Sensi Magazine - Denver/Boulder (December 2017) by Sensi Magazine

DE N V E R // B OULDER

THE NEW NORMAL

12.2017

HOLY

S P E C IA L R EP O R T

smokes lifted THE

spiritual side

OF GET TING

expert

ADVICE

Throwing a Brilliant Elevated Gathering

Histor y Lesson

H U M A N S GE T T ING HIGH

{PLUS}

Holiday Traditions with a Twist + Tips to Help You Be Highly Productive During the Holidays

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ISSUE 12 // VOLUME 2 // 12.2017

FEATURES 60

S P EC I A L R E P O R T

Holy Smokes

Cannabis and spirituality: For many, elevation leads to enlightenment.

Elevated Senses

Humans Getting High

Gerry Leary brews great coffee despite never having seen a bean. Cannabis has delighted and inspired humans since prehistoric times. We should celebrate that.

every issue 11 Editor’s Note 14 SensiBuzz 22 NewsFeed

THE DISSENTERS

30 CrossRoads

HIGHLY PRODUCTIVE

36 EdibleCritic

TASTY TRADITIONS

42 LifeStyle

PARTY LIKE ROCK STARS

100 SensiScene

SENSI NIGHT NOVEMBER

104 SoCO

CRESTED BUTTE SANTA SKI

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sensi magazine ISSUE 12 VOLUME 2 12.2017

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HOLIDAY T R A DI T I ONS

editor’s

NOTE

For our holiday issue this year, we focused on inspiration—both the

inspired and the inspiring. As our contributor Robyn Griggs Lawrence notes in the “Humans Getting High” feature, “Cannabis induces merriment, creativity, and divine inspiration. It gets us high. It helps us have fun.” This issue includes articles that explore all of those notions. For the merriment connection, check out the article in our new LifeStyle department titled “Party Like Rockstars.” It includes expert advice and speciﬁc tips about how to properly throw an elevated dinner party —one where “everyone blossoms, blissed and blessed,” as the author describes the crescendo of successful cannabis-paired dinner parties.

effects of the plant have been incorporated into religious ceremonies for at least 5,500 years, and as the age of prohibition comes to a slow end across the country, more and more people are beginning to incorporate the plant into their personal spiritual journeys in formalized settings such as the

For the divine inspiration side of things, the “Holy Smokes” cover feature offers an in-depth exploration into the connection between cannabis and spirituality. The mind-opening, sense-enhancing

International Church of Cannabis here in Denver, where guided meditations and yoga classes incorporate ritualistic cannabis use. Seems to me like a great place to start some new holiday traditions this year. Speaking of holiday traditions, our dining editor put together a rundown of ways to experience various international festivities across the Front Range. Plus we’ve got info on all sorts of ways you can take advantage of all Colorado has to offer in December. Now get out there and celebrate.

Stephanie Wilson E D I TOR I N C H IE F @ STEPHWILLL

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M E DI A PA RT N E RS National Cannabis Industry Association Students for Sensible Drug Policy Women Grow sensimag.com DECEMBER 2017 11

12 Denver //Boulder DEC EMBER 2017

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THE NE W N O R M A L

sensi

buzz

Get Lifted for $6.50 for

SNOWMASS 50th ANNI V ERSARY

In 1967, the average American made about $7,300. Gas cost 33 cents a gallon, a movie pass was $1.25, and a lift ticket to the brand-spanking-new Snowmass Ski Area near Aspen, Colorado, cost $6.50. In 2017, a one-day lift ticket to Aspen Snowmass runs $155 per person. Except on December 15. On that auspicious day, Aspen Snowmass marks the 50th anniversary of its opening day by throwing its prices all the way back to the beginning. For one day only, a Snowmass lift ticket is the same price it was when the ﬁrst chair went up in 1967: $6.50. And just like 1967, you can't buy the ticket online, only at the resort. Spend some of the money you save getting on the mountain at select spots around the resort participating in the ANNIVERSARY DINE AROUND with special themed menus for $19.67 or $50. Tip: check out Grain Fine Food's sophisticated HIGH TEA TODAY featuring CBD-infused beverages, then head to Base Camp for the CHAMPAGNE TOAST at 3 p.m. Later, take the gondola up to ELK CAMP RETRO PARTY and party like its 1967 until ﬁreworks light the sky over Fanny Hill. GOSNOWMASS.COM

The Improbables Rule The people who brought us Golden Girls have joined forces with the illustrator of Super Golden Friends and created a new gang of elders for audiences to love. The Improbables is an animated graphic novel featuring five aging superheroes whose best defenders-of-justice days are probably behind them. Along with fighting contemporary crime, they now have to deal with their own bum knees and memory loss. Finally, a group of superheroes I can relate to. You, too, can enjoy the twisted tales of life catching up to superpowers by downloading “Saving Las Vegas,” an ebook filled with an irreverent blend of comic-book sass, video, and dialogue or by watching the episodes online at THEIMPROBABLES.TV. – LEL AND RUCKER 14 Denver //Boulder DEC EMBER 2017

LEL AND’S

SENSIBILITIES

Sensi Senior Editor LEL AND RUCKER on Common Sense Colorado. COMING BACK FROM A VACATION THIS FALL, TRAVERSING T HE THREE-HUNDRED MILE SWATH OF INTERSTATE 80 BET WEEN LINCOLN AND OGALLAL A , NEBRASKA, I BEGAN TO LONG FOR THE ROAD -SIDE SIGN THAT WELCOMES US BACK HOME : WELCOME TO COLORFUL COLORADO. Though I had enjoyed cannabis with my friends in Nebraska and Kansas, doing so was still illegal in both states. The product might not be what we’re used to around here (unless you count the fellow who said he had Colorado

FOR AN EYE

DAVID L AGERCRANTZ //ALFRED KNOPF

She’s back. Lisbeth Salander has proven such a durable character that she has survived, besides being buried alive by her own family and tortured during adolescence, even her original author, who died soon after he handed in the first three books. David Lagercrantz’s The Girl Who Takes an Eye For an Eye is now his second, the fifth in Steig Larsson’s Millennium Series, and it brings back Salander and journalist Mikael Blomkvist, chief inspector Jan Bublan-

adults in both states. In Kansas, getting caught with cannabis is a misdemeanor punishable by six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. (On the positive side, I found a recently opened store in Manhattan that legally sells vaporizers and CBD oil to fill them.) In Nebraska, a first offense for possession of one ounce or less is an infraction, but after that, it’s a misdemeanor with rising costs as the number of offenses mounts, with the third being seven days in the poky and a $500 fine. While laudable if you’re viewing it from the perspective of, say, 1950, this is just beyond silly. As we turned down onto I-76 south on our way back to town, I thought of the stories of Nebraska troopers trying to catch their own citizens com-

In Kansas, getting caught with cannabis is a misdemeanor punishable by six months in jail and a $ 1,000 fine.

ski and the Hacker Republic to burrow into yet another miserable aspect of her youth, in this case being separated from her twin sister Camilla for a eugenics experiment run by (who else?) manipulative maniac psychiatrists. Salander faces more time in prison, a sinister Keris knife from a vengeful inmate and the murder of her mentor before finally coming face-to-face with the woman who helped rob her of her childhood.

THE GIRL WHO TAKES AN EYE

weed), but despite the criminality, there is, of course, a signiﬁcant market of

ing back from Julesburg, which is midway between I-80 and I-76, with a purchase that is classiﬁed a misdemeanor. Instead of not worrying about such minor infractions, the state of Nebraska ﬁled a lawsuit, joined by Oklahoma, complaining that Colorado legalization was making it harder for them to stop citizens from using cannabis. That suit was dismissed by judges who apparently could see that the state would be better off looking at its own approach to crime rather than blaming Colorado. Hopefully by now the state has decided it isn’t worth wasting resources on such folly. Suddenly there’s the sign just north of Julesburg. I could have sworn it read: Welcome to Common Sense Colorado.

– LR

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THE NE W N O R M A L

sensi

buzz

The Geminid

METEOR SHOWER Making its circuit roughly every year and a half, the Geminid Meteor Shower will swing around once again this month. Although most meteor showers follow orbiting comets, the Geminid follows the 3200 Phaethon asteroid, a giant chunk of rock tumbling through space. Beginning December 4 and ending sometime around December 16, the Geminid Meteor Shower will transform the night sky into a canvas of dazzling white streaks cutting across the heavenly spheres. The peak time to catch the shower should fall on the night of the 13th, when a waning crescent moon gives way to darker skies. Unlike the great total eclipse months ago, the Geminid Meteor Shower can be seen from anywhere on the earth. Your best bet, however, is to face south to catch the highest density of descending sparks. Dress warm, pack a snack, and fish out your list of wishes for this stellar interstellar event.

WISH UPON

A MILLION

FALLING

STARS

16 Denver //Boulder DEC EMBER 2017

Meta!

Seven years ago, three BRECKENRIDGE locals created the town’s first dedicated yoga studio, named it Meta, and declared its mission to be an “om away from home.” From the Ridge Street studio, yogis draw inspiration from the sweeping views of the peaks of Ten Mile Range and the white slopes of Breckenridge Ski Resort. It turns out the physical demands of a yoga practice can only enhance your time on those snow-covered trails. To be successful at skiing (or really any winter sport that involves trying to move gracefully on a slick surface), you have to learn to trust your body. You have to keep your balance as you move through various maneuvers, tightening and releasing specific muscles as needed. Keeping a tight core and low center of gravity helps—something you learn the first time you attempt to move into the Warrior Three pose. You have to stay calm in the face of physical challenges. You have to be comfortable in silence while maintaining control of your thoughts, your breathing. A yoga practice teaches you all of these things—and it reminds you to appreciate the beauty of your surroundings even when you’re struggling. Such as when you’re struggling to catch your breath at the top of the mountain where the air is cold and thin. While you can reap the benefits of practicing yoga in any location, Meta’s views are an added bonus. This month, the studio is celebrating its seventh anniversary with a series of special events and classes. For more details and to view the schedule, head to .

