Johnny Welsh - Weedgalized in Colorado: True Tales From the High Country

Authors Note

Im a bartender. For nearly two decades, Ive earned my living mixing and serving drinks in Frisco, Colorado, in the heart of Colorado ski country.

Frisco, a tiny mountain town, is an undiscovered gem compared to its more worldly Summit County neighbors like Aspen, Vail, and Breckenridge. Our little town sits in the middle of seven of some of the best ski mountains in the state, and our summers are quite beautiful.

I work in several local bars. People tend to talk pretty openly to bartenders. I have seen and heard the finest people doing the poorest things, and the poorest in character doing the finest things. I make no comments on what I see, and keep private things private. People ask me about sports, sex, psychology, local activities, where to park, where to eat, stocks, and wait, oh yes, sex again.

Even so, I was unprepared for the volume of questions and stories that arose about the cannabis industry when Coloradans voted, on November 6, 2012, to legalize pot. Customer curiosity exploded when the bill became law, and the first recreational pot shops opened January 1, 2014. I was overwhelmed by the amount of discussion. Never before had there been this much fervor behind a topic discussed at the bars where I work. Interest has yet to wane.

For years, my favorite greeting to visitors, tourists, and new arrivals was, Welcome to the high country. I was referring to the elevation and especially the grandeur of our beautiful state. We have the highest elevated city in the country (Leadville, 10,430 feet); the highest paved road (on Mt. Evans, 14,258 feet); and the highest highway tunnel (Eisenhower Tunnel, 11,000 feet). But now the high country has a whole new meaning.

Stories I Get Stories

It didnt take me long to realize I was in a unique position to provide an eyewitness report on the real-world impact of Colorados marijuana laws. The stories I heard from my customers, a broad mix of locals and tourists, covered an unusual breadth and depth of experiences. They ranged from the uneasy feelings about legalization to the nonstop search for new ways to find both fun and profit in legal weed. I was dying to share these stories and to hear more. It was time to get out from behind the bar.

Out from Behind the Bar

I began to compile my favorite anecdotes from the bar, and I pulled together a team of great people to help me brainstorm topics and collect interviews. We knew there were obvious people to talk with, like dispensary owners, but we also wanted to learn more about the people impacted by legalization who werent in the public eye. People like the proprietors of new, related businesses, and the s, the nurses, the illegal dealers, and even the Town Stoner.

Some of the team are in the food and beverage industry, one is in the computer industry, and a few are entrepreneurs. One of us has never smoked marijuana, one has in the past but doesnt anymore, two are casual or rare users, and one is a regular user. We set up a mastermind meeting and created a mission: to deliver lighthearted, grassroots (yes, yes, I know) accounts of an unprecedented event the legalization of marijuana in Colorado and its first eighteen months of mayhem.

What to Expect

If youre looking for a definitive guidebook or journalistic investigation, this isnt the book for you. As I said, Im a bartender. But on the other hand, if you want to learn what its really like to live in the first state in America to legalize marijuana, youre probably in the right place. Youll find answers to the questions my customers ask all the time: Hey, how is it really going over there? Is it reefer madness? Are there people coming in from all over because of it? Has crime gone up or down? Do they really make bears with pot in them? What is it like going into a pot shop?

I wont tell you how to open a dispensary or make a living in this fledgling industry, but youll glean plenty of tips from glimpses into the minds of people who are already doing just that. Youll find stories from people who make their living solely from this newly legalized industry: the business tycoon, the cannabis expert, the franchise guru, the medical healer, the promoter, and the cannabis activist.