My 420 Tours, which will include a hotel room at the Crown Plaza Hotel. Since smoking in rooms is not allowed, participants receive a vaporizer when they arrive and an edible as part of the welcome package. This is the respectful alternative because, though smoking is legal, it is illegal to smoke in public. One of the biggest issues faced by tourists is where to smoke legally, a problem that is working itself out independently, but still a legal quagmire.
The Tour
Cost: $168.75 after tax. So $150.00 is advertised. With a large full group it can be up to 200 people. Today there were only 16. Participants meet at the Crown Plaza Hotel on Friday night for a meet and greet and a rundown on laws. They are given coupons in their swag bag for places around town. On Saturday morning the bus leaves at 11:00 a.m. Everybody smokes and consumes and has fun; it’s a big party bus. It’s typical in the morning to have everyone wondering, looking at one another as if thinking, ‘is this for real’. The bus takes the tourists to Elluzion Glass Gallery where they learn the art of glass blowing and a little fact: the most expensive glass piece in Denver is $45,000. In Boulder a hand-blown glass ship is worth $60,000.
The bus then heads to Native Roots Apothecary. Through an agreement, they get VIP treatment, their own budtenders and special deals for the day.
Then it’s lunch time. By now participants are hungry, no doubt.
After lunch the bus heads to Medicine Man to see how a grow room works.
Every other Sunday, as part of the all-inclusive package, tourists take a cooking class at Ester Cooking School with Chef Blaine Alexander, founder of Conscious Confections. Chef Alexander teaches the tourists how to make edibles like a gluten-free trail mix and for Halloween THC popcorn balls. The tourists are served a meal when they get there, but it’s all about education.
Tour guides are very attentive how much is consumed. Most states don’t have anything close in strength to Colorado’s marijuana. Altitude is also a factor. They employ follow cars in case someone feels they’ve consumed too much. The car returns them to their room to sleep it off.
At the beginning of the tour they are given a consumption advisory advising to eat only 5mg, while the law allows 10mg since, they are aware, tourists will probably do more than recommended.
Tourists aren’t allowed to consume where not legal, they must comply with the laws and are given good knowledge of what is legal and what is not. This reflects My 420 Tours’ attitude of stepping forward as a professional company. They don’t want to be viewed as a bunch of stoners who just jumped on a bus one day.
“We are not a company that advises doing anything illegal,” explained Jenny.
The Future
Jenny envisions, with a little knowledge and a little education, when tourists return home they will tell their friends and spread the word that this is a legit company with their safety in mind. It seems the 21st century social experiment may be more than just about revenue numbers, but about a long underground culture coming into the light.
Any opinions expressed within this article are those of the author and not necessarily held by the New Era Group.
Like Us here on Facebook: