When you hear the phrase “cannabis tourism,” what comes to mind? A party bus with smoke billowing out of open windows? Scaling the side of a grassy hill to get a glimpse of the cannabis promised land? Perhaps hitting a joint and then gently descending into a child’s pose? All of these are correct. Cannabis-related tourism has evolved quite a bit since the early days of legalization.

When Colorado voters passed adult use in 2012, people from all over the country flocked to the Centennial State to experience something they never had before—consuming cannabis legally. Early cannabis tourism experiences experimented with ideas, which commonly consisted of taking patrons to dispensaries where they could shop and then providing a safe space for them to consume their purchases, which was usually inside a tour bus or an outside venue.

This brand of tourism exists in other markets as well, such as the craft beer market. People sign up for pub crawls where attendees can sample and purchase unique brews. Craft beer tourism also includes dinners with menus to highlight the flavors of the hops, tours of breweries where the beer is being made, as well as art gallery and music events where local, craft beers are showcased. There are even athletic events like Beer Mile, which incorporates both running and beer consumption in competition. So, what does that mean for the future of cannabis tourism?

Experiencing the Culture

Certain regions in California are known for their wine culture. Napa, Sonoma, and Santa Barbara counties draw millions of people annually who enjoy leisurely strolls through the vineyards, artisan cheeses, and world-renowned wine. It’s a whole lifestyle. Similarly, Kentucky draws bourbon aficionados seeking the finest aged liquor.

While still in its infancy, the cannabis sector of tourism has immense potential. The famed Emerald Triangle of northern California, including Mendocino, Humboldt, and Trinity counties, has a storied and rich history of cannabis cultivation and culture going back decades. Much of the production and cultivation of high-quality cannabis, as seen with today’s most popular strains, took place in those hills. While the stringent framework of cannabis legalization and the opinion of some who believe that cannabis grown outdoors is inferior (as if!) has taken its toll on the economic viability of production in this region, the history and stories are unmatched.

Furthermore, the craft, legacy genetics, and regenerative cultivation techniques applied by farmers in the Emerald Triangle produce cannabinoid and terpene profiles that are complex, therapeutic, and unique to the region. (Here’s a tip: the next time you visit your local California dispensary, ask for something grown outdoors in the Emerald Triangle. You’re welcome.)

Farm tours, farmers’ markets, and cannabis farm-to-table style dinners are just some of the offerings that could be featured in cannabis tourism. However, regulatory barriers like not allowing farmers to sell directly to the consumer or making it difficult to establish a tasting room in the small towns that dot Highway 101 have limited the realization of culture-driven cannabis tourism.

Wellness Focused

Cannabis yoga was one of the first wellness activities to overtly pair wellness with consumption. Truthfully, many of us have been getting high before experiencing yoga, massages, meditation, and painting for as long as we can remember. However, the concept of marketing these activities with cannabis only surfaced after legalization. While the places where people can publicly smoke cannabis are limited, even in legal states, opportunities to openly consume at private facilities like yoga studios or outdoor venues make them a popular choice among the wellness crowd. As the normalization of cannabis use continues, these offerings may be less in the camp of cannabis tourism and more under the umbrella of wellness in general.

Culinary Delight

Pairing and integrating cannabis with food is a perfect match, even when many of us, while in the throes of the munchies, have made some suspect food pairing decisions.  I recall one particular night when I was convinced that the peanut butter and easy cheese sandwich I had made was a culinary marvel. Still the fact remains that cannabis has the potential to enhance not only our appetites but also the experience of eating.

Furthermore, like pairing food with wine, the flavors and aromas in cannabis can complement food as well, elevating both the cannabis, the meal, and you! There are two main types of cannabis dinners. The first pairs food with specific strains of cannabis to compliment the flavors and aromas of both and to guide the consumer through the meal in the context of the effects of cannabis. The second infuses meals with THC or other cannabinoids, which puts the focus on a high that evolves throughout the experience. This type of cannabis tourism is very popular among consumers. In the 2023 Consumer Survey from New Frontier Data, 73% of respondents said they would like to attend an infused dinner.

