How to travel with weed: practical tips for flying, driving, camping, and hotels, plus what to know about state laws and TSA.

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The long weekend of Memorial Day gives us the opportunity to celebrate—servicemen, the coming of summer, time spent with our favorite people. Whether you’re throwing a party, taking a trip, or heading to a more rustic setting for some R&R, cannabis pairs perfectly with all of them.  Thirty-six states have legalized cannabis for adult (aka […]

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Berlin, Barcelona, and Bangkok—oh my!

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Rapid-Release Edibles

Edibles are growing in popularity, but typically less popular compared to smoking as a delivery method because of the long onset of effects and unpredictability. Today many companies employ nanoemulsion technology in the development of their products to speed up the effects. Cannabinoids are broken into tiny particles around 100 nanometers in size, making them more easily absorbed by the body, as they can pass through the blood-brain barrier faster. Dosing is much easier in the regulated adult-use era, and you can calculate and predict your high within 5 mg dose increments of THC. There’s no smell and they kick in fast.

Vape Pens

You won’t always have a suitable place to grind up herb and pack a bowl or a bong, so travel sometimes calls for the use of vape pens. On the smell scale, most vape pens produce quite a bit less odor than smoking joints, pipes, or blunts. The weak vapor odors tend to dissipate quickly, in say, a hotel room, especially when the concentrate is encased in a cart. Dry flower vaporizer smells are even harder to detect after a few moments. The exceptions to this include sticky live resin, rosin, and various solventless pens and devices that are loud, pungent, and can also blow your cover, but you won’t have the smoky smell from combustion.

Toke On-The-Go

This is pretty much the only feasible way to smoke dry flower if you’re say, backpacking through Europe or hiking in the mountains. Dugouts, batters, the Original Sneak A Toke, knockoffs, and other travel devices are great when you have to stick a pipe in your pocket. A dugout is a compact storage device designed to hold a small amount of pot and a one-hitter pipe. They have a compartment to store a small, bowl-sized amount of weed. A batter is a small metal one-hitter pipe that is often included with a dugout. Dozens of similar products can be found today.

Capsules

This delivery method is not quite as rock ‘n’ roll as smoking a doobie, but is the most low-key way to get high when you’re out and about. Nowadays you can buy tablets with THC, CBD, and so on in microdoses or full doses. Capsules provide effects that last hours longer than smoking or vaping. THC concentrate is often mixed with a vegetable oil, because THC is not water soluble. Different THC potencies usually range from 2 mg microdoses to 100 mg capsules. And yes, CBD capsules are clearly over-marketed but are also helpful for people with specific needs. Try Rick Simpson Oil (RSO) capsules instead of a cheap distillate capsule for full-spectrum effects and likely more health benefits.

Smoking Hygiene

Or you could just smoke and lay low. If you live in a legal state and have a place to sesh, you still don’t want to be judged for smoking. Simple hygiene can rid yourself of the telltale odors and red eyes that can blow your cover. Fix those red eyes with some Visine or Clear Eyes. Smoking weed decreases blood pressure in places including your eyes, dilating the blood vessels and making them appear slightly red. Reduce the smell, too. The skunky pot odor might linger on your skin, so wash thoroughly, and add distilled vinegar or baking soda to your detergent to get rid of terpene scents that can linger on your clothes as well.

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

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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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Since breaking through with Sixteen Stone in 1994, Bush’s Gavin Rossdale has been a music industry mainstay. The debut album peaked at #4 on the Billboard charts, leading to successful albums and side projects over the next three decades.

The band’s debut release, known for hits like “Machinehead” and “Glycerine,” solidified Bush’s 90s legacy. They continued with chart-topping releases, including 1996’s follow-up Razorblade Suitcase, and maintained momentum through the 2000s. Their latest album, The Art of Survival, released in 2022. 

The combined endeavors created a lasting impact in the ears and minds of listeners, amassing 24 million records sold and over a billion streams across various platforms. With Gen-Z leading a 90s revival in recent years, the band has earned scores more fans while reminding older listeners that unlike some 90s acts, Bush isn’t a nostalgia act. 

That’s great and all, but why are we talking about this in a weed publication?

Great question! It all boils down to authenticity. Gavin Rossdale’s eager engagement with New York’s weed culture, exploring both licensed and unlicensed scenes, stands out in the saturated world of celebrity weed narratives that few others have been willing to embark on. In doing so, he created a lasting experience for himself and hopefully readers. 