METAYOGASTUDIOS.COM

YOGA STUDIO CELEBRATES

SEVEN YEARS OF YOGA IN BRECK

WITH FREE CLASSES, AN INTENTION CEREMONY, AND SPECIAL EVENTS

sensimag.com DECEMBER 2017 17

THE NE W N O R M A L

sensi

buzz

Durango’ss Durango

weekend of

DEBAUCHERY

The weekend of December 16 and 17 brings two hilarious shows to Durango. The first is “JAY AND SILENT BOB GET OLD,” a storytelling session hosted by comedians Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes. After nearly two decades of churning out hit films like Clerks, Chasing Amy, Mallrats, Dogma, and—of course—Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, the two auteurs are coming to Colorado to share their insights and memories regarding some of America’s most insanely funny (and offensive) on-screen tales. Although Kevin Smith makes regular appearances in Colorado, Jason Mewes is a bit more reclusive these days, so catch him when you can.

While you’re in Durango, you might as well stick around another day to catch “THE NUT TY NUTCRACKER,” a humorous spin on the old Nutcracker musical, told entirely from the perspective of Fritz. Both events will take place at the Community Concert Hall. If you don’t already have plans to visit Durango, trust us: it’s worth the trip.

DURANGOCONCERTS.COM 18 Denver //Boulder DEC EMBER 2017

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{newsfeed} by L EL AND RUCKER

FEAR AND LOATHING AT A C ANNABIS SYMPOSIUM A cogent reminder that not everyone in Colorado supports cannabis legalization. Supporters of Amendment 64—the ballot measure

policy at the university, and a panel chaired by Dr. Ken

that legalized cannabis for adult use in Colorado—have

Finn on medical marijuana and pain, there was nothing

proudly proclaimed that it was approved in 2012 by

positive said during more than seven hours of speeches

1,291,771 citizens, or 54.8 percent of all Colorado vot-

and discussions. If you knew nothing about cannabis

ers—myself included. Recent surveys suggest that at

before attending, you could come away from the event

least some who voted against the measure have softened

with the idea that legal marijuana, as Hunt lamented in

their opposition after seeing almost four years of legal-

a recent editorial published by USA Today, has “devas-

ization in action, but there are still many people who vot-

tated” the state and its citizenry.

ed against it in 2012 who still adamantly oppose our law.

Sabet’s talk echoed SAM’s current bullet points: The

I found some of those people at a day-long sympo-

cannabis industry is today’s Big Tobacco, a business behe-

sium titled “Marijuana’s True Impact on Colorado” held in

moth out to “hook” minorities and children to its addic-

early October at Colorado Christian University in Lake-

tive products. Cannabis is a gateway to opioid addiction,

wood. The lineup featured various speakers, including

he said, and the industry “lies, lies, lies about everything.”

a keynote from vocal crusader Dr. Kevin Sabet, head of

I could almost see Joe Camel looming in the background

Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), the best-known

as he spoke.

anti-legalization lobbying organization in the country.

Dr. David Murray followed with a PowerPoint presen-

Panels were convened all day discussing the amend-

tation, “Marijuana Nation: The Mounting Damage,” which

ment’s impacts on education, children, minorities, public-

lived up to its title. Murray, a senior fellow at the Hudson

health, medical marijuana efficacy, and homelessness.

Institute & Center for Substance Abuse Policy Research,

All that was missing were any kind words about can-

clearly feels that all marijuana use is abuse, users should

nabis legalization or any real balance in opinions given

be in drug programs, and the state is heading toward a

in the speeches and panels. Beyond a spirited debate

public-health catastrophe within the next decade.

at the end of the day between pro-cannabis attorney

There was more. Those “15,000 jobs” the newly legal

Robert Corry and Jeff Hunt, vice president of public

industry has created (the actual estimate of new jobs

22 Denver //Boulder DEC EMBER 2017

sensimag.com DECEMBER 2017 23

reported in 2016 is higher than that) are “mostly minimum wage,” Hunt pooh poohed during the debate. The $200-plus million dollars in taxes per year? Pot proponents promised it would solve the state’s budgetary problems, he claimed (falsely), and the $200 million-plus in tax revenue is about one percent of the state’s budget, so it’s no real help in undoing the havoc legal cannabis is wreaking upon us. The $40 million dollars each year to help rebuild rural schools? Repair numbers are in the billions now, Hunt sniffed, so $40 million hardly makes a dent. Hunt was pretty relentless, blasting the state and industry for dragging their feet on edibles safety. “It took three years for the industry to stop making gummies that look like candy,” he complained. Many times it was repeated that kids who use cannabis can squander their future intelligence in the process. During one panel, somebody claimed that even casual use for a short time as a teen can lower IQ by 13 percentage points later in life. Though legalization proponents had “promised” an end to the black market once a legal marketplace was established, I heard several times that the black market still exists, which in their minds somehow proves that legalization is a failure. Four law enforcement officials reinforced this “black market” point. They talked about the “overwhelming problems” with marijuana diversion

During one panel, somebody claimed that even casual use for a short time as a teen can lower IQ by 13 percentage points later in life. to other states, where criminal growers can get higher prices. We weren’t allowed questions at the end of the talks, but I wanted to ask whether they would prefer that cannabis be criminalized again. A lot of the information promoted by Hunt and the law enforcement folks comes from the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Tr T afficking Area Report. I urge you to search for the most recent edition on its website. Like the symposium, it says nothing nice about cannabis legalization on any of its 180 pages, and to its credit, makes no bones about the fact that the authors are biased against legalization and dependent on federal Drug War money. At least to me, that makes the RMHIDTAR a pretty unreliable source. 24 Denver //Boulder DEC EMBER 2017

One exception to the day’s narrative was Dr. Finn’s panel presentation

sensimag.com DECEMBER 2017 25

on medical marijuana. Finn recommends medical marijuana to his patients in some cases, and his report seemed to be balanced and fair, whether in dealing with cannabis proponents’ sometimes exaggerated claims and the science involved as well as fears that medical marijuana is just hocus pocus to make it legal. Thankfully, nobody seemed to be interested in arresting marijuana users, but never was it once mentioned that many of the problems outlined here have to do with the illegality of cannabis on a federal level, which hasn’t and isn’t stopping anybody in any state, legal or not, from getting cannabis. If it were legal in other states, nobody would be smuggling marijuana to New Jersey, or even back to Mexico, from Colorado, which one law officer admitted was happening today. Would they rather be arresting people who smuggle it in over those who smuggle it out? At one point, Hunt asked why we would make marijuana legal, with all the problems that accompany liquor and tobacco. Again, there wasn’t time for questions, but nobody mentioned that we’re not “adding” anything, we’re just taxing and regulating it. Cannabis is already here, in every state, and that isn’t going to change, even if Jeff Sessions decides to blow some more federal money to crack down on pot. Though the criticism was harsh and the warnings dire, I heard little about how ending legalization would be better for the state. Amendment 64 is part of the law now, and it’s not likely to be overturned anytime soon. The pro-cannabis lawyer Corry said afterward that he appreciated being given the opportunity to debate Hunt, with whom he has clashed publicly, most recently over the Denver 420 Rally, and that he discovered some points of agreement. I found some common ground with Diane Carlson of the organization Smart Colorado, when we agreed during a panel that we didn’t want children to use marijuana and that education was the most important element in making that happen. It’s a conversation I hope we can continue. All in all, the symposium was a fascinating and sobering reminder that not everybody in Colorado is enthusiastic about legalization.

26 Denver //Boulder DEC EMBER 2017

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28 Denver //Boulder DEC EMBER 2017

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{crossroads} by RICARDO BACA

This is the story of my

PRODUC T IVIT Y- BASED REL ATIONSHIP with

cannabis.

RICARDO BACA is a veteran journalist and the founder and original editor-in-chief of The Cannabist. His content agency Grasslands works primarily with businesses and individuals in the cannabis and hemp industries on thought leadership and messaging via thoughtful and personalized content campaigns.

30 Denver//Boulder Denver //Boulder DEC EMBER 2017

HIGHLY PRODUC TIVE Changing the narrative of the lazy stoner. The lazy stoner. My head hurts every time I hear about that couch-locked archetype. Not that it’s entirely baseless. Certain strains of cannabis and pot products have deeply sedative effects and can mostly render a person speechless and motionless for minutes if not hours. Unsurprisingly, those same products are often among the most effective natural alternatives to opiates, too—legitimate painkilling properties that have been chronicled in the highly selective Journal of the American Medical Association. But too often the lazy stoner is evoked to represent most if not all cannabis consumers, though as legal marijuana becomes our new normal, we’re disproving that anachronism daily. And I’m honored to present yet another rebuttal to this outdated concept — my own discovery that marijuana substantially contributes to my personal productivity in specific situations. As recently as five years ago, I was not consuming cannabis at all. I don’t smoke and that’s how marijuana was mostly offered to me, a passed joint or bowl. But when a friend offered me a cannabis-infused mint-chocolate bar he purchased in a state-regulated medical dispensary in 2013, I was immediately enamored with how marijuana made me feel compared to other intoxicants. It helped me relax, and if I had a little more, it gave me the giggles. But it also brought on a focus that immediately had me contemplating how I might be able to harness this concentrated energy, this single-mindedness. I’d heard about lazy stoners for decades, and I’d certainly known some — but I also knew people who incorporated daily marijuana use into their busy and productive lives, and for the first time in my life I envisioned myself as someone who prefered weed over booze. At first, I was uncomfortable as that person. After a childhood of Just Say No and Hugs Not Drugs and D.A.R. E. and a journalism career of seeking out reputable sources, many of whom serve in varsensimag.com DECEMBER 2017 31

ious levels of government, I thought I knew all I needed to know about marijuana.

I CAN

HONESTLY SAY

Of course I was wrong. Because so many of those sources, those government officials, were dead-wrong

self alone, of course, as we all know others whose rit-

on cannabis. And while my four years of cannabis con-

ualistic wake-and-bake positions them in a mindset

sumption have taught me many lessons, here are a

for a productive day. But that’s not me.

couple I still employ today—about the improbable productivity of marijuana consumption.

L ESSON NO. 2 : PACKING SUCKS, THOUGH IT SUCKS SIGNIFICANTLY LESS WHEN YOU’RE HIGH

L ESSON NO. 1 : PSYCHOACTIVES AND WORKWORK DON’T MIX—FOR ME, AT LEAST.