The Future of Cannabis Tourism

Cannabis tourism once focused squarely on giving people who live in illegal states the chance to buy and consume cannabis without fear. As more states have continued to change their laws and more people have access to legal products, not only in their state but also in the neighboring ones, the offerings have shifted to include cannabis as a component of another activity, including cannabis in the context of dining as well as opportunities to experience and learn about legacy cannabis culture. There are many more emerging opportunities in the cannabis tourism space. To learn more about what’s trending, check out the Cannabis Travel Association International at cannabistravelassociation.org.

This article was originally published in the March 2024 issue of High Times Magazine.

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Looking back to early 2023, Thailand’s climate surrounding cannabis looked incredibly different than conversations surrounding the plant today. The country made major waves after becoming the first country in Southeast Asia to allow medical cannabis use in 2018, and it received global attention after decriminalizing recreational cannabis in 2022.

Though, the events that followed — including an influx of tourists openly using cannabis in public, the opening of plentiful cannabis cafes and reportedly thousands of pot shops over a handful of months with minimal quality control — quickly had leaders backtracking the historic move. 

Now, nearly two months after Thailand lawmakers made the historic move, the country’s current Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin announced that the country will move to re-list cannabis as a narcotic by the end of the year, Associated Press reports.

Thailand Presses on to Reverse Cannabis Reform Progress

The change in attitude surrounding cannabis is nothing new, as lawmakers recently approved legislation aimed to walk back cannabis reform and ban the use of recreational cannabis. The proposal clarifies that only the use of medical cannabis is allowed, while recreational cannabis is prohibited.

“Without the law to regulate cannabis it will be misused,” Health Minister Cholnan Srikaew said in March, referring to recreational use. At the time, he added that approximately 20,000 cannabis shops had legally registered with the government. The new law would force any unregistered shops, which became far more abundant following Thailand’s decriminalization move, to close. 

Rather, the new comments provide more insight on Srettha’s time table and future plans for recreational cannabis in Thailand.

Earlier this week, the prime minister clarified on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, “I want the health ministry to amend the rules and re-list cannabis as a narcotic,” adding that the ministry should “quickly issue” a rule to limit cannabis usage to medical only.

Thailand Prime Minister’s Broader Crackdown on Drug Use

The comments followed a meeting with the prime minister and agencies associated with narcotics suppression, prompting Srettha to take a hard stance on illicit drugs and order authorities to deliver results and “clear progress” in the next 90 days.

“Drugs is a problem that destroys the future of the country, many young people are addicted. We have to work fast, to confiscate assets (of drug dealers) and expand treatment,” he said.

Initially, the decriminalization move was only meant for medicinal use, though it led to an unregulated market that steadily prompted public backlash and concern over cannabis misuse and potential crime.

Additionally, Srettha asked authorities to be more specific about what constitutes drug possession under the law, from “small amount” to “one pill” in an effort to enforce tougher drug penalties.

While Srettha requested that cannabis be re-listed as a narcotic by the end of the year, it’s still not clear when this will happen and what the process will look like.

Questions Surrounding Cannabis Re-Criminalization

Throughout this U-turn of sorts, numerous advocates and entrepreneurs have opposed the rollback and said that it will ultimately damage Thailand’s economy. According to Reuters, Thailand’s cannabis industry is projected to be worth up to $1.2 billion by 2025 given the thousands of new shops and uptick in tourism throughout the country since 2022.

While it is largely accepted that the country potentially embraced too much too quickly when it comes to cannabis, other Thailand authorities aren’t as optimistic about the policy reversal. 

Prasitchai Nunual, secretary-general of Thailand’s Cannabis Future Network, argued that moving to recriminalize would hurt the economy, small businesses, and consumers. 

“Many people have been growing cannabis and opening cannabis shops. These will have to close down,” he told Reuters. “If scientific results show that cannabis is worse than alcohol and cigarettes then they can re-list it as a narcotic. If cannabis is less harmful, they should list cigarettes and alcohol as narcotics too.”

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Jason Harris founded Jerome Baker Designs Inc. (JBD) in Eugene, Oregon, in 1991. As a dyed-in-the-wool deadhead with THC pumping through his veins, he chose Jerry Garcia’s first name, Jerome, and a last name, Baker, to denote “baked” as his pseudonym, fearing repercussions from cops.