The Licensed Dispensary Experience

We introduced Rossdale to New York’s licensed cannabis scene with a stop at The Travel Agency in Union Square, a sleek, all-white interior dispensary with discreet marketing, thanks to state laws. Despite its unassuming street presence, marked only by a small sign above eye level, a joint-styled art installation in the window lets passersby know what’s inside.

Rossdale mentioned previously visiting one of the city’s untold number of unlicensed shops in the city. He discussed how the shop gave off a lack of trust and fostered shopper uncertainty about product quality and trust. 

“You’re just basically buying it old school from some dude on the corner,” he remarked. Rossdale felt similarly uncertain about licensed shop products, likely due to his unfamiliarity with many of the brands sold in the store and an inability to smell flower. 

However, he took a keen interest in learning. Photographer Jhalil D. Wright and I peppered Rossdale with facts about the market, products, and particular brands. Typically, this type of info dump leads many to tune out or lose interest. To the singer’s credit, he soaked up the information, showing an eagerness to learn about topics like market trust, sprayed terps, and drying and curing methods.

While shopping, the Bush frontman discussed his preference for smoking flower and largely avoiding pre-rolls. After browsing for a few minutes, Rossdale bought an eighth of Mimosa from Etain despite the restrictions on examining product before buying. He also scooped up edibles from Eaton Botanticals, infused olive oil from Chef for Higher, and Flintts Mints.

The experience was fine enough, or at least as much as a shop can deliver under New York law. But, like many legacy consumers, Rossdale seemed to be seeking something more hands-on. To get that, we visited the underground hotspot Astor Club. 

On the ride over, Rossdale discussed his preferences for weed over alcohol, stating that drinking and hangovers do not benefit singers while on tour. No matter the substance, Rossdale likes to remember that it should amplify the moment or intention, not bring someone down. He’s shared this with his three sons under-18. 

He emphasized the importance of telling them the truth. “Use it to amplify the moment instead of pull you down,” he explained. “My main thing is just to be a guy, to be helpful, not a hypocrite,” he said, noting that pot makes him feel creative. To maintain the effects to his ideal level, Rossdale tends to consume every few days. 

The Legacy Experience

At Astor Club, Rossdale found the cannabis experience he was looking for. No shade to The Travel Agency or any other licensed spot. It’s not their fault. The current state and federal regulations don’t allow dispensaries to compete with the flower or features found at underground meccas. On the other hand, Astor Club has cultivated a reputation for sourcing the top bud from elite producers across the country—all while creating an environment synonymous with the culture. 

After rolling up a J of Cookie Dough from Khashtree Mason, Rossdale was convinced. “It’s like Cristal Champagne,” he said, offering ample praise for the bud and the lounge. The Bush founder was so fond of the strain that he almost stuck to it exclusively. Staff ended up reminding him of their extensive menu, all top tier options in their own right. Eventually, a few different strains were selected and smoked.  

After smoking another J, Rossdale discussed his career and personal life in-depth. Feeling that living with intention, learning, and striving to improve are all important, he said, “You have to put everything into it.” As evidenced by Bush’s new harder rock and detuned sound, Rossdale said he loves finding new sounds and ways to play music, as evidenced by the detuned sound on the band’s 2022 album The Art of Survival. 

A greatest hits album, Loaded, was released in October 2023. Originally hesitant to put out a hits compilation and be seen as a fading act, Rossdale is now eager to see the band’s top works compiled together. 

“It’s been really fun to look back and see what those songs have done for other people,” Rossdale said, sharing a similar feeling when playing live. “When I play those big crowds, it’s really fun, because there’s all these memories emanating like shooting stars out of all the audiences.” The band embarks on a summer tour starting June 1. 

Despite the ongoing passion for music and performing, Rossdale does see retirement happening at some point. A self-proclaimed fan of restaurants and food, he recently put his passion on screen hosting his own celebrity cooking show, Rockstar Kitchen Chronicles, featuring guests such as Tom Jones and Jack McBrayer. 

Despite a love for food, music, the plant, and more, Rossdale envisions dogs as his ideal next career. “I would like to run a huge ranch for rescue dogs and animals,” he said. 

Enamored with the menu of choices, Rossdale, Jhalil and I departed Astor Club with a few more selections, including more Cookie Dough and Moon Doh from Archive. 

