Munkeying Around In Sin City: Happy Munkey Smokes Las Vegas

By: David Hernandez

This past December the Happy Munkey Team traveled to the oasis of the Nevada desert that is Las Vegas and ended 2020 with a cannabis-filled bang! The irony of Las Vegas is that while there are over 50 dispensaries within a couple minute drive of “The Strip”, as a tourist there are 0 places to legally burn one. All the hotels on the Las Vegas Strip strictly prohibit cannabis consumption in all forms (Not just smoking). And to take it one step further, while you can literally buy a margarita in 6 foot tall glass and drink it on the street, public cannabis consumption is illegal. Luckily the Munkey crew are big believers in “No guts, No Glory”, so best believe I was serving solventless PuffoCo Pro hits everywhere we went! In addition to multiple trips to the hotel lobby to smoke Js and blunts in the outdoor “tobacco only” smoking section.

This was my 9th time in Vegas, but this time was wildly different then ever before. Covid-19 did a number on Las Vegas and had the city running on 10% of its normal self. The last few years my December visits to Vegas were powered by the cannabis industry flocking to MJBiz Con. But with the entire expo circuit across all industries disrupted by the virus, Vegas was eerily empty. Walking around I felt I was playing a real life Dead Rising 2 (minus the zombies) with how empty the usually bustling casino floors were. Walking around the casino floor of the MGM where we stayed it was surreal to see everyone playing table games wearing masks and separated by plexiglass barriers. Continuing the trend of a foriegn feeling Vegas, while indoor dining was open, restaurants and bars strictly enforced a “4 person per table” Covid restriction. Making traveling around The Strip with a party of 5 complicated at times.

While restaurants were a hassle to comfortably sit the entire Munkey Crew, one place that welcomed us with open arms was the Redwood Cultivation Center! We took a tour of The Redwood facility and without a doubt they standard for modern cannabis growing. With their innovative and advanced automated technology, they can really dig into the sensitive details that it takes to properly grow high quality Cannabis. The president of the company was so hospitable & professional. The Head Grower of the facility was so passionate & knowledgeable about Cannabis you could tell he looks forward to coming to work everyday. Most importantly their flower was top shelf level quality and it is clear why Cookies chose them to partner with in Las Vegas. Farming growing technique for its microorganism filled rich soils. This method allows the cultivators to work with the surrounding environment to build up the local ecosystem, as opposed to trying to force their own ecosystem onto the plants. Skipping over a lot of heady grower talk I’m not qualified to speak on, in short the Fluer Cannabis team grew some Happy Fucking Plants!

Our last stop on our Las Vegas “Cannadventure” was Planet 13, the world’s largest dispensary, for a facility tour. As we pulled up the in and out traffic looked like an airport. Even though the rest of the city was running at half speed, Covid didn’t look to impact Planet 13’s traffic one bit! This 24-hour dispensary on an average day sees 6,000 customers a day, with customers spending close to $150 each purchase. The dispensary portion of the campus is a large retail floor containing every which way you could consume cannabis, with heavy Apple Store vibes, sporting over 40 budtenders buzzing around dealing with customers. In addition to the retail space Planet 13 features a few different pieces not in your average dispensary. For starters the Planet 13 facility is fully licensed for cultivation, retail distribution, manufacturing, and soon consumption, allowing them to adapt to the rapidly growing Nevada marketplace, and be a home for 7 different cannabis brands. Not to mention they also have a restaurant and bar for patrons to enjoy artisanal foods and curated cocktails. But after gawking at all the bells and whistles Planet 13 had to show us, we picked out some smoke and took our bag of goodies on a trip off The Strip to Red Rocks Canyon National Park to catch the sunset and check schmoking in the middle of the desert off our Vegas checklist.

Now as you all know when the Munkey Crew travels we always manage to mix in some fun with the business. This trip we had the pleasure of celebrating the legendary Tru’s birthday all week long! We set the festivities off at Tru’s Shade 45 Studio off The Strip. Where DJ Godfather, the Detroit & Ghettotech Legend, and DJ Deville, the #1 Remix DJ was casually spinning all night long! The party that week didn’t stop there but somethings gotta stay in Sin City! All in all I want to shout out The Chief Rocker Busy Bee, Flavor Flav, DJ Godfather, DJ Deville, and I want to give a huge shout out to Tru & Domo for always holding us down when we are in Vegas! They absolutely know how to party and are truly Happy Munkey Fam for life!

On my last day we took it easy recovering from a whole week in the desert. However with my bags already packed we got invited to an underground sesh held in an emptied out Hookah Lounge in Nevada Strip mall. With an opportunity too up my alley to say no to, I did some last minute shopping. Not having to worry about the Nevada state taxes I splurged a little on the terperiest live resin diamonds I saw all trip! Warry of the crazy amount CRC’d concentrates I saw at the sesh, I circled the room until I found the premium terpy golden goodness I am used to! Once I got my diamonds, I left the sesh and To cap off my time on the West Coast, we called an uber to In & Out Burger. On an Animal-Style filled stomach we then got our bags and jetted off to the airport to catch our flight back home.