Through the years, he elevated the form of functional glass art, incorporating innovations along the way, such as fuming glass with fine silver to create a mirror effect and manipulating blown glass into complex art. The JBD seal became a symbol of quality. But, despite his efforts to stay off the radar of police, he caught the attention of the federal government.

“I was arrested for manufacturing drug paraphernalia in 2003,” Harris says, referring to Operation Pipe Dreams, a George W. Bush administration-era DEA hunt that also involved Tommy Chong and 54 other defendants.

Pipe sellers who never touched the plant initially faced drug paraphernalia trafficking charges, and the feds pinned most of it on Chong. Scarred from that trauma, Harris laid low, first moving from Oregon to Maui, Hawaii, to make non-functional glass art for a while, and later New York.

“I kind of went underground for a while, and we were based in New York on Long Island,” he says. “We had a warehouse out there that we functioned out of—a small, nickel-and-dime business. When recreational cannabis happens, we sort of come out of the closet. And when I saw the money and energy and everything going on in the Las Vegas market, I called that home base.”

After seeing Colorado and Washington approve adult-use pot and learning that recreational cannabis legalization was possible, Harris gained confidence and re-launched Jerome Baker Designs in 2012, re-focusing on high-end art. Jerome Baker established the Las Vegas Dream Factory at its headquarters in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Dream Factory

Located downtown in the Arts District, a few blocks from Fremont Street, the Dream Factory is a place where people can truly appreciate the sheer amount of hours it takes an artist to make a piece. After all, JBD was behind achievements like “Bongzilla,” the world’s largest bong in 2018, and is the brand responsible for custom bongs made for celebrities such as George Clooney, Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, Mike Tyson, Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg, B-Real, Xzibit, 311, Slightly Stoopid, Sublime, Tool, Phil Lesh (Grateful Dead), Shavo Odadjian (System of a Down), People Under The Stairs, and Limp Bizkit.

Las Vegas is a prime place to attract people from all parts of the world, so Harris’s Dream Factory adapts to these specific needs.

“We get people that come in on pilgrimages from different places on the West Coast, and some are driving very far,” Harris says. “And they come for birthdays, weddings, different stuff like that. We’ve done a number of weddings in our facility, a number of birthdays, parties for some brands, they’ve been taken to the factory, and we get a percent of our clients coming in who are tourists.”

Teamwork makes the dream work, and Operations Manager Jennifer Krause is a big factor in the success of the Dream Factory.

“I basically handle everything from A-Z—you name it—accounts payable, accounts receivable, shipping, and [the operations] of the Dream Factory every day,” says Krause.

Krause says that the Dream Factory is currently showcasing glass art by Omar Rosales, Dina Kalahar, aka “Sol Fire Glass,” Donnie Alves, aka “Mente 45K,” and Allan Clement, aka “Cowboy.”

“And let’s not forget Jason Harris, known as Jerome Baker!” Krause laughs. “Within the last five years, it’s just completely blown up, and it’s pretty much one of the most prominent locations that people would want to visit. It’s where the artist all-stars are at. We’re right in the heart of the arts district.”

Krause explains how many people wander in, thinking it’s a basic smoke shop selling papers and cheap pipes, but what they’re offering is high-quality art that fetches top dollar. It’s a surprise “to the commoner wanting to walk away with a piece, and then they find out what we’re offering and what we’re shipping around the country,” Krause says.

Smoking Lounges & Cannabis Trade Shows

Both the state of Nevada and the city of Las Vegas have slowly rolled out consumption lounge regulations, though it’s taken years to materialize. NuWu’s Tasting Room opened in 2019, then rebranded as Sky High Lounge, opening in July 2023, and the city’s first non-tribal consumption lounges are scheduled to open by early 2024. (NuWu could open earlier because the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe, a sovereign jurisdiction, owns its land.)

Many cannabis consumption lounges, such as ones in California, let patrons rent bongs or pipes to consume weed. A big factor is that tourists—not locals who can smoke at home cheaper—are going to them as smoking stealthily in a hotel gets tiring. Harris says consumption lounges are key to the full experience of legal weed.