An Authentic Celebrity Experience

Credit to Rossdale and his public relations team. All too often, PR will pitch Zoom interviews and carefully curated celebrity press ops that blanket numerous outlets and reporters, often regurgitating the same talking points no matter the outlet. 

After years of writing up celeb features that didn’t do much for the plant or reader, I have chosen to steer clear of most star-studded coverage, especially those making the media rounds hawking their new seeds, strain, brand, etc. Rossdale was no doubt in press mode, promoting his new tour and latest single. But unlike far too many celebrities, he didn’t have a stake in the weed game. He just wanted to pick up, smoke, and talk shop. 

This simple, authentic concept is one few outside of hip hop have even flirted with on the record. And that’s a damn shame. The standard media approach does little for readers and, as sales seem to indicate, it does little to help most brands boost sales or awareness. Rather than Zoom-ing or calling it to discuss a fondness for weed, Rossdale showed up, discussed his own experiences, and demonstrated an authentic desire to learn more. In doing so, he got to see both sides of New York City’s weed community, and got hella high in the process. And, unless I fucked up in my role as the storyteller here, the Rossdale approach makes for a better story every time. 

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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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Gezellig is a fantastic Dutch word that encompasses a whole mood and defies translation. I think it means a combination of things: the warm feeling of belonging, being in the right place at the perfect time, surrounded by the most genial company. You hear the word a lot in Amsterdam; the concept of gezellig is at the heart of Dutch culture. Finding the sweet moment, relaxing into it, being as cozy and comfortable as possible… it’s a prescription for any stressed-out modern soul.

Factor in the world’s best hash and cannabis, set against the twinkly Advent-calendar beauty of the “Venice of the North,” and you’re in absolute heaven. Every time I’ve visited Amsterdam, I’ve experienced this untranslatable feeling. It’s potent stuff—a swirl of strong coffee and ice-cold foamy glasses of beer, bicycle bells dinging, and rose-ringed parakeets flitting through the Vondelpark in late-afternoon sunshine, all suffused by the sweet aromas of weed and hash.

When I booked a trip to Amsterdam last summer while dreaming of my previous hazy visits, I considered the perils of pining for bygone days. To quote author Brené Brown, “Nostalgia is… a dangerous form of comparison. Think about how often we compare our lives to a memory that nostalgia has so completely edited that it never really existed.” This would be my first trip to the Netherlands in almost a decade, and I was curious to see how the city’s legendary cannabis culture had evolved—or, perhaps, declined, with Barcelona’s rise to prominence as a new European weed capital.

In 2013, I worked the 26th Annual Amsterdam High Times Cannabis Cup during a long November week that lives in my head as a series of frosty snapshots. I judged the Seed Company Sativa category and was a live wire for five straight days as I sampled 21 strains from legendary outfits like Elemental Seeds, Reserva Privada, and Karma Genetics. That year’s winners were genetic heavyweights Tangie, Sour Power, and a super-tasty Sour Diesel cross called Headbanger.

Dutch authorities shut down the Cannabis Cup Expo at the last minute that year, and the High Times staff had to scramble to keep vendors and attendees happy. I remember a lot of long, chilly walks along glittering canals, shuttling back and forth to shows at the Melkweg from coffeeshops that had entered the competition. My judges’ kit powered me through it all like a little weed jetpack, especially on the night my phone died, and I got hopelessly lost. Fortunately, I somehow found my way to the judges’ dinner, where I was enveloped in a cloud of good cheer and great smoke. Gezellig!

This time around, my travel companion and I had no plans beyond eating, smoking, and visiting museums for three days to unwind after a few weeks in the U.K. Our train from London pulled into Amsterdam Central Station at 4:20 p.m. We were in the flow. We dropped our bags at our hotel and headed right for the iconic coffeeshop Green House in the area known as De Wallen, or the red light district.

We pulled up as the sky was darkening into evening shades of purple. The neon sign in the window cast an amber glow over the scene humming in the coffeeshop. It was cinematic and gorgeous, and it smelled great. A laughing girl bumped into me on her way out as we ducked inside. I could feel the days I’d spent in London melting off me, almost hissing as they swirled away. We were in the right place at the right moment. What a relief. My memories of Amsterdam weren’t nostalgic; this was now.

Inside the glow of Green House, we were greeted by Joa Helms, the CEO of the Green House Seed Company. He gestured to the menu on the wall illuminated behind the busy budtenders and asked what we wanted to sample. “Super Lemon Haze, of course,” Helms said with a grin, “and how about some Ztrawberry?” We gratefully—almost wordlessly, I think—sank into a booth next to the window with the two packets of flower he handed us, along with rolling papers and a grinder. “It’s made from hemp,” Helms said of the grinder, as he departed into the night with a friendly wave, leaving us with our treasures.