After spending the weekend picking up recycled boxes from friends who had recently moved, my then-girl-

The first lesson about my productivity-based rela-

friend and I set the game plan: She would pack up the

tionship with cannabis was rooted in a lack of produc-

kitchen if I started in the spare bedroom, which was also

tivity. I remember staring down the barrel of a free-

home to our bookshelves and home office. I remember

lance deadline in 2013, and I wondered if a microdose

taking a bite of an infused baklava, feeling like a domes-

of edible cannabis might help my lingering writer’s block.

tic Timothy Leary, wondering about its potential impact

An hour after ingesting 5mgs of activated THC, I knew

on the next few hours.

the marijuana wasn’t helping me write.

When Melana (now my wife) poked her head into

While certain substances can be great for brain-

the spare bedroom two hours later she was dumb-

storming seshes, weed included, they’re not always the

founded to see two towers of meticulously labeled

best fuel for the execution that follows. I speak for my-

boxes stacked against the wall and empty bookshelves

32 Denver //Boulder DEC EMBER 2017

CANNABIS HAS MADE ME A MORE ORGANIZED INDIVIDUAL. pushed against a moving truck-ready desk and stand-

progress I’d made in the yard. It’s worth noting here: I

alone closet. I had been working with unparalleled fo-

am not one of those homeowners who loves yard work,

cus, only breaking for water (so much water!) and the

who finds it meditative. But add some cannabis to that

occasional steering to our Spotify playlist.

equation and I’m a flipping zen master, reveling in work

I was as surprised, and as pleased, as my lady was.

I’d normally find tedious.

And suddenly my perspective of cannabis was changing. L ESSON NO. 4 : BET TER (AND MORE L ESSON NO. 3 : YARD WORK SUCKS, THOUGH … YOU SEE WHERE I’M GOING WITH THIS

ORGANIZED) LIVING THROUGH CHEMISTRY

I can honestly say cannabis has made me a more or-

After renting my house for two years to some young

ganized individual. I’m more conscientious about my pets,

dudes and their giant dog, my yard was more of a disas-

making sure the cat’s litter box is cleaned regularly and

ter than I left it. With my fiancee working a long Satur-

the dogs are walked—even after late evenings at the

day at the salon, I decided to do something I rarely did—

office. I’m more attentive to my family’s long-term plan-

consume cannabis before noon—and hit the yard with

ning, setting aside time to vote and talk finances and

some work gloves, an endless supply of ice water and a

plan our week’s (and month’s and year’s) social and trav-

YouTube Tube loop of TED talks cycling through my Bluetooth T

el calendars to ensure my wife and I are in sync.

speaker. Four hours of sweaty, grueling work flew by quite enjoyably, and I was immensely gratified by the

Cannabis as a productivity tool deserves to be celebrated, and I know I’m not alone in thinking that.

sensimag.com DECEMBER 2017 33

"When traditional medicine gives up, cannabis gives hope." Teri Robnett, Founder, Cannabis Patients Alliance

Changing hearts and minds, one conversation at a time.

(303) 455-3801

CannabisPatientsAlliance@gmail.com CannabisPatientsAlliance.org

34 Denver //Boulder DEC EMBER 2017

sensimag.com DECEMBER 2017 35

{ediblecritic} by J O H N L E H N D O R F F

JOHN LEHNDORFF is the former Dining Critic of the Rocky Mountain News.

NEWS.KGNU.ORG/ CATEGORY/RADIO -NIBBLES.

TASTY TRADITIONS Explore your ancestry through a smorgasbord of holiday feasts and festivities happening this month. Family members looking to give each other a holiday

cally, I want blood evidence to account for my conflict-

gift this season that won’t collect dust on a shelf are ap-

ing obsessions with fruitcake, green chili tamales, sweet

parently looking to some personal antiques. Imagine the

and sour pork, latkes, and yeasted cardamom loaves.

big reveal when everyone unwraps a box of family DNA

To me, DNA stands for “Dinner Now Available,” espe-

tests. Sure, the occasion could be awkward depending

cially when it comes to the end-of-year holidays from

on the results, but I’d love to find out more beyond my

Hanukkah (December 12–20) through New Year’s Day.

general central European/Sicilian heritage. More criti-

I’ve used my life as a food writer to gain entrée to ethnic

36 Denver//Boulder Denver //Boulder DEC EMBER 2017

occasions featuring an array of special treats. I’m not sure where those yummy, nut-crusted Port cheese balls fit in. Colorado already has some great holiday traditions with more Parades of Lights and Nutcrackers, Christmas carols, and Hallelujah choruses than you can shake a stocking at. Many are more moved by South Park ’s “A Very Special Critter Christmas” episode or the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s “Colorado Christmas” than more traditional displays of seasonal spirit. Kids and seniors alike love the sweet tours at Hammond’s Candy, the gingerbread mansion display at the Broadmoor, and gingerbread house-making activities at the Denver Museum of Miniatures, Dolls, and Toys. But if you are digging for your own roots, consider the following opportunities around town to jump mouthfirst into diverse cultural culinary joys. GERMAN 17TH-ANNUAL CHRISTKINDL MARKET

Daily through Dec. 23 // Skyline Park // Denver Beyond imported gifts and live music, this annual attraction boasts a menu of glühwein (mulled spiced wine), Bavarian beer, traditional pastries, chocolate, and chestnut soup. DENVERCHRISTKINDLMARKET.COM

SWEDISH ST. LUCIA’S DAY DINNER & PROCESSION

TRADITIONAL

CHINESE FOOD

CHRISTMAS

Some restaurants, particularly those in hotels, serve dinner on Christmas Day, but typically most of the eateries welcoming families on December 25 serve Asian cuisines, including Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, and Nepali. There is a tradition dating back to the late 1890s for American Jewish families to go out for Chinese-American fare on Christmas Eve and Day. Here are some of our favorite Front Range spots open on December 25. Many feature large, lively destinations (including dim sum restaurants) that are made for communal family dining. Super Star Asian Cuisine Denver // 303-727-9889 The Empress Seafood Restaurant Denver // THEEMPRESSRESTAURANT.COM Imperial Chinese Restaurant Denver // IMPERIALCHINESE.COM Spice China Louisville // SPICECHINA.COM

Dec. 13 //Augustana Lutheran Church // Denver

Dae Gee Korean BBQ

This traditional Swedish gathering features a big Christ-

Aurora // DAEGEE.COM

mas dinner followed by a choir of carolers and a Lucia Procession. SWEDISHCLUBOFDENVER.ORG/EVENTS {CONTINUED ON PAGE 39}

Saturnalia

Tsing Tao House Colorado Springs // TSINGTAOHOUSE.COM Wonderful Bistro Pueblo // WONDERFULBISTROCHINESECUISINE.COM

SALUTATIONS

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sensimag.com DECEMBER 2017 37

FINDING TRADITIONAL

GRIND Load herbs into the top chamber and grind down manually. STORE Secure, water resistant storage protects your ground herbs.

HOLIDAY SWEETS UP AND DOWN THE FRONT RANGE, THERE ARE BASTIONS AND BAKERIES SUPPLYING ESSENTIAL SEASONAL TREATS. HERE ARE SOME FAVORITES :

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GET : kosher bagels, challah, poppy hammantashen, almond mandelbread, apricot rugelach, plus prepared salads and smoked fish for holiday gatherings @ : Rosenberg’s Kosher // Denver // ROSENBERGSK.COM

DID YOU KNOW? DENVER’S 41-YEAR-OLD LANDMARK ALLKOSHER BAGEL STORE WAS RECENTLY PURCHASED BY THE CELEBRATED ROSENBERG’S BAGELS AND RENAMED AS ROSENBERG’S KOSHER.

ITALIAN

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GERMAN

GET : Pfeffernuss and springele cookies, sugar-blanketed stollen,

yule logs, and a wide selection of gluten- and sugar-free goodies

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SCANDI NAV I AN

GET : Kringle, cherry strudel, limpa rye bread

(with fennel and orange), Christmas cookies @ : Taste of Denmark Bakery // Lakewood // TASTEOFDENMARK.NET

MEXICAN

GET : Green and red chile tamales @ : Tamale Factory // Denver // THETAMALEKITCHEN.COM @ : Tamales by La Casita // Denver // TAMALESBYLACASITA.NET

FRENCH

GET : Bûche de Noël, madeleines, financiers @ : Le Trompeau // Engelwood // TROMPEAU-BAKERY.COM

DUTCH

GET : Dutch 65-gram chocolate letters, imported stroopwafels, aged Leiden cheese (with cumin seeds), salted licorice @ : Dubbel Dutch // Denver // DUBBELDUTCHDENVER.COM

EASTERN EUROPEANS

GET : Potica, Russian cookies, rum balls, babka @ : Royal Bakery // Arvada // ROYALBAKERYCO.COM 38 Denver //Boulder DEC EMBER 2017

{CONTINUED FROM PAGE 37}

SCANDINAVIAN

MEXICAN

SWEDISH CHRISTMAS MARKET

LAS POSADAS AT THE FORT

Dec. 2 // Calvary Baptist Church // Denver

Dec. 24 // The Fort Restaurant // Morrison

The traditional Scandinavian celebration features im-

A shortened, one-night-only version of Mexico’s tradi-

ported gifts, dancing around the Christmas tree, a car-

tional nine-day celebration reenacting Mary and Joseph’s

ol choir, kids’ activities and Lucia, the Queen of Lights.

journey to Bethlehem, this annual Colorado happening

On the menu are glögg, gingerbread cookies, waffles,

takes place outdoors on the grounds of The Fort, where

lussekatter, and limpa bread.

Las Posadas songs are met with Mexican hot chocolate,

DENVER.SWEA.ORG/SWEDISH-CHRISTMAS-MARKET

hot cider, and biscochitos—rich cinnamon-sugar cookies. THEFORT.COM

ITALIAN FEAST OF THE SEVEN FISHES

JEWISH

Dec. 24 // Firenze a Tavola at Parisi Pizzeria // Denver

CHANUKAH FAMILY EVENT

On Christmas Eve, Italian-Americans traditionally en-

Dec. 13 // Children’s Museum of Denver // Denver

joy the Feast of the Seven Fishes, a multi-course sea-

This gathering for kids and families on the third night of

food celebration that includes bacala (salt cod) soup.

Chanukah features games, dreidels, singing, and latkes.