“I think that’s absolutely essential,” Harris says. “People have different ways to smoke and consume cannabis. So, by being able to get everyone to have experience and make a lasting memory. I mean, look, when we were kids, we went to Amsterdam, leaving certain memories of certain coffeeshops in my life. Being able to rent the bongs and clean the bongs with a proper scrub, that was fun and part of the ritual.”

Harris explains how bongs slowly came out of the closet through the years, including how Vegas events have changed.

“We’ve been going to Las Vegas for so many years. It’s got so many trade shows. We were at the first CHAMPS trade show ever. And we bought the most booths—eight—and mostly we closed them all in so nobody could see our stuff inside,” Harris says, explaining how much things have changed since 1999. “Lo and behold, CHAMPS is this mega show everybody wants to attend.”

Krause explained that MJBizCon is even bigger than CHAMPS, and Las Vegas gets pretty busy and wild during those times.

Elevating Functional Glass Art

Harris is the protégé of legendary glass artist Bob Snodgrass and apprenticed for Hans-Joachim Ittig of Wertheimer Glaskunst, a seventh-generation glassblower based in Wertheim, Germany. He also learned or apprenticed under Cesare Toffolo, Dick Marquis, Robert Mickelson, Karen Willinbrink, and Charles Lowrie.

“I’ve always respected artists that have come before me and paved the way in what I consider now a Pop Art genre,” Harris says. “That’s something that I’ve always dreamt about, being in art school. I’m a graduate of the University of Oregon. I’ve always been interested in art, art history, and what goes on in that space. And I feel honored and privileged to be a part of it now through the bongs. I never really thought that I could get there.”

The Dream Factory is an excellent stop in Las Vegas that holds a lot of history for glass art.

“Cannabis has unfolded recreationally and become more and more mainstream,” says Harris. “And it’s allowed us to sell expensive pieces, which gives us time to put into the artwork. All that is kind of a good, perfect storm. The Dream Factory itself, in terms of visiting tourists, is a great destination right near Fremont Street.”

This article was originally published in the March 2024 issue of High Times Magazine.

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A report from Westword pointed out that the Colorado Tourism Office (CTO) has recently begun to feature information regarding a few cannabis businesses on its website.

Westword spoke with licensed cannabis party bus business owner, Sarah Woodson, confirming that the CTO contacted her last year about her The Cannabis Experience. According to CBS News, her business was the nation’s first licensed cannabis consumption bus as of February 2023.

The CTO website features some of Colorado’s best places to visit and check out, from snow-related activities, white water rafting, hot springs, dining recommendations, and an updated calendar of events on the front page. As of Feb. 5, the front page doesn’t showcase any cannabis-related businesses or activities.

A quick search yields just a few cannabis-related business profiles, which includes both The Cannabis Experience, Colorado Cannabis Tours, Speak Easy Vape Lounge & Cannabis Club, Ambers Alchemy, and a 420 friendly Bed and Breakfast called Arrowhead Manor. It also includes various advice articles about disposing of cannabis when leaving the state, tips for safe consumption, and more, in addition to a few older search results where the landing pages do not work or have been removed. The profiles don’t feature a date of publishing, so it’s unclear how long they’ve been up on the website.

Westword points out that Speak Easy Vape Lounge & Cannabis Club opened with a temporary local permit that expired this year and is now closed. Arrowhead Manor does not hold a hospitality license, so it must conduct business as a private venue.

As of July 2023, the CTO announced that in 2022, the state collected $27.7 billion in travel spending within the state from approximately 90 million tourists. This annual spending was a $5.6 billion increase, or 25% increase from revenue generated in 2021 ($22.1 billion), with an additional 5.8 million visitors more than those who visited in 2021. The press release included a variety of other facts and data regarding its growing tourism industry, which was shared from the Colorado Travel Impacts 2022 (Dean Runyan Associates) and Colorado Travel Year Report 2022 (Longwoods International). Neither of these reports mentioned cannabis.

The CTO is a division under the Governor’s Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT), that is managed by the Colorado Tourism Board, which includes 11 people appointed by both the governor and four Colorado legislators. As a government-run agency, cannabis-related hospitality opportunities and events might be tricky to advertise. Currently, public cannabis consumption is illegal, so tourists seeking legal cannabis-friendly tourism must do their own research to find private businesses that cater to that interest.