Green House Seed Company has won countless awards for legendary strains like White Widow and Super Silver Haze, as well as for Super Silver’s progeny, Super Lemon Haze, which won back-to-back Cannabis Cups in 2008 and 2009. As my friend and I stuck our noses into the bags of flower to determine which way our evening would bend, one sniff of Super Lemon Haze was all we needed to know how it was going to go. Roll up, smoke, relax, repeat.

We floated out of Green House into the cool September night after a while, turning left, right, and left again on our evening adventure. We babbled through our Haze-y buzz as we passed by sex workers posing in windows, their neon lingerie popping under black lights with drapes barely concealing rudimentary beds just behind them. Moving through a crush of tourists with unclothed bodies on display for the gawking masses was elemental and deeply weird, but it also felt exactly right because I knew this would likely be the last time we’d see De Wallen like this.

In a move billed as an antidote to the effects of hedonistic tourism, the Dutch government has hatched a plan to relocate the red light district to the outskirts of town. The proposal would shut down sex workers’ windows in an attempt to reset the city as a family-friendly destination. Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema is leading the charge to redefine the city’s reputation—and she also wants to ban non-residents in coffeeshops by enforcing a national residents-only rule. Halsema says that banning tourists from coffeeshops is unavoidable in order to tackle tourist nuisances that arise from the “soft drug” sector—i.e. cannabis.

My friend and I chatted about the complicated nature of sex work and drug culture as we strolled along the canals. Prostitution in Amsterdam has been legal and regulated since 2000. Cannabis, however, has never been legal in the Netherlands—the government’s policies tolerate the possession and sale of small quantities of weed and psilocybin, and it’s decriminalized for personal use, but it’s not legal. And for decades, that was just fine, until conservatives like Halsema decided it wasn’t. The tide has turned for the counterculture in Amsterdam as politicians debate about what’s best for the city. It’s certainly the end of an era.

As we finally made our way back to our hotel, my buzz was wearing thin, but my bud stopped to roll up some Ztrawberry, popping open our second fragrant pouch. We perched next to each other on the edge of a canal barge, watched by a well-fed cat who sat cleaning its puffy tail with an eye on us. I was pretty faded after our glowy Super Lemon Haze’d evening, and I was ready to call it quits. But the click of my friend’s lighter and the pass of a joint turned it all around. 

Ztrawberry is a Runtz x A.M.S. cross—it’s got a heavy kick from its Gelato parent sweetness, which fades to a perfect, heady buzz. Holy smokes, I thought, sitting on the edge of the canal barge as I gazed back at the Dutch cat. OK, you are NOT TIRED. You feel great. You feel clear and calm, and in the perfect state of being… oh, wait, this is… yes, it’s gezellig.

This article was originally published in the January 2023 issue of High Times Magazine.

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Discover why they call New Mexico “The Land of Enchantment” with these activities that are geared more for smoker-friendly tourists seeking a magical adventure. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed legislation to legalize adult-use cannabis in New Mexico in 2021. Even though adult-use cannabis is legal in New Mexico, there are still laws in place regulating cannabis from seed to consumption.

Speaking of cannabis, the High Times Cannabis Cup New Mexico: People’s Choice Edition 2023 is scheduled to take place Dec. 9 at the Rio Rancho Events Center in Albuquerque, with a headlining act from the iconic duo, Method Man and Redman. It’s here that anyone can be the judge to determine the best weed New Mexico has to offer.

Below we list must-see attractions in New Mexico that will keep you busy during your stay in the desert dreamland, where you can see the stars in the sky and get a taste of Southwestern art.

International UFO Museum and Research Center in Roswell

Ufologists agree that Roswell is one of the top UFO hotspots on the planet. In 1947, an unidentified craft crashed into the ground in Roswell, and wreckage from a “flying disc” was recovered on the property of a local rancher. Local, typically credible papers ran with the story. The most logical first stop is the International UFO Museum and Research Center, and the tourist traps around it.

The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum 

The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum is ground zero for the artist’s finest work with a collection of 3,000 pieces including 140 oil paintings, 700 drawings, and hundreds of other works. O’Keeffe was known for her powerfully direct approach to expressing the divine role of females, and she experimented with peyote. The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum  located a few blocks northwest of the Santa Fe Plaza in downtown Santa Fe.

