Wake and bake in these CO bud and breakfasts

» Because who doesn’t love getting stoned on vacation? We all do!

One of the best parts of taking a trip somewhere is the chance to relax and get away from the hustle and bustle of routine. As good citizens of the green state of Colorado, I think, or at least HOPE, we can all agree that one of the best ways to relax is by smoking doobies. That’s right, we’re taking a hard stance.

However, one of the bummers of staying somewhere other than your humble abode is that a lot of businesses don’t want you toking up in their establishments. Well friends, fear no more. The following are a few 420 friendly places to stay in southern and western Colorado should you find yourself needing respite from not only being on the road, but not being stoned.

Please, please, please remember to always ask about the property owner’s policy on smoking and vaping before lighting up.

Wilderness Bud and Breakfast

Location: Pagosa Springs, CO

If you’re a stoner on the road but you’re more about that camping out life than staying at a hotel, it’s time to find your way to Wilderness Bud and Breakfast. With some breathtaking mountain views, Wilderness Bud and Breakfast offers teepee and tent sites along the banks of the Rio Blanco. During your stay, you can enjoy amenities such as a continental breakfast, a 420 happy hour, and a campfire area you share with fellow campers. Cannabis use is permitted in the teepees and throughout the campground. The camping season for Wilderness Bud and Breakfast starts in mid-May and goes through September.

Ouray Main Street Inn

Location: Ouray, CO

If you’ve never ventured to the mountain haven that is Ouray, stop what you’re doing and immediately start driving there. Not only is this beautiful mountain town full of breweries, shops, and outdoor activities, but it has a 420 friendly inn! There are eight rooms, each with mountain views you’re looking for here in Colorado, and the inn is just one block from downtown Ouray. Find yourself in the Outlaw Room, Miner’s Cabin, Box Canyon Suite, or one of the other many rooms. Our only complaint is that the Mustang Room does not come with a mustang, neither in the horse or sports car variety. Pot smoking is allowed inside with a Smoke Buddy or a different air filter approved by inn staff. You can either bring your own Smoke Buddy, or you can purchase/borrow one from the inn.

Amazon Acres on the River

Location: Durango, CO

This two-bedroom cottage exists on a 10-acre farm outside of Durango. Not only do the owners grow cannabis, but they raise friggin’ kunekune pigs (if you don’t know what those are, please Google immediately.). The property is also equipped with a private backyard and access to a five-acre riverfront park. The owners of this bud and breakfast ask that you please only smoke or vape outside the house and to not feed their animals, no matter how cute they may be.

Celestial Rose Bed + Breakfast

Location: Grand Junction

Celestial Rose in Grand Junction is all about making sure your 420 friendly accomodations are top-notch and isn’t afraid to let you know. We gotta say - this might be one of the prettiest houses we’ve laid eyes on, 420 friendly or otherwise. This gorgeous historic property is a far cry from what comes to mind when you think of 420 friendly accommodations. Classy and dreamy, the property is a mere 10-20 minute drive to a few local dispensaries. Guests can choose between two rooms, the Luna or the Apollo room. Not to worry though, both are equipped with breathtaking views.

DGO Staff

Get educated about ganja with these weedy higher education options

» Who needs physics when you can study the science of weed instead?

With the cannabis industry expanding and becoming more complex by the day, it’s important that those going into the field be fully knowledgeable of its full breadth. After all, it is the fastest growing industry in the U.S., according to Markets Insider.

Thankfully, there are some institutions of higher learning that are getting in real deep on the business of bud. Like, so deep. So very deep.

And, given that so many of us are rethinking how we work, live, and play, this could be a great time to carve out a new career path in good old cannabis. Here are two options for expanding your mind and learning more about cannabis.

Conquer the field of cannabis control with a graduate certificate program from Excelsior

College

Excelsior College, a regionally accredited, not-for-profit online college, offers a virtual graduate certificate program in cannabis control—which you can enroll in to further your career or just learn a heck of a lot more about cannabis. (Or maybe even become a weed professor. Is that a thing? If so, we want in.)

What is a cannabis control program, you ask? Glad you asked! This threecourse, nine-credit certificate offers an educational opportunity to people currently working or looking to work in the cannabis industry.

Excelsior’s certificate program educates students on the “opportunities, challenges, and complexities of the cannabis industry and its accompanying regulations.” Students will learn the impact of cannabis legalization on a local, state, and national level.

Instructors hope to prepare students to eventually dialogue and work with policymakers, industry leaders, proprietors, etc as far as the cannabis market is considered.

Before jumping in, here are a few things you should know about the program:

The program is 100% online.

The three courses include:

— Implications of Legalization of Cannabis: Policy and Compliance

— Interstate/International Commerce: Policy and Regulatory Environment

— Risk Assessment in Cannabis Control

Admission to Excelsior’s cannabis control certificate program requires students to have a bachelor’s degree.

This graduate-level certificate program takes an interdisciplinary approach and can be taken alone for college credit and career advancement or applied toward four of Excelsior College’s master’s degree programs.

“The more we talk to experts and leaders in the industry, the more we are hearing about the need for education and training in this dynamic and rapidlyevolving regulatory space. Despite projections of continued growth, regionally-accredited universities and colleges have been relatively slow to respond with educational offerings,” Scott Dolan, dean of graduate studies at Excelsior College, told Benzinga. “For us, this program is naturally aligned with our disciplinary expertise in business, public health, criminal justice, and public administration.”

Get yo’ weed degree on with the Cannabis Training University

For those of you still teetering on the fence of what you’d like to do with your life, if going back to school is an option for you, well, now there’s weed university. Well...to be more exact there’s Cannabis Training University.

According to Westword, the school’s training is now offered at two and four-year universities across the United States. The expansion of the program is due to the quickly growing cannabis industry.

“We saw there was going to be a need in education in colleges where the cannabis-industry education can also be included,” CTU CEO Jeff Zorn said to Westword. “Students sign up because they usually want to be involved in the industry after college, whether it’s to be an assistant grower or start their own business in areas like CBD or edibles.”

If you do find yourself signing up for CTU classes, you can take six classes all geared toward the green (that’s cannabis for those of you who didn’t get it). You’ll learn about the industry from a holistic standpoint, from opening a dispensary to growing your own plants. Once you pass, you will be officially certified in various parts of the industry.

Zorn started CTU ten years ago after he suffered a traumatic brain injury. He began using medical marijuana to help him cope and decided he wanted to be part of the education aspect of the cannabis industry. CTU has enrolled 30,000 students, Zorn told Westword.

“We have a lot of people interested, whether it’s students wanting to be in the industry, people interested for their own personal reasons, or health-care professionals looking for further knowledge,” Zorn said. “Our job is to just put everything together for students and have colleges offer it for them.”

Amanda Push