One of the people who was formerly on the CTO board of directors, cannabis dispensary owner Wanda James, stated that the CTO began allowing certain cannabis businesses to advertise on the Colorado tourism website after a state hospitality law (which was passed in 2019) took effect on Jan. 1, 2020. James added that progress on including cannabis on the website decreased after former director Cathy Ritter was let go by OEDIT.

Advertising a business on the Colorado tourism website is free, but interested business owners must apply on the website. “To get a free listing on Colorado.com, start by filling out the form below. Note: To appear on Colorado.com, listings must be tourism related and have a physical address in Colorado,” the application form states. Toward the bottom, it requires a short description of the business, “so that we can verify you are part of the tourism industry.”

Westword obtained a statement from CTO spokesperson Hayes Norris, who explained that The Cannabis Experience is very much a welcome part of the industry worth advertising. “The Cannabis Experience is a great example of that, as they offer a range of immersive cannabis tours and experiences,” said Norris.”…there have not been any formal changes to colorado.com business rules regarding licensed hospitality businesses and cannabis.”

While the CTO is not yet ready to begin the task of featuring more cannabis-themed venues and activities, organizations such as the Cannabis Travel Association International are more focused on putting the spotlight on cannabis-friendly destinations both in the U.S. and other international locations as well.

While Colorado was the first to implement recreational cannabis legalization back in 2014, many other states are building up their cannabis consumption laws and business as well. In New Jersey, cannabis consumption lounges were only recently approved by the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) last month. “New Jersey’s cannabis industry is well on its way to being a billion-dollar industry, and consumption areas will likely bolster that—fostering a communal experience for those 21 and older around cannabis in a regulated and secure space,” said CRC executive director Jeff Brown.

In Nevada, the most batch of consumption lounge licenses was issued in November 2023, while a number of other license holders are eyeing 2024 for the year they hope they’ll satisfy all of the requirements to open. The Las Vegas, Nevada-based Planet 13 announced in November last year that it was eyeing an April 2024 opening, and in December 2023 it confirmed that the consumption lounge would also share a space with the Las Vegas SuperStore to Koolsville Tattoo Shop.

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In New York City with no weed and nowhere to go? The House of Cannabis has you covered.

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Where to re-up, puff tough and have stoner fun in Sin City; from a local expert.

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It’s up to you, New York, New York.

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“You know who lives there?” Charlie, the man driving our boat, asks me as I jump into the deep blue water of Lake Coatepeque in northwestern El Salvador. He points to a minimalist-style villa on the freshly-mowed slopes of an island at the center of the lake. “That’s President Bukele’s. Ocho million dollares!”

In any other Latin American country, people would talk about their leader’s private wealth with scorn. But Charlie’s tone is one of praise, excitement, even pride. It’s a sentiment I encountered again and again while traveling through El Salvador, and for a good reason. Until recently, the country was known and feared as the “murder capital” of planet Earth, with 1 in every 10,000 residents falling victim to homicide. Today, four years after Nayib Bukele assumed office, the number of annual killings has dropped from 5,000 to just 495: a statistic that has earned him the lifelong gratitude of his constituents. “I can finally go outside without worrying,” a student from Universidad Don Bosco in Soyapango, previously the most dangerous suburb in the capital city of San Salvador, told me. “It still doesn’t feel real.” 

Born to a Muslim family that emigrated from Palestine, Bukele served as the mayor of San Salvador before setting his eyes on the presidency. A dark horse candidate, his anti-establishment, anti-corruption agenda allowed him to score a surprise victory against El Salvador’s entrenched elite. Many presidential candidates in Latin America promise to “drain the swamp” and put an end to the corruption that keeps their countries impoverished and oppressed, only to become a part of the establishment they vowed to tear down. Bukele is the rare example of a politician that not just kept his word, but managed to hold onto power while doing so. 

One of Bukele’s top priorities was to hunt down El Salvador’s biggest gangs, Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and 18^th Street, which earn money through prostitution, drug smuggling, human trafficking, and transporting aliens across the U.S.-Mexican border. The government’s pursuit of the gangs resembles less of a crackdown than it does an all-out war. To this day, tens of thousands of heavily-armed soldiers are regularly mobilized to besiege and infiltrate criminal strongholds. 