FIRENZEATAVOLADENVER.COM

JEWISHCOLORADO.ORG/EVENT/CHANUKAH-NIGHT

sensimag.com DECEMBER 2017 39

40 Denver //Boulder DEC EMBER 2017

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{lifestyle} by ROBYN GRIGGS L AWRENCE

PART Y L IKE ROCK STARS How to properly throw an elevated gathering

I’ve thrown some damn good parties since I start-

For me, hosting a cannabis dinner is a lot like teach-

ed cooking with cannabis in 2009. I’d even say some

ing a yoga class. As the leader, I’m responsible for ev-

were epic. There’s nothing like reaching the crescen-

ery person’s well-being and experience, from under-

do of a meal orchestrated to open people’s minds and

standing their physical limitations and apprehensions

senses and connect them with their dinner partners,

to curating a playlist that keeps them motivated, re-

the food’s tastes and aromas, and the finer notes of

laxed, and flowing. They should leave happier than

everything. Everyone blossoms, blissed and blessed.

they came.

This is no small thing to pull off, and of course I’ve

That level of culpability makes me nama-cray-cray. It

had disasters—thankfully none TOO epic and way

kept me from teaching yoga after I got certified and could

less frequent now than when I first started. In the

have strangled my inner canna-hostess, too, if I hadn’t

beginning, serving cannabis to guests was cripplingly

stumbled onto the opportunity to learn from the very

intimidating.

best while writing and promoting The Cannabis Kitchen

42 Denver Denver//Boulder //Boulder DEC EMBER 2017

Cookbook. When you need confidence, there’s nothing

being overwhelmed,” a skill anyone who entertains

like going straight to the rock stars—and a beautiful

with cannabis should be honing. Stupefied or paranoid

thing about the cannabis community is how willing any-

guests suck the soul out of a party as quickly as ob-

one who loves this plant is to educate and share.

noxious or passed-out-drunk ones—and then there’s

Eight years after I started entertaining with can-

that part about being responsible for their well-being.

nabis, normalization and shows like Viceland’s Bong

If you haven’t had nightmares about diners slumped

Appétit are inspiring would-be Snoop Marthas around

over their plates and leaving in wheelbarrows like the

the world. Mainstream media are stepping out with

hobbits at Bilbo Baggins’ 111th birthday party, you

how-to articles, which is encouraging but not terribly

probably shouldn’t be hosting a cannabis shindig.

enlightening when you consider lines like this one in

Jeff the 420 Chef, who travels the country feeding

Bon Appétit ’s magazine’s October 2017 entertaining

people fine cannabis food, is well aware of his respon-

etiquette guide: “Getting your guests high shouldn’t

sibility. He finds out every diner’s experience, tolerance

feel like unearthing a bong from a pile of sweatshirts

level, and fears about what might happen before the

in a dark corner of your closet.”

meal begins, always serves “virgin sisters” (non-in-

Do we have to keep saying this? It’s 2017, people. Let’s talk to the homies.

fused versions of the cannabis-laced dishes), and limits the overall amount of THC to 10 milligrams—which he says sends guests home with a solid, drama-free buzz.

KEEP THEM IN THE EUPHORIC ZONE

“No one’s hallucinating or going to the hospital,” he says. “It’s a really nice moment.”

In legal states, where a thriving cannabis hospitality industry employs professionals in everything from

HAV E AN OH , SHIT KIT

event planning to budtending, most party people ha-

Overconsumption happens, even to the pros. Though

ven’t touched a bong in decades, unless they were

he rarely has to use them, Scottsdale, Arizona-based

bringing it to a green elephant exchange. They dab in

chef and restaurateur Payton Curry, owner of Flourish

elegant lounges, sip canna-mocktails, and indulge in

edibles, stocks up on water with electrolytes and Un-

CBD coffee stations and s’mores bars stocked with in-

doo softgels (a mixture of vitamin E, olive oil, and olive-

fused chocolate. They taste cultivars as they’re paired

tol that promises to “unhaze the blaze”) when he hosts

with courses like wine, and they dine on infused foie

cannabis-infused dinners. For a few larger events, he’s

gras custard while inhaling from bowls of terpene va-

even hired nurse practitioners to administer IV bags.

por at $500-a-plate dinners where the only sweatshirts are by Vetements.

“Americans have been programmed to sleep it off or make themselves throw up if they have too much

Chris Sayegh, the Herbal Chef and the man behind

to drink,” Curry says. “With cannabis, it’s different. We

those half-G-a-head banquets, considers himself a

say, ‘Here’s a pizza, a movie, and six gallons of water.’”

shaman. He conducts every dinner, explaining at the

At Denver-based Irie Weddings and Events, owner

beginning how the night will go and how the journey-

Bec Koop and her staff have an Oh, Shit Kit full of ho-

ers can expect to feel. His servers are trained to act as

meopathic rescue remedies; lavender, eucalyptus and

guides, keeping people on track and helping them if

chamomile essential oils; 5-Hour Energy; and ground-

they get uncomfortable or overwhelmed. Diners’ glass-

up pepper (said to mitigate anxiety and paranoia).

es are constantly filled with water throughout a dinner

Sometimes they offer a CBD-dominant flower cultivar

engineered to keep them in what Sayegh calls the “eu-

or tincture, but that can be scary for people who don’t

phoric zone.” Afterward, they retreat to a decompres-

understand CBD’s ability to mitigate THC’s psychoac-

sion lounge, where they can wipe their faces with cold

tive effects. The heat of the moment is not the time for

eucalyptus-scented towels and get a massage.

a cannabinoid lesson.

Sayegh says his specialty is “understanding how people can get this really beautiful effect without ever

“If they’re already uncomfortable,” Koop says, “they’re like, ‘Hell no! No more weed!’” sensimag.com DECEMBER 2017 43

Budtenders at Koop’s events always ask about

ings based on tolerance questionnaires and active-

guests’ experience and tolerance, and signs at the bud

ly monitor guests’ consumption using a ticket or

bars remind people to sit down or call over a friend if

wristband system. Should someone have a bad trip,

they feel lightheaded or dizzy (which happens a lot at

the team can help them ride it out.

Colorado altitude).

Mieure specializes in serving first-timers and peo-

No matter what, Koop’s staff never lets anyone

ple returning to cannabis after a long while, and they

suffer alone. “If you’re too drunk at a bar, they kick

heighten his sense of obligation to deliver only smooth,

your ass out,” she says. “If you’ve overconsumed at

groovy adventures.

one of our events, you’re probably going to get 90 percent of our attention.”

“Their experiences,” he says, “can make or break the future of cannabis in America.”

SAYEGH SAYS HIS SPECIALT Y IS

“ UNDERSTA N DING HOW PE OPLE CA N GE T

THIS REALLY BEAU TIFUL EFFECT

W IT HOU T E V ER BEING OV ERW H ELM ED ,”

A SKILL ANYONE WHO ENTERTAINS WITH C ANNABIS SHOULD BE HONING.

KNOW YO UR OP ER ATIO NAL CONSUMPTIO N LEVELS Hosting with the most means being there for

YOUR BEST PARTY EVER HIRE PROS IF YOU CAN. It sounds a little

self-serving. But cannabis has been legal for less

someone who thinks they’re dying. (It’s physically im-

than a decade, and laws vary by state. Experienced

possible to overdose on cannabis, but again, the time

professionals can walk you through legal and logisti-

for a biology lesson is not while someone thinks it’s

cal gray areas and customs, plus do the hard work

happening.) You need to control your own consump-

during the event so you can socialize. “You get to

tion—or even wait until after the party—and you bet-

simply show up and be the butterfly,” says Irie

ter know your “operational consumption levels,” says

Weddings and Events’ Bec Koop.

Philip Wolf, whose company Cultivating Spirits hosts cannabis-pairing dinners and other events. The heart-racing energy you feel after consuming a

IF YOU’RE USING AN OUTSIDE VENUE, know its

cannabis policies. This should be the first thing you ask about, well before you book.

high-THC cultivar with energetic terpenes infects ev-

FOR LARGER AFFAIRS, GET SECURITY. It’s

eryone, Wolf says. “If people recognize an anxiousness

required at some venues now, and it’s CRAZY not

within you and you’re the focal point of the event,

to have professionals watching the door and

they’ll feel the anxiousness within themselves, and

checking IDs and/or medical cards.

your party has bad vibes.” That’s why you hire pros, says Andrew Mieure, owner of Colorado’s Top Shelf Budtending, a service

HAVE A POLICY FOR MINORS. Are kids allowed?

Do they need to be isolated from the area where adults are consuming?

that offers certified “cannabis sommeliers” who pres-

CREATE A DESIGNATED consumption room or

ent a holistic introduction to the plant’s botany, tastes,

area. A dab or smoking lounge protects other guests

aromas, and effects. Top Shelf budtenders tailor serv-

from fumes and frames a ceremonial space. “People

44 Denver //Boulder DEC EMBER 2017

sensimag.com DECEMBER 2017 45

can celebrate their coming together, even if only for

effects. Offering CBD-domi-

15 or 20 minutes,” says Cultivating Spirits’ Philip

nant food lets newcomers

Wolf. “There’s a more memorable aspect to it than

and people who don’t want to

getting high on the back stoop.”

get high experience infused food.

GET TO KNOW YOUR GUESTS. Top Shelf

“CHEAT” WITH STORE-BOUGHT

Budtending’s Andrew Mieure suggests including

INGREDIENTS. With all the premade tinc-

a questionnaire with your RSVP that will help

tures, oils, butters, chocolates, beverages, and even

you understand how you should serve guests,

water-soluble additives on the shelves these days,

individually and collectively.

there’s no reason to spend hours making your own

TAILOR CONSUMPTION METHODS to your

infusions. Accurate servings are easier to pull off with

revelers. Dabs are probably a little much for

tested ingredients from a trusted establishment.

Midwestern relatives who haven’t smoked since

When Jeff the 420 Chef makes his 420 Irish Cream

senior prom. Wolf prefers flower because it’s the

for the holidays, he grinds and sprinkles one Kiva

least potent, and Koop says half-gram minijoints

Confections chocolate-covered espresso bean on top

are popular because they’re familiar, shareable,

of each mug, guaranteeing 5 milligrams of THC.

and guests can try several strains without overdoing

START WITH A CANNA-MOCKTAIL. A nonalcohol-

it. Canna-mocktails allow for accurate microservings

ic drink made with cannabis tincture takes effect

and are more discreet.

in 15 minutes and might discourage guests from

CHOOSE THE RIGHT STRAINS. Work with a

professional budtender or grower to find cultivars

starting the night with booze. MODERATE ALCOHOL. Drinking alcohol thins

with terpene and cannabinoid profiles that will

blood, allowing for more active THC to enter, says

drive the mood you want throughout the night.