Gila Cliff Dwellings

Nomads used the caves above Cliff Dweller Creek as temporary shelter about 1,000 years ago. In the late 1200s, people of the agricultural Mogollon (Southern Ancestral Pueblo) culture settled there, built rooms, crafted pottery, and raised children in the cliff dwellings for one or two generations. By approximately 1300, the Mogollon had moved on from the Gila Cliff Dwellings.

The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi

Santa Fe is a very old city, especially by American standards. In 1598, the Spanish declared Santa Fe “New Spain” initially. While most of The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi was built in 1886, an older church used to exist on the same site, built in 1626, but was destroyed in the 1680 Pueblo Revolt. Catholic or not, this cathedral has history. 

New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science

The New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science in Albuquerque offers a fun and interactive experience. The museum’s new hall, titled Ancient Life, features hundreds of never-before-seen fossils. The Planetarium has a 55-foot Sky-Skan Definiti, full-dome theater which is great for edibles.

Four Corners Monument

Here you can stand in New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado—simultaneously. The location is marked by a granite and brass plaque and surrounded by flags representing the tribal nations and states that share the region. At the site, you’ll find vendors selling homemade jewelry, pottery, crafts, and art. The cost to visit this monument is $5 per person.

Sandia Peak Aerial Tramway

Got a fear of heights? According to Trip Advisor, Sandia Peak Aerial Tramway is the state’s number one tourist destination. The tram takes visitors 2.7 miles and 10,378 feet up the Sandia Mountains. You can witness views of over 11,000 square miles of New Mexico from that vantage point.

Taos Pueblo

Taos is home to art galleries, hot springs, spellbinding scenery and excellent skiing opportunities. Most notably, Pueblo adobe dwellings that have lasted over 1,000 years. In Taos, visitors can choose between several museums: The Millicent Rogers Museum, Taos Art Museum at Fechin House, and the Kit Carson House & Museum.

Bandelier National Monument

With ruins that date back to 1150 CE, the Bandelier National Monument provides 33,000 acres of beautiful landscape, showing off New Mexico’s incredible natural wilderness. This includes homes carved into soft rock. You can see historical relics from the ancestral Pueblo tribes who built structures in the area for thousands of years.

Petroglyph National Monument

Petroglyph National Monument is home to nearly 25,000 petroglyphs, 90% of which are believed to have been drawn by ancient Pueblo people. Many of the meanings behind the petroglyphs is unknown. Drivers will have to pay $1 per vehicle on weekdays and $2 on weekends. 

White Sands National Park

Forget the Sahara Desert: White Sands National Park is a stunning dune-filled region located within the Tularosa Basin and it happens to be home to the earth’s largest gypsum dune field. More than 73,000 acres of white sand stretch out all the way to the horizon. 

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Carlsbad Caverns National Park is home to over 100 limestone caves. You can choose between two underground trails, The Big Room Trail and the Natural Entrance Trail. The former is the most popular route, taking visitors through one of the largest cave chambers in North America. You can witness 400,000 Brazilian free-tailed bats exit the cave in search of food each evening. 

Chaco Culture National Historical Park

Yet another Pueblo site, Chaco Culture National Historical Park was given its name in 2013 . No permanent outdoor lighting exists in order to protect nocturnal wildlife and the natural rhythms of humans and plants that depend on an unaltered night sky. Within the park, visitors can see evidence of the huge structures built by the Ancestral Pueblo people between 850 and 1250 AD.

High Times Cannabis Cup New Mexico: People’s Choice Edition 2023

Or you can attend the High Times Cannabis Cup New Mexico: People’s Choice Edition 2023.

A live awards show is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 9 at the Rio Rancho Events Center in Albuquerque. The event will be headlined by Method Man and Redman, who will be joined by Devin the Dude, Paul Wall, Haizi Haze, and Lil’ Flip. New Mexico’s own will judge the cannabis and products that will prove their worth.

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Finding weed in Berlin is like going back in time. Sure, Germany has a medical cannabis program but it’s not Oklahoma. The regulations are very strict. You can’t just walk in off the street and start buying flowers and concentrates. It’s true that German legislators are working out plans for cannabis legalization, but adult-use cannabis dispensaries are estimated to be at least five years away. To find cannabis in Berlin, you gotta do it the old-fashioned way. You need a plug. A weedman. You gotta find somebody at the reggae club that looks trustworthy. Or maybe you put out the word on the internet (a few well chosen search words could probably lead you to an instant gram, if you catch my drift) and now you have a random Berliner sending you a menu on WhatsApp or Signal. 