Drastic problems require drastic measures, and Bukele’s was to arrest and imprison anybody who had even the slightest affiliation with the criminal underworld. As of 2023, more than 72,000 Salvadorians have been taken off the streets and stuffed into the country’s already overcrowded prisons. 

Bukele’s policies on crime, while effective, come at a cost. While the state has managed to round up many dangerous offenders, it also detained a significant number of individuals who – after close examination – turned out to be completely innocent. Gabriela, a lifelong resident of San Salvador and tech entrepreneur I met at a Miami-esque beach party in the surfer town of El Tunco, told me how, one day, her private driver stopped answering his phone. After contacting his sister, she learned he had been taken by the police while standing on the street drinking Pilsner – El Salvador’s national beer – with former gang members.

Accusing Bukele of human rights abuse, journalists and activists argue mass imprisonment won’t solve El Salvador’s problems but only make them worse. His proponents beg to differ: by cleaning up the streets, the president is able to develop public works that will improve the country’s economy and infrastructure. While highways and libraries can’t justify the injustice suffered by Gabriela’s driver, traveling through this new and improved, and above all, safer, version of El Salvador is making me kind of agree with the average citizen that these are, to an extent, necessary sacrifices. “I do not agree with everything Bukele does,” was the standard response I kept hearing from people, “but we are doing better than we were in the past – and that makes me feel hopeful about tomorrow.”

Where so many corruption-stricken Latin American countries live in an inescapable present, El Salvador is able to look towards the future. In addition to his war on crime, Bukele is best known for his embracement of cryptocurrency. Shortly after setting up shop in San Salvador’s casa blanca, the 42-year-old leader surprised the world by investing a sizeable portion of government funding in Bitcoin. In hindsight, the decision wasn’t all that surprising. The crypto craze was at an all-time high back then, and with Bitcoin’s value on the rise, Bukele saw an opportunity and must have thought he was about to triple the country’s coffers, even quadruple the amount of money he’d put in. Unfortunately, his announcement came moments before the crash of FTX and the federal investigation of its CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried: events that set the crypto world on a downward spiral it has yet to escape from. While exact numbers are hard to come by, El Salvador is rumored to have lost upwards of $70 million.

You’d think such a blunder would damage the country’s economy, not to mention Bukele’s credibility, but that does not seem to be the case. In contrast to neighboring Guatemala, where a despotic Attorney General is currently attempting to undo the ascension of a democratically elected, left-leaning president with an agenda not unlike that of his Salvadorian counterpart, El Salvador remains stable, peaceful, even prosperous. One of the biggest benefits of Bukele’s war on crime is that the resulting safety opened the country up to an industry that had hitherto been all but non-existent there: tourism. At Coatepeque, construction workers are building a litany of hotels, hostels, and clubs to accommodate growing numbers of travelers. Still more projects are in the works at Lake Llopango, located outside San Salvador. 

“This place used to be extremely dangerous,” Gabriela told me as we walked up to a breathtaking mirador, or viewpoint, looking over a thick and seemingly endless canopy. “It’s where all the gangs from Soyapango went to hide.” 

More confused than concerned, I glance over at two soldiers standing guard, their fingers on the triggers of their loaded shotguns. Laughing, Gabriela informs me that their presence is purely ceremonial: Bukele, needing to maintain the standing army he’s amassed for his war, sends troops across the country to act as glorified bodyguards. Not to protect visitors from kidnappers – those odds, she says, are low – but so they have something to do until they are called to lay siege to the next criminal hideout. 

Though not as large as Guatemala and Honduras to the north, or as environmentally diverse as Nicaragua and Costa Rica to the south, El Salvador has much to offer the curious traveler. There’s Santa Ana, a colonial city near the Guatemalan border from where you can visit Coatepeque and climb the Santa Ana volcano, filled not with lava but with pools of boiling water. There’s El Tunco, the aforementioned surf town where you can test your skills on some of the largest, longest, roughest waves you’ve ever seen – or watch others do it from the beach. 