Mieure, whose slogan is: “Alcohol before cannabis

CREATE A SOUNDTRACK. If you won’t have a

gets you higher, cannabis before alcohol is wiser.”

DJ or a band, make a playlist long enough to last

If both are being served, he suggests limiting the

throughout your soiree, and test it. Even at opera-

servings and potency of each.

tional consumption levels, you don’t want to be messing with the music—or worse, not have any. THINK BRUNCH INSTEAD OF DINNER. Chef

WATER, WATER, MORE WATER. Keeping

guests hydrated is beyond crucial. KEEP IT CLEAN. If guests are smoking, keep

Randy Placeres of Aspen Culinary Solutions prefers

ashtrays emptied. Glass one-hitters are more

late-morning gatherings when he serves infused

sanitary than joints, especially during cold and flu

food so his guests have the afternoon to enjoy

season. At Top Shelf, budtenders wear gloves and

being high and happy. “After dinner,” he says,

clean dab rigs between every guest, no exceptions.

“you kind of just go to bed.”

BE A WITNESS PROTECTOR. Make sure you have

COOK WITH CANNABIS that has at least a 1:1

ratio of THC to CBD. Flourish’s Payton Curry tells people CBD is their “seatbelt” because it can mitigate THC’s psychoactive

46 Denver//Boulder Denver //Boulder DEC EMBER 2017

every guest’s consent (in writing for larger events) before photos and videos are taken and posted. GIFT YOUR GUESTS. Cheri Sicard, author of

The Cannabis Gourmet Cookbook, sends them home with cannabis-infused cookies during the holidays. MAKE SURE NO ONE DRIVES HOME IMPAIRED.

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report S P EC I A L

by LELAND RUCKER

60 Denver //Boulder DEC EMBER 2017

This is the SPIRITUAL SIDE of cannabis. For many, ELEVATION leads to ENLIGHTENMENT.

ANYBODY WHO

decides TO USE CANNABIS EVENTUALLY REALIZES THAT THERE’S MORE

GOING ON THAN JUST “GETTING HIGH.” IT’S MORE MIND - OPENING THAN THAT. MORE AND MORE

BOOKS AND ESSAYS OUTLINE HUMAN’S LONG HISTORY WITH THE PLANT, AND MODERN YOGA TEACHERS AND HERBALISTS ARE INCORPOR ATING IT INTO THEIR CL ASSES. THERE’S EVEN AN INTERNATIONAL CHURCH OF CANNABIS THAT OPERATES OUT OF A FORMER CHURCH IN DENVER. AFTER DECADES OF REPRESSION, CANNABIS IS IN A PERIOD OF RENAISSANCE, AND IT’S NOT THAT SURPRISING THAT MANY ARE LOOKING INTO ITS INTROSPECTIVE QUALITIES. Stephen Gray, editor of a recently published book of essays, Cannabis and Spirituality: An Explorer’s Guide

have been experimenting with cannabis for at least a few thousand years—and perhaps much longer.

to An Ancient Plant Spirit Ally, and author of The Pot

“What cannabis does is to open the doorway be-

Book, sees two elements pushing the enthusiasm around

tween the conscious and the unconscious,” says Chris

the plant these days. The first is the psychological and

Bennett, who’s published several books on the histori-

emotional tendency people have to get excited about

cal use of cannabis in religion, ritual, and magic. When

new things. “It could be called projection or transfer-

most people think of cannabis and religion, they prob-

ence, where you look outside yourself for salvation and

ably think of Rastafarianism, Bennett says, which uses

get all excited when you think you’ve found some-

cannabis as a sacrament today.

thing,” he explains.

But research indicates that the cannabis plant dates

But the other factor he mentions is that the cannabis

back to ancient history and that humans have been

plant has been badly underappreciated and misunder-

interacting with it for thousands of years in Asia, the

stood in recent history. “For me personally,” Gray says,

Middle East, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Ben-

“rather than coming first from that gung ho place, I

nett has found evidence of religious ceremonies that

have become increasingly impressed with the multiple

used cannabis dating back at least 5,500 years. At one

benefits of the plant.”

point or another, he says, cannabis has been used as

I have talked with people over the years who get very

part of major religious traditions like Taoism, Zoroas-

enthusiastic, excited, and emotional about any one of

trianism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and even

those multiple benefits. But the passion for this plant is

Judaism.

hardly new. There is mounting evidence that humans

Bennett’s research leads him to believe that the orsensimag.com DECEMBER 2017 61

Happy Holidays to Your Family

igin of all religions was more based on the individual using entheogens (psychedelic, mind-altering substances like peyote, mushrooms, LSD, ayahuasca, and psilocybin) to enhance the religious experience. Gradually, over time, that began to change. “It became a threat to fundamental religion, just as Darwin was to Adam and Eve,” he says. “Magicians and shamans even today use the plant as something bigger than yourself. That is something that Abrahamic religions have eliminated. Toda T y the y, church needs to be the source of the divine.” The divine, like most of the terms we’re using here, can be interpreted in many ways. The International Church of Cannabis opened its doors in a vacant Protestant church building in Denver on April 20, 2016. Outside, it looks like any other church until you notice the windows. Elevation Ministries commissioned colorful psychedelic paintings by graphic artist Kenny Scharf, who also created a marvelous colorful ceiling in the nave. There is also a video arcade downstairs. Services are held weekly, y, and the church’s founder, Lee Molloy y y, says there are about 500 members, called elevationists, with about 40 regular worshippers. In no sense does this church consider itself the source of the divine. “We wanted to create a safe and diverse interfaith church for anybody that uses cannabis as part of their personal spiritual journey, regardless of the culture, religious tradition, or body they were born into,” Molloy says. “When a person ritually uses cannabis with the intention of exploring their spirituality, it is virtually impossible for them not to become elevated, which means to rise above the petty and destructive distinctions manufactured by most organized religion.” In the foreword to the 2016 book Cannabis and Spirituality y, Dr. Julie Holland writes: “There are many among us who are addicted to greed, to power, to newer, to more… And this is where pot comes in—it’s a way to opt out, temporarily, from the rat race. Cannabis can unlock us

from Ours

LEA DS from our habitual way of doing things, and more importantly, y, of thinky ing about things… It enables contemplation and reflection.” Gray says the focus of the essays in the book is aimed more at this kind of spiritual awakening that cannabis can help provide. “I think of it as advanced spiritual meditation. One of the reasons for the book is to put perspective on what it can do if you use it skillfully.”

SALES@THEDABSLABS.COM 62 Denver //Boulder DEC EMBER 2017

Perhaps the most important part of using cannabis skillfully is putting yourself in the right state of mind and in a comfortable place. I

the C H UR C H of

CANNABIS remember reading The Natural Mind , a book by Andrew Weil, when I first started using cannabis and entheogens in the 1970s. Weil wasn’t advocating for drug use—he was partial to meditation—but he acknowledged mankind’s universal quest to alter consciousness, whether spinning about until you fall down as a child or drinking alcohol or using drugs as adults. Weil used the terms set and setting, which Gray incorporates in his book, too. “Set refers to everything you bring to the encounter: your history, your personality, your psycho-spiritual makeup, your intention, and the preparedness you undertake related to the taking of the medicine. Setting is the actual environment and conditions in which you meet the plant,” Gray writes. Clearly, we’re not talking about hitting the bong and falling back on the couch with a bag of chips. Gray says that used correctly, what cannabis can do is to help put you in the right mood for spiritual amplification. “Kathleen Harrison talks about an attitude of respect and reverence,” he explains. “When you do that—use respect and reverence—then you’re more likely to have deeper, richer experiences with it.” Becca Williams holds monthly cannabis elevation ceremonies from the website cannanaut.com, and she says that creating a comfortable environment for participants is an essential component. We all experience trauma in our lives, she says, and the ceremonies are intended to help people explore the inner reaches of their consciousness with the help of cannabis. “It’s not spirituality as we know it,” she says. “You see people who are triggered, constantly in a state of hyperarousal. We are creating a framework using ancient Indian traditions and the group dynamic for individual work.” Ultimately, she says, we need to create our own ceremonies. “We’re all looking for meaning in life, and it can be pretty empty out there.” Brigitte Mars, an herbalist, teacher at Boulder’s Naropa University, author, and a longtime cannabis ad-

“ We wanted to create a safe and diverse

INTERFA ITH CHURCH for A N YBODY that uses cannabis as part of their personal

SPIRITUA L JOURNEY, regardless of the culture, religious tradition, or body they were born into.”

L E E M O L L O Y // FOUNDER, THE INTERNATIONAL CHURCH OF CANNABIS sensimag.com sensimag.com DEC EMBER DECEMBER 2017 2017 63 63

vocate, says she encourages people to experience cannabis as a sacrament, whether by themselves or with others. “It’s a really special plant. I don’t know another herb that has as many possibilities of use,” she says. “Using it with good intentions in a safe setting with people you know and trust can be a powerful thing.” The more people I talked with, the more I realized that just like we’re just starting to learn about how cannabis can impact everything from creativity to the body’s endocannabinoid systems, we are learning more about the plant’s spiritual side, too. The plant isn’t the end itself, but rather a means to an end. “It opens me up to a different perspective,” Bennett says. “It just increases my power of intuition and totally helps me grab ideas and expand realms of association.” Other, stronger psychedelic entheogens like LSD and psilocybin tend to grab you by the throat and won’t let loose, Gray says, but cannabis is different, with an effect that can almost be described as gentle. “When you’re there, you want to get out of your own way and be present. I consider it a flexible, gracious kind of ally.”