It’s like going back in time. Weed is weed. Some cats are experts, but most of the folks you meet don’t really know the names of the strains they are trying to sell you. I found something nice, and my friends and I decided it was Northern Lights 5 (NL5) x Haze. It had that cream soda mixed with pinene aroma indicative of NL5 x Haze, and it is the kind of strain a story about time travel should have, but the guy who gave it to me didn’t know the name. It was just “weed” 1998 style.

“So basically, when we talk cannabis in Germany, there are two strains for the people: Haze and Standard. That’s everything.” So says my homie “Cakez” from the Gas crew, a loose knit collective of premium German gas growers. He has been a weedman in Berlin for 20 years, and is starting a legit grow in Canada, with an eye toward exporting to the legal German market when the time is right. We sat in his friend’s apartment, smoking his signature strain, known as Gascakez. I should add that on the elevator ride to the apartment, one of his neighbors complained about the smell of cannabis emanating from the building. (They had this whole conversation in Turkish while I stood around looking cute. Cakez speaks like four languages.) Cakez talked him down and everything proceeded smoothly. What Cakez didn’t mention is that his homie’s apartment has a grow room accessible via a secret panel, and they had just harvested, so the cannabis curing in the bathroom was stinking up the building. Remember growing weed in secret? Time travel. Cakez had a nice setup. LED lights do a lot to reduce suspicion. The grow room is small, maybe 3 x 10 feet, but the plants look great and it feels kind of good to be an outlaw again, even if only for a few hours. Cakez tells me that for the longest time, folks would smuggle weed and hash from the Netherlands, but with growing international interest in German cannabis policies, the weed is getting better and people are starting to learn.

“There’s one thing that has to happen here in Germany. The people have to get educated too. Don’t mix the cannabis with the tobacco. You can’t mix diesel fuel with gasoline, the car is not gonna work,” he says. Vroom vroom.

To be fair, the German cannabis scene isn’t all underground drug deals and clandestine meetups for dime bags. In Berlin, cannabis is somewhat tolerated by the authorities, and there is a growing (heh) “chronnissuer” scene. I was able to check out two events: the Mary Jane Berlin festival and the Full Moon Sesh. The Mary Jane Berlin is your typical trade show/cannabis event. There are lots of booths selling seeds and grow gear and rosin presses and whatnot. Plus there was a really nice outdoor area with plenty of places to smoke and a bunch of cool people to smoke with. The German medical cannabis program imports a bunch of pot from Canada and Israel, and some of it manages to show up at these sorts of events. I smoked a homegrown Israeli Creme Brulee (very nice flavor and excellent smooth effects), and I managed to get some Triple Sec (fruity and mellow) from the Israeli company known as Space Labs. 

Apparently, German medical cannabis standards are very strict. Medical cannabis producers love to use the word “pharmaceutical,” as in: “It’s not the same medical as California. It’s pharmaceutical grade. So it’s much more strict. You have to cultivate and process and eventually package everything by [European Union Good Manufacturing Practice] standouts, very similar to pharmaceuticals. And we can only be distributed to pharmacies, OK?” OK. I get it. Sheesh. It was hella good though. I gotta say that smoking medical cannabis on a party boat overlooking the Spree river on a sunny day was very therapeutic. Just what the doctor ordered. 

The Full Moon Sesh is a week-long cannabis concentrates competition. Say that three times fast. A tongue twister and a tantalizing terp-fest. Hash makers from all over the world managed to sneak some of their finest creations into Berlin. I didn’t catch all of the events, but I managed to make it to the awards session and it was great to see the hash heads in all their glory. I got to sit next to Dank Duchess and Mila the Hash Queen while they compared notes and talked shop. All the dabs were great and I really enjoyed the Banana from California-based company Hash & Flowers. There were some other ones as well, but I was too high to write things down. Probably because Terpy (a social club in Barcelona) was handing out small but mighty infused pretzels (250 mg THC each). Things got kinda blurry after that and I didn’t even eat the whole pretzel. 

To sum it up: Berlin has good weed, but you gotta hunt for it a little bit. As a canna-tourist, the best bet is to show up during a weed fest. If you don’t, you run the risk of having to find good weed the old-fashioned way. Viel glück!

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