Aside from the grueling traffic, San Salvador is a surprisingly organized capital where neon-lit hipster cafes share parking spaces with hole-in-the-wall pupuserias – barebone cafeterias serving El Salvador’s signature dish: thick tortillas made from corn or rice, stuffed with cheese, pumpkin, spinach, or chicharron, to name only a handful of ingredients. 

While exploring El Salvador is no longer life-threatening, it’s still very adventurous. If you want to get from one place to another, you usually cannot book a private shuttle. Instead, you will have to hop on a public “chicken” bus, retired American school buses the U.S. government deemed too old and broken to transport children, but were given a second life in Central America. In many towns, you also have the opportunity to rent motorcycles. If you have never ridden one before, don’t worry – they neither require a license nor experience, and the roads of El Salvador are so chaotic that you’ll become a pro by the time you make it to your destination. That is, so long as you weren’t sent flying by some knee-deep pothole or camouflaged speed bump. 

The biggest adrenaline rush (or panic attack) I had in El Salvador was a group tour of the Siete Cascadas or Seven Waterfalls near the town of Juayua, a 1 hour motorbike ride south of Santa Ana, where what I had expected to be a calm and peaceful stroll quickly turned into something out of the survival novel Robinson Crusoe. Walking barefoot through a jungle infested with spiders, snakes, and crabs – yes, crabs – I was so taken aback by the absurdity of my predicament that I didn’t even think to object when my tour guide (a 9-year-old, crab-catching boy called Cristian) told us to climb up the waterfalls rather than go around them. “I don’t think this tour was approved by the Salvadorian Health and Safety Department,” I half-joked, latching on to the slippery, moss-covered rocks and praying I would live another day. 

As much as I ended up enjoying my stay, I originally didn’t plan on visiting El Salvador. Although I had heard of what Bukele was doing, I still pictured the country as it was in the past, the way it looked when I saw it on the news, or in an episode of World’s Toughest Prisons. Instead, I thought that I would spend more time in what the media portrayed as its safer, friendlier neighbor: Guatemala. Ironically, it was Guatemala that proved to be more unpredictable as, mere days after I entered El Salvador, rightfully-outraged Guatemalans clashed with law enforcement and barricaded the borders. Weeks later, they still haven’t managed to stop the old government from persecuting their president-elect. But that’s a different story. 

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Meet Colorado’s latest cannabis entrepreneurs: bus drivers. 

Earlier this year, the state began doling out licenses to businesses providing 4/20-friendly bus tours. 

The first business to receive such a business, Cannabis Experience, hit the road in early March in Denver.

Local news station Denver7 reported at the time that the Denver Department of Excise and Licenses, which issued the license, “believes it may be the first and only licensed mobile marijuana hospitality establishment in the nation.”

The company’s CEO, Sarah Woodson, explained to the station how the business would operate:

“There are several rules guests must follow. Woodson says IDs will be checked, and safe consumption information will be shared before the tour begins. Guests will be allowed to smoke on the bus, but marijuana won’t be sold during the ride. Non-alcoholic beverages and food will also be available for guests to enjoy. As far as tours go, Woodson says there will be a variety of options, including airport pickup and drop-off.”

Riders have to bring their own weed to Cannabis Experience, but if they’re dry, the drivers will bring them to local dispensaries. 

According to the Denver Post, cannabis bus tour companies must comply with a bevy of local regulations.

“Denver requires marijuana buses have a GPS tracking system and ventilation that prevents second-hand smoke from reaching the driver. They are also required to submit pre-planned driving routes as well as timely updates if the routes change. That’s one reason The Cannabis Experience will start by picking up and dropping off airport travelers, as well as two of its tours, at Union Station,” the newspaper reported.

“Because we’re first, there’s going to be a learning curve on how everything is going to work as smoothly as possible,” Woodson told the Denver Post.

Other entrepreneurs have gotten in on the act, seeking licenses from local retailers. 

Local station 9NEWS reported last month that three other businesses “have applied for the city’s new marijuana mobile hospitality license, which allows people to legally smoke weed while riding a bus.”