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Gerry Leary brews GREAT COFFEE despite never having SEEN a BEAN.

by LELAND RUCKER

Â© THE UNSEEN BEAN

70 Denver //Boulder DEC EMBER 2017

Gerry Leary FIRST ENCOUNTERED A COFFEE ROASTER WHILE I N S A N F R A N C I S CO DURING A VISIT THERE IN THE EARLY 19 9 0 s . A N AUTOMOBILE MECHANIC ALL HIS LIFE, HE WASN’T PARTICULARLY LOOKING TO DO SOMETHING ELSE, BUT HE KEPT IT IN THE BACK OF HIS MIND JUST IN C ASE. “I was in a coffee shop, and they had a roaster like this,” he says, pointing to the well-used Probat machine he was sitting next to in a Lafayette shopping center. “I asked because I had never heard that noise, and he said, ‘Come here, this is something you can do.’” I guess it should be mentioned here that Leary, 65, has been blind from birth, although it doesn’t seem to have been much of a hindrance to his ability to do anything from fixing car engines to roasting coffee. The shop owner told him that it isn’t necessary to see to roast coffee. You do it by sound and smell and timing. “I said, ‘I can do that,’ and I thought that if I ever get tired of cars, I can roast some coffee.” It’s that same can-do attitude that you get from talking with Leary, whose parents were determined to make him an independent person, despite his disability, from an early age. “I had to unlearn the word ‘can’t,’ he says. “There are all kinds of challenges, stumbling blocks, and barriers to climb over or have to move, and not always in a physical sense. There are things that happen in our lives that we can take one way or another. Sometimes it’s not easy, but you gotta make the best of it. It comes down to one thing: You laugh, and the world laughs with you. You cry, and you cry alone.” Leary’s father was a mechanic, and the young Leary became interested in cars by the age of two. He can remember his enthusiasm. “As a child, things that made noises and had parts that went up and down and back and forth— nuts and bolts and stuff—really interested me. ‘Dad, what’s this? Dad, what’s that? Why did you put that together?’ So he started showing me what he was doing.” By high school, Leary was fixing cars for his buddies in Los Angeles. A business administration major, he dropped out of school and started his first career as a mechanic, which included stints at three different body shops in Boulder following his move to Colorado in 1979. In 2002, he finally got bored with it and recalled that coffee roaster again. “I thought it would be easy when I got tired of cars to get a job as a roaster’s apprentice. But everyone here said you can’t roast coffee if you can’t see it, because you have to see the color of the beans,” he says. “I found a place that was offering roasting seminars, so I applied and took one.” He figured out how to incorporate a talking thermomsensimag.com DECEMBER 2017 71

eter and timer into the process, bought a coffee roaster and a Tuff Shed, and got started. Later, he found a larger roasting facility in Boulder and opened the Unseen Bean coffee shop there. Though he didn’t realize it at the time, the date he chose to do the paperwork for the Unseen Bean was significant to cannabis enthusiasts. “My girlfriend at the time and I were heavy pot smokers, and as a matter of fact, it was April 20,” he says laughing. “At four o’clock we started the incorporation meeting. At 4:20 on 4/20 of 2004, we signed the papers.” The Unseen Bean is a popular local spot, and today it sells CBD-infused caffeine alongside its regular offerings. Which brings up another good story. In 2013, Leary says, he was sitting on his deck smoking a joint when he heard a neighbor’s voice talking about roasting coffee. As it turns out, the neighbor, Devin Jamroz, was in the process of learning to infuse CBD into coffee beans for a company he was starting.

Leary offered some of his own blend for the project, and they decided to work together, with Leary roasting a special bean mix for what became SteepFuze’s hemp extract coffee. “They were trying to get the beans to soak up the CBD instead of just being coated by it,” Leary says. “They were using chemistry to get the CBD into the bean, so I told them that you need the bean to be an open sponge.” They begin with Arabica Ethiopian Yirgacheffe beans. Leary says he came up with a roast that lessens the amount of sugar the bean normally loses in the process. “When the sugar comes to the surface of the bean, it closes all the pores, and you can’t soak anything into it,” he says. “It took us a couple of years to get it right. Today they have a 94 percent infusion rate. I roast the coffee, sell it to them wholesale, they infuse it, and I buy it back and resell it.” Jamroz, who developed the CBD coffee in part because of issues he has with his back, says that having a roaster like Leary has really helped build SteepFuze’s reputation. “We all need to be very cognizant of the face that we put on our industry,” he says. “That is one of the best things about working with Gerry. Besides his phenomenal coffee, he is a known and respected figure in the craft coffee community, y, so for him to step out y of the box and work with a company like SteepFuze gives our business and our whole industry an added element of legitimacy.” And no matter where he might be roasting today, you can bet that Gerry Leary won’t be alone. “II really enjoy the interaction of people around it, when people buy coffee to drink, when they buy coffee to take home, or just 72 Denver //Boulder DEC EMBER 2017

hang out and talk,” he says, smiling. “I meet all kinds of great people.”

Gerry Leary of The Unseen Bean is the only known blind coffee roaster.

sensimag.com DECEMBER 2017 73

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HUMANS GETTING

by ROBYN GRIGGS L AWRENCE

Cannabis has delighted and INSPIRED HUMANS since PREHISTORIC TIMES . We should celebrate that.

76 Denver Denver//Boulder //Boulder DEC EMBER 2017

EVER SINCE

California

BECAME THE FIRST STATE TO LEGALIZE

M E D I C A L M A R I J U A N A I N 19 9 6 , T H E P L A N T ’ S C U R A T I V E V A L U E H A S B E E N T H E L E A D I N G ARGUMENT FOR CANNABIS LAW REFORM. THE SACRED HERB IS OF TEN THE ONLY MEDI C I N E THAT WORKS WHEN PHARMACEUTICALS FAIL, AND THAT’S A POWERFUL POINT. ALL T O O O F T E N , H O W E V E R , I T O V E R S H A D O W S O T H E R J U S T- A S - I M P O R T A N T B E N E F I T S .

Cannabis induces merriment, creativity, and di-

Described in the ancient text Atharva Veda as an

vine inspiration. It gets us high. It helps us have fun.

herb that relieves anxiety, ganja has been a part of

If we’re ever to win this legalization debate, we

daily life in India for thousands of years. Many Hin-

need a better word to encapsulate these blessings

dus drink bhang to relax and escape at the end of a

than “recreational.”

long day, much like Americans drink beer. Accord-

Delight Giver or Liberator of Sin? Humans have been enthralled with cannabis’s gentle intoxication since the earliest foragers taste-tested sticky cannabis flowers and, if you believe ethnobotanist Richard Evans Schultes, subsequently invented religion.

ing to Clarke and Merlin, an 1894 Indian Hemp Drugs Commission report stated that cannabis use was generally accepted because it had positive effects like “raising a man out of himself and above mean individual worries.”

Branches of Bliss and Thought Morsels

In Cannabis: Evolution and Ethnobotany, Robert C.

Cultures and religions have been defined—and

Clarke and Mark D. Merlin describe the cannabis

divided—by their intoxicants of choice throughout

plant’s most significant evolutionary trait as “the ad-

history. Early Christians ordained alcohol, and in 1484

aptation of the female inflorescence to exude large

Pope Innocent VIII decreed cannabis use cause for

amounts of readily apparent and easily collected psy-

excommunication, despite what many believe to be

choactive resin.” Throughout the ages, humans have

the Bible’s blessing in Genesis 1:29: “Behold, I have

both reveled with and reviled the gift of those psycho-

given you every herb bearing seed, and to you it will

active crystals—almost exclusively for economic and

be for meat.”

political reasons as revolutions in thought and art have

Perhaps Christians vilified cannabis because Mo-

exploded during the intelligentsia’s cannabis (usual-

hammed’s followers reached for it instead of alcohol,

ly hashish-eating) binges.

which was forbidden to them. Cannabis is key to the

Though cannabis was referred to in ancient China

myth of 11th-century Shiite zealot Hassan-Ibn-Sab-

as “liberator of sin” and “delight giver,” it was never

bah, who reputedly lured male followers to a paradise

popular for its mind-opening qualities in that nation.

and plied them with wine, food, women, and hashish

In India, on the other hand, cannabis in various forms—

before he forced them to kill infidels. (The word assas-

ganja, the flowering tops; charas, concentrated resin;

sin is said to be derived from Hassan’s name, and cen-

and bhang, a drink made from cannabis, spices, nuts,

turies later, primo narc and “devil weed” hater Harry

seeds, and milk—has been a staple for Hindus who

Anslinger referenced this pernicious urban legend

are forbidden to drink alcohol for centuries. Believed

during congressional testimony and in his famous ar-

to be Lord Shiva’s favorite food, bhang is deeply em-

ticle, “Marihuana: Assassin of Youth.”)

bedded in the rituals at holy festivals, weddings, and other celebrations.

Arab legend credits 12th-century Islamic Sufi founder Sheik Haidar with discovering cannabis’s happisensimag.com DECEMBER 2017 77

ness factor after he ate some leaves while wandering in the Persian mountains, though hashish (sometimes known as “Haidar’s wine”) was widely used in the Middle East long before that. Travelers, scholars, and poets openly procured hashish—which early Arab texts refer to as

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“shrub of emotion,” “shrub of understanding,” “peace of mind,” “branches of bliss,” and “thought morsel”—in Egyptian bazaars. An Egyptian researcher who studied his ancestors’ predilection for hashish through 12th- and 13th-century poems found evidence of euphoria, sociability, freedom, jocularity, and amiability. Not every story ended so well, however. “The Tale of the Hashish Eater” in One Thousand and One Nights, a compilation of Islamic Golden Age folk tales, tells of a man who’s beaten and ejected from a public bathhouse when he can’t hide the evidence of his hash-induced arousal. Despite the apologue’s unhappy ending, it sparked new literati interest in cannabis, largely for its aphrodisiac potential, when the Arabian chronicles were widely published in the West in the 18th century.

ENTHRALLED W I T H C A N NA B I S ’ S G E N T L E I N T OX I C AT I O N S I N C E T H E E A R L I E S T HUMANS HAVE BEEN

FORAGERS TASTE-TESTED STICKY CANNABIS FLOWERS AND, IF YOU BELIEVE ETHNOBOTANIST R I C H A R D E V A N S S C H U L T E S , S U B S E Q U E N T LY INVENTED RELIGION. “Taste the Hashish!” French physician Jacques Joseph Moreau publicly rediscovered

hashish for Westerners in the mid-19th century when he asked novelists and writers to let him watch as they ate copious amounts during monthly “Club de Hachichins” meetings at a Paris mansion. In a description of his first hashish experience with this society, published in 1843, novelist Pierre Jules Theophile Gautier described a scene in which everything seemed gigantic, flamboyant, dazzling, and mysterious. In his 1860 novel based on these experiences, Artifi-

cial Paradises, Charles Baudelaire describes musical notes that enter his breast like luminous arrows, blue and red sounds springing forth in electric sparks. (Some people think the crew may have eaten some opium with their hash.) “Taste the hashish!” Alexandre Dumas goaded in his wildly popular novel, The Count of Monte Cristo, which describes hashish-induced

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Dumas was an influencer, and his book was blamed for all sorts of sins.

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sensimag.com DECEMBER 2017 79

In 1854, the Mexico City El Correo de Espaa reported that it had created “a veritable ‘hashishmania’ among the European cognoscenti.” The craze jumped the pond when American writer Fitz Hugh Ludlow wrote about how hashish stops time and expands the mind in The

Hasheesh Eater, published in 1857. Imbibers can reach “the soul’s capacity for a broader being, deeper insight, grander views of Beauty, Truth and Good than she now gains through the chinks of her cell,” Ludlow wrote.

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“Beauty and Warmth from Gage” Until Anslinger and his band of corrupt industrialists launched their propaganda campaign rebranding “marijuana” as a terrifying menace, cannabis tinctures and confections were readily available in the United States. The plant—referred to as “muggles,” “reefer,” “muta,” “gage,” “tea,” “Mary Warner,” “Mary Jane,” and “rosa maria”—was an essential component of the Jazz Age. Jazz singer Cab Calloway praised the gage in the lyrics of “That Funny Reefer Man” and urged sisters to “light up on these weeds and get high and forget about everything” in “The Man from Harlem.” Louis Armstrong, who called cannabis “a friend” and said it was “a thousand times better than alcohol,” tooted its horn in “Muggles.” Fats Waller sang “got to get high before I sing” in “Viper’s Drag,” and even Benny Good-

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man serenaded it in “Texas Tea Party” and “Sweet Marihuana Brown.” In the 1920s and 1930s, Harlem was packed with “tea pads,” reefer-friendly speakeasies where people could smoke and dance and talk. People shared joints in dance halls and theaters throughout the city. A 1932 Broadway musical included a musical number called “Smokin’ Reefers” that called cannabis “the stuff that dreams are made of.” Perhaps most presciently, that song admitted it was also “the thing white folks are afraid of.” Muggles didn’t stand a chance once Anslinger set loose his brigade of yellow journalists. Newspapers across the country ran articles like a 1926 Chicago Herald-Examiner one about a hash eater in Topeka, Kansas, who ended up wandering along the highway, naked and blubbering about being a white elephant while swinging his arms like a trunk.

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“Marihuana did it,” the paper reported. Anslinger and his goonies won. They got Satchmo, who said he was no longer willing to suffer the “drastic penalties” of prohibition in his later years after he was arrested while finishing a joint between sets.

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“We had to put it down,” he told his biographer. “But if we get as old as Methuselah, our memories will always be lots of beauty and warmth from gage.”

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Robyn Griggs Lawrence is writing a history of cannabis food, which will be published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2018.

sensimag.com DECEMBER 2017 81

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PROMOTIONAL FEATURE

DURANG O C ANNABIS C O M PA N Y

Mountain Grown D U R A N G O C A N N A B I S C O M PA N Y BEGINS WITH G E N E T I C I N T E G R I T Y. Durango Cannabis Company is the newest li-

guided the company’s decision to remain soil-grown

censed wholesale grower in La Plata County, supply-

in their state-of-the-art facility. “We proudly stay true

ing dispensaries and high-end processors. The team

to our roots by growing organically in live soil. We

has a simple question for cannabis dispensaries and

chose to grow in Durango because we simply believe

consumers, “Do you ever wonder how your cannabis

mountain grown cannabis is better,” Peters says.

is grown and whether or not you are actually smok-

Unlike other grow facilities, DCC’s building is not

ing the strain indicated on the label? Ben Peters,

a retrofitted warehouse that had been used for oth-

director of marketing and sales, says that the answer

er purposes. “We wanted a completely clean facility

to the question is often a shrug.

without inheriting dangerous microbials in the walls

GENE TIC INTEGRITY :

Do you ever wonder how your cannabis is grown and whether or not you are actually smoking the strain indicated on the label? “If you buy Colorado craft beer loyally, it is often due to the reliable transparency of their brewing process. We should have that same transparency in all consumable cannabis products,” continues Peters.

or compromising on a consistent environment.” Peters says. The 9,000-square-foot facility boasts some of the industry’s leading technologies. “We recycle 99 per-

“Thanks to our partners at Phylos Bioscience, we

cent of our water as well as effectively cool our entire

are able to verify every DCC strain through genome

building with Surna environmental control systems.”

mapping. For example, we are the only growers with

The DCC team completed its first harvest last

a veriﬁed MK-Ultra in Colorado. This process elimi-

month and looks forward to releasing ﬂower to the

nates inaccurate naming of strains on the shelves,

market once the phenohunt is complete. Look for

which is often done to increase sales.”

Electric Lemon G, Burmese Kush, MK-Ultra, Sage N’

Founders of DCC, Nic Borst and Billy Miller, be-

Sour, Lemon Twizzler, Darkstar Kush and Strawber-

gan growing cannabis nearly 10 years ago. It began

ry Shortcake grown by Durango Cannabis Compa-

humbly on their naturally grown certiﬁed produce

ny on the shelves come January 2018.

farm, where they grew 60 types of vegetable and

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cannabis symbiotically. Those years in the fields

DURANGOCANNABISCO.COM

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sensimag.com DECEMBER 2017 85

W ITLON

PROMOTIONAL FEATURE

New Personnel Dept. S P E C I A L I Z I N G I N TA K I N G C A R E O F I N D U S T R Y E M P L O Y E E S A N D O W N E R S Once upon a time, caring companies had some-

These businesses include dispensaries, cultivation

thing called a “Personnel Department.” It’s not to-

facilities, marketing companies, equipment suppli-

day’s “Human Resources,” which tends to focus more

ers, and other cannabis- and hemp-related ancillary

on numbers and dollars. Personnel was there to help

companies. “We help a lot of companies in the start-

people, the prized employees, and make sure that

up phase that don’t have the bandwidth or interest

the tons of paperwork got completed properly. It

in dealing with payroll, accounting, and liability in-

solved potential headaches for company managers

surance,” he says.

and owners before they happen.

Using Witlon typically saves companies money

For many cannabis- and hemp-related business-

because they have so much invested in ﬁnding and

es in Colorado and across the United States, Witlon

keeping employees. “A good example is a dispensa-

is how they spell relief today. The administrative ser-

ry worker who makes $15 an hour. I tell owners that

vices ﬁrm provides payroll, accounting and banking

they really have to think about that as a $21 an hour

solutions in a cash-based industry.

job when all the costs are factored in,” Murer says.

“Witlon is a holistic service provider that helps

There is also the peace-of-mind factor. If there is

businesses grow strategically. We get to know the

an audit from a government agency including the IRS, Witlon represents the client. A well-established concern in Colorado, Witlon functions as the back ofﬁce for large and small businesses across the United States and Canada. “We are where there are medical and recreational cannabis sales, including Washington and Pennsylvania,” he says. The other side of Witlon’s business involves working and investing in Colorado’s nascent hemp industry with its unique legal challenges. “We want to put legitimacy behind hemp sales and help to connect growers with processors and other users,” Murer says.

customers. We are paid by the client, but our cus-

“The cannabis industry is really still in its infancy

tomers are the employees. We make sure they have

with tremendous growth potential. The growth po-

W-2s and arrange direct deposit, worker’s comp,

tential is even bigger in hemp and CBD. Farmers

health care sign-up, compliance with federal and

need to be convinced that hemp is a legal cash

state laws and 401k’s,” says Nick Murer, president of

crop that helps rejuvenate the soil,” he says.

Denver-based Witlon. The company has proper documentation in place

“Colorado is a real leader in figuring out these challenges,” Murer says.

on worker’s comp and any employee issues, warn-

FOR MORE INFO:

ings and unemployment claims, he says.

WITLONINC.COM

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sensimag.com DECEMBER 2017 87

GOOD MEDS

PROMOTIONAL FEATURE

Dispensing Relief G O O D M E D S I S N ’ T J U S T A F T E R T H E L AT E S T S T R A I N Good Meds is not a cookie-cutter facility dispensing the same array of generally available strains.

Good Meds has a serious and extensive training process for new employees. “We have a very well-educated staff. It takes several months and includes

for growing extremely high quality flower. We spe-

extensive product knowledge, familiarity with the

cialize strictly in hand-picked boutique medicinal

cannabis industry, the strains we have, how the med-

strains,” says Thomas Mayes, marketing director for

icine works, including side effects and how to talk

Good Meds medical cannabis dispensaries in Lake-

with all kinds of patients,” Mayes says.

wood and Englewood. The dispensaries offer ﬂower, edibles, concentrates, tinctures, topicals, and preﬁlled joints and vaporizer

“We cultivate all the cannabis we sell. We’re known

cartridges made from cannabis grown at the Good Meds facility in Denver. Mayes cites a crucial difference between the shopping motivations for recreational and medical marijuana customers. “Our patients are not looking for novelty or a new strain when they come in. They want relief,” he says. “We have 130 strains we can grow at the cultivation center, but gradually we have narrowed the strains to those that have helped our customers the most. These are the ones requested repeatedly for

As medical cannabis becomes more widely known,

help with chronic pain, insomnia or increasing en-

ﬁrst-time patients come in with plenty of questions.

ergy,” Mayes says.

“There are lots of these patients who need an ongo-

“Some of the strains we are very proud of include

ing education from our staff. As with physician’s treat-

Super White Skunk, Golden Goat, and Citrix and also

ment approach, a trial and error process is part of

the high-CBD, low-THC Cannatonic strain,” he says.

ﬁnding out what works for them,” Mayes says.

All of the concentrates dispensed by Good Meds

The learning is mutual. “As the staff has helped

are made from cannabis grown at the Good Meds

more patients, they are learning more about how

facility. “We are happy to work with Denver-based

effective certain strains are for specific ailments,”

BOSM Labs to produce ﬁrst class products from our

Mayes says.

strains,” he says. Good Meds has a large but limited patient base. “We have a few thousand members who enjoy all the patient member beneﬁts,” he says.