The station noted that Denver has made such licenses available only to “social equity” applicants who must meet one of the following requirements: “The applicant resided for at least 15 years between 1980 and 2010 in certain neighborhoods”; “The applicant or applicant’s family member was arrested for a marijuana offense, convicted of a marijuana offense, or was subject to a civil asset forfeiture related to a marijuana investigation”; “The applicant’s household income in the previous year was less than 50% of the state median income for that household size.”

While businesses like Cannabis Experience represent the first state-licensed companies of their kind, there have been other unregulated weed-friendly bus tours in Colorado before.

As the Denver Post noted, such businesses began to surface when recreational pot sales began a decade ago.

“In 2018, for example, undercover cops raided local marijuana tour buses and cited many customers and employees for participating in unlawful activities. At the time, ironically, city regulators were considering legalizing the business model,” the Post said. “The conundrum highlighted a gap in Colorado’s then-newly minted marijuana market: Locals and visitors had a plethora of places where they could legally buy products, but nowhere except a private residence they could legally consume.”

The newspaper continued: “That’s why, in 2019, state regulators developed the marijuana hospitality license, which allowed for a new type of business where patrons could smoke, eat or vape cannabis onsite. Hospitality establishments have been slow to get off the ground, however, as municipalities need to opt in to allow them. The first chance cities had to do so was Jan. 1, 2020, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, few did so immediately. Denver didn’t open applications until November 2021.”

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With the debut of The Sphere in Las Vegas, Nevada and the growing updates for entertainment and tourism, officials are slowly moving forward with consumption lounge license approval. On July 25, the Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board (CCB) approved the state’s first conditional license for a stand-alone cannabis consumption lounge.

The first winning license belongs to LA Lounge LLC, which is the first independent company that’s not connected to a dispensary. According to KTNV Las Vegas, the owners don’t have a location picked out yet, but once they do it will need to be inspected by the CCB before beginning operation. Once a business receives a license, they have one year to get things up and running.

The first round of consumption lounge licenses were approved in June, which included Planet 13 and Thrive Cannabis Marketplace in Clark County, and The Venue at SoL Cannabis in Washoe County. These businesses could see their consumption lounges open up by the end of 2023, if they receive final approval from the CCB. “We get asked about it daily by most customers,” said David Farris, Vice President of Sales and Marketing with Planet 13.

Recently, CCB Executive Director Tyler Klimas confirmed that things are progressing well. “It sounds like we will likely see some consumption lounges open by the end of the year, maybe some as soon as October,” Klimas said, according to KTNV Las Vegas. At the most recent meeting, the CCB also adopted new regulations for air ventilation requirements that are supposed to make it easier for applicants to comply with.

Another prospective license owner, Chandler Cooks, attended the July 25 meeting. He told KTNV Las Vegas that he plans to open a lounge called Moulin Noir in downtown Las Vegas. “We already submitted everything that is required of us, so we are hoping to be at the next CCB meeting and get the conditional license,” Cooks said. “Ideally, we would like to be open by January. We want to beat the curve for Super Bowl.” The next CCB meeting will be held on August 22 for more potential licenses to be granted. 

Consumption lounges were approved in June 2022. Prior to that, visitors and residents could only consume cannabis within a private residence. Forty conditional licenses were approved last fall. “We will do sit down interviews and make sure we understand their ownership structure and their business plan and then they will come in front of the board and the board will determine them suitable or not to proceed to perfecting their license,” Klimas said at the time. 

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported in January that 38.8 million people visited Las Vegas in 2022. While the state of Nevada stands to benefit greatly from its consumption lounges, other states have also been progressing with public consumption locations as well.

In California, consumption lounges are in full swing in places like San Francisco, which has a rich history with lounges during its early medical cannabis era. Alaska adopted early rules for consumption lounges in 2018, and the first one opened in 2021. Colorado started accepting license applications back in 2021, and so far there are a few private lounges that are currently available. 

Other states such as Massachusetts have approved social consumption programs but have not yet finalized plans. Most recently in June and July, the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) held listening sessions for social consumption “to hear from stakeholders prior to drafting new policies. After draft regulations are prepared and published, there will be notice of a formal public comment period as an opportunity to provide additional feedback.”

In May, Massachusetts Gaming Commissioner Bruce Stebbins explained that the state’s pilot program would be “burdensome and expensive” and the CCC scrapped it in favor of a more streamlined process.

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