88 Denver//Boulder Denver //Boulder DEC EMBER 2017

GOOD MEDS DISPENSARY 8420 W. COLFAX AVE., LAKEWOOD 3431 S. FEDERAL BLVD., ENGLEWOOD GOODMEDS.COM

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The uplifting, cerebral effect of our Elevated blend will allow your energy to flow freely. "What you imagine, you create." - Buddha

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The grounding effect of our Balanced blend will help you focus on what matters most. "What you think, you become." - Buddha

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For more info or to request samples contact mark@medpharmholdings.com | 303.549.1155 sensimag.com DECEMBER 2017

PROMOTIONAL FEATURE

FLO

Consistency, Purity, Accuracy SERIOUS SCIENCE E L E VA T E S FOCUSED L ABS CONCENTRATES On paper, Focused Labs produces a line of FLO-

grow without toxins and pesticides. We use a CO 2 -

brand concentrates and helps grow operations turn

only extraction process without solvents,” he says.

trim into profitable products for dispensaries. But

That distillation process produces a highly transpar-

according to Michael Tudor, general manager of the

ent and concentrated cannabinoid oil.

Denver-based company, what Focused Labs really sells is science.

Tudor comes to cannabis after a career in food manufacturing with Conagra, Keebler, and other ma-

“There is serious science behind all of our products.

jor companies. He believes that ﬂavor matters, that

One thing I liked when I joined Focused Labs was that

edibles can be therapeutic without tasting medicinal.

the company is owned by scientists,” he says.

“Many of the older generation of consumers, the Baby Boomers, have given up smoking or inhaling for various health reasons. Now they are consuming edibles and using tinctures,” he says. FLO’s newest product is gummies made with pure distillate, not hash oil. “They are high potency but the ﬂavor doesn’t have that hashy note that consumers dislike, that bite that burns in the back of the throat,” Tudor explains. FLO distillates’ bright, clean taste really matters in tinctures, where a grassy ﬂavor is harder to hide. “When consumers taste edibles they should think, wow, this is really good,” he says. Focused Labs is known for helping small com-

“What separates us is our focus on purity and accuracy. We do rigorous potency testing throughout

panies grow. “Scalability is something nobody had thought much about until now,” Tudor says.

the process. The customer is paying for THC and

“You have a small dispensary group that has a

other cannabinoids and they should know what they

grow attached, and they have been making prod-

are getting,” Tudor continues.

ucts in the back of the house. One day they find

The company is a full-service provider that works

they can’t keep up with the demand. We provide

with grow operations turning its trim into concen-

large-scale capacity to process their crop into prod-

trates, THC and CBD tablets, pure oils, tinctures,

ucts that are consistent every time,” he says.

and distillates. Focused Labs also produces FLO-

Consumer demand for CBD drives Focused Labs’

brand concentrates, oils, and distillates, as well as

latest work. “The discoveries in the ﬁeld are coming

Sweet ‘n FLO, a granular THC-bound natural turbi-

so fast now with new uses for cannabinoids. The

nado sugar that dissolves in beverages and foods.

marketplace keeps asking for new CBD products as

The company sources cannabis from a very short

consumers read about them. People are realizing

list of Colorado growers. “They are responsible culti-

that they bring relief, not reefer madness,” he says.

vators who exceed compliant testing measures and

FOR MORE INFO: FOCUSEDLABS.COM

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S P E C I A L A DV I S O R Y BOA R D S E C T I O N DO N ’ T K N OW A B O U T D I G I TA L C U R R E N C Y ? T H AT ’ S A B O U T TO C H A N G E , A N D S OO N . W E L CO M E TO T HE C RY P TOC U R R E N C Y R E VO L U T I O N . T H E F U T U R E I S H E R E A N D T H E DA I L Y L I F E O F E V E RY M A N , WO M A N , A N D C H I L D I S A B O U T TO B E T R A N S F O R M E D I N UN B E L I E VA B L E WAY S . T H E R E W I L L B E C H A N G E S I N T H E WAY YO U S H O P , I N T H E WAY YO U B A N K , T H E WAY YO U D R I V E YO U R CA R — E V E N T HE WAY YO U I N T E R AC T W I T H YO U R L AW Y E R , ACCO U N TA N T , A N D B R O K E R .

Cryptocurrency Revolution by Frank Staber, GreenHouse Payment Solutions THE TECHNOLOGY THAT IS BRINGING THIS ABOUT IS CALLED BLOCKCHAIN. BLOCKCHAIN WAS DEVELOPED IN THE FORM OF A DIGITAL COIN CALLED “BITCOIN” IN 2009 BY SATOSHI NAKAMOTO, WHO HAS KEPT HIMSELF UNKNOWN TO THE REST OF THE WORLD.

WHAT IS A BITCOIN and how is it shaping

you will find current values of the coins, trending charts, mar-

civilization into futures only dreamed about? Bitcoin is clas-

ket caps, and more. This is a great place to start for those

sified as a digital asset and is more commonly referred to as

who want to learn about investment opportunities.

digital currency, or cryptocurrency. It’s a transaction on a

People thinking of investing in bitcoins or any of the alt-

computer ledger. Every time a bitcoin is bought, sold, trad-

coins must study, study, study and do their due diligence

ed, or used for purchases, that transaction is recorded on

before deciding on what coins to go for. You can find tons of

computer ledgers, also known as the blockchain. A new

information on any search engine, and there are many on-

transaction is added to a block about every 10 minutes

line courses available on cryptocurrencies—from beginner

through the efforts of “miners” verifying the transactions.

to advanced blockchain technology—and lists of the many

After a certain amount of transactions are recorded, the

millionaires that have already invested. One of our favorites

new block is added to the blockchain. Control of the record-

is about bitcoins and pizza. In 2010, a developer made the

ing of transactions is decentralized, which means there is no single entity such as a bank or government agency having any authority or management over cryptocurrency. Since the startup of Bitcoin, many new digital coins have appeared, and 1199 different coins are now listed on the market. Collectively, they are known as altcoins. Some of the well-known coins are: Ether (Etherium), Ripple, Litecoin, Dash, Monero, and Monaco. Each has a platform that shows the reason for its existence. Etherium, for example, is set up for “smart contracts;” Ripple for fast currency exchange and remittance; Litecoin for open-source, peer-to-peer payments; Dash for digital cash, private online payments; etc. A complete list of altcoins is online at COINMARKETCAP.COM, where

92 Denver //Boulder DEC EMBER 2017

first purchase with bitcoin, buying two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins (worth about $30 at the time). Those same bitcoins today are worth close to $100 million. Some of the biggest changes will be seen in the retail industry. Already, hundreds of online stores accept bitcoin or other alternative coins for payment. Some of the well-known online retailers include Overstock.com, Microsoft, Tiger Direct, Expedia.com, Dell, Newegg.com, Bloomberg.com, and Shopify.com. People can tie a debit card into Bitcoin Wallet and use those coins to pay for products or services anywhere a Visa card is accepted. In the near future, bitcoin ATMs will be found in retail and service establishments everywhere, making it easy to change dollars for bitcoin and vice versa. The gaming, travel and entertainment Industries are also seeing the benefits of cryptocurrencies. You can visit casinos, buy airline tickets, get hotel reservations and attend concerts and sporting events, all with bitcoins. One of the most exciting new altcoins is Helleniccoin. This coin is based in Cyprus, which certainly has had its share of banking problems in the past. Helleniccoin is set up to be used as a currency and is being readily accepted by

see how

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retailers and online shops for payment processing. Our company, GreenHouse Payment Solutions, LLC, is actively working with the founders of this altcoin to develop an alternative payment processing solution for retailers and online entrepreneurs who have had trouble acquiring credit card processing. We are excited about the possibilities with this altcoin. Stay tuned for additional information as this project unfolds. What other changes are coming as a result of blockchain technology? How about self-driving cars that drop you off at work, park themselves, or drive to a service center for service or repairs? Or a refrigerator that orders food, pays for it, and calls a repairman if there is a malfunction? In fact, all appliances will

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have artificial intelligence and be connected to the internet. Voting by blockchain? No possibility of fraud or miscounted votes. Smart contracts that perform without an attorney. Banking without a bank. Streamlined businesses and governments. More efficiency. Newly created industries. More jobs.

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What can you do to get ready for these big changes? To begin with: Study! Read! All the information that you need is at your fingertips. Type “cryptocurrency” into any search engine and you’ll find plenty to get you started. And then get yourself a “wallet” from COINBASE.COM and see how easy it is to buy some Bitcoins. Once you do that, you will officially be a part of the Cryptocurrency Revolution.

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sensimag.com DECEMBER 2017 93

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ÂŠ PHOTOGRAPHY BY LEE STONEHOUSE

SHANGHAI N IGHTS

Every November, L AS VEGAS becomes the center of the cannabis world for three days as professionals from around the country head to MJBizCon. On Thursday evening, Sensi hosted its annual after-party, bringing conference-goers together for an evening of comraderie and top-notch networking. More than 5,000 people RSVPd for the free event, drawn by the chance to celebrate the advancement of the cannabis business community among industry leaders.

100 Denver //Boulder DEC EMBER 2017

sensi

SCENE

What: Sensi MJBizCon After-Party Where: Enclave, Las Vegas When: November 16, 2017

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{soCO} by STEPHANIE WILSON

SANTA ON THE SLOPES WHAT IT IS :

Crested Butte Santa Ski and Crawl

WHERE IT’S HAPPENING :

Crested Butte Mountain Resort

WHEN IT GOES DOWN : December 9, 2 p.m.

WHY IT’S SO VERY COLORADO :

For the fifth year running, Colorado’s most laid-back mountain town becomes the stomping, sliding, and crawling ground for thousands of Kris Kringles. This is one of Colorado ski season’s signature events, and this year the organizers are hoping enough people don head-to-toe red and come out to break the Guinness World Record for the most skiers in full f Santa costumes—top, bottom, hat, beard, the whole shebang or it doesn’t count. The ski resort is fully invested in the record-breaking effort, even offering one-day lift tickets to any decked-out St. Nicks for just $25 instead of the standard $117, 7, and discounted lodging is available 7 as well. For any aspiring Santas who don’t have time to find a costume (the most wonderful time of the year is the busiest time of year for residents of the North Pole after all), costumes are available for just $20 at locations in town and in nearby Gunnison. Regardless of whether a new record is set, it will be a festive affair.r.r After the group ski session, which starts at 3:30 mid-mountain, the Kringle army embarks on a bar crawl that really gets into the spirit of the season.

HOW TO LEARN MORE : CBSANTACRAWL.COM

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