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Pets and Marijuana

Posted on March 9, 2019 - 9:00 am

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I have a year-old pug named Yoda. He’s awesome. But a week ago, he was running everywhere, jumping off furniture as he chased my cat, and then something changed. He walked over to my front door and stood there on wobbling legs with his tail between his legs. He threw up on the floor. Of course, I freaked out and took him to the vet… three hundred dollars later, I was told that Yoda ate some marijuana.

I didn’t believe it at first. I have children in my home, so I follow the precautions: all my flower and edibles are locked up in a safe, so unless Yoda sprouted some thumbs and found my keys, there’s no way he could’ve gotten into my stash. So, I laughed off what the vet said, even though all Yoda wanted to do was lie around and drink water like a typical stoner. But a week later, when Yoda got high again, I started believing the vet, and I tried to figure out how my pug was getting into my stash by watching him like a spy.

The one weird thing I noticed was that Yoda would beg to go in my backyard even after I walked him. That’s when it hit me. I smoke on my back porch, and when my bowl is almost done, I blow it out into the snow. Usually, eating raw flower doesn’t get you high (even if you’re a toy-breed dog) because it hasn’t been decarboxylated, but since those cashed bowls were partially burnt, the THC had been activated, and Yoda loved it… I went out with him and caught Yoda trying to find pot by sniffing around like a truffle-hunting pig. Apparently, he loves the stuff, and now, I have to plan a puppy intervention.

To back up a little bit, pot is just as innocuous for pets as it is for humans, but the problem is that pets don’t understand what it means to get high—when we smoke pot, we expect a mental change, but pets don’t, so when it hits, they get scared (like Yoda with his tail between his legs). My vet said the same thing when I took in Yoda. She also said the high would pass for Yoda just like it does for humans, but that he’d need to be kept in a dark, quiet place until it did. The other problem for pets, she said, is that they’re so small; even the littlest amount of activated THC will get an animal crazy-baked.

So, my first point in this blog is to be extra careful with your cannabis if you have pets in your house. Actually, you should be careful with your cannabis even if you don’t have pets because if you throw a half-smoked joint out your window, there’s a good chance someone like Yoda will find it and then cost his owner $300. Let’s not do that.

My second point, and the reason I’m writing this post, is that someone calls in at least once a day asking if we sell CBD products for animals. The answer is “no,” and the reason is that even though we sell CBD products, none of them is completely THC free, so there’s still a chance you’ll get your pet high. For the record, it’s perfectly legal to buy CBD products for your pet in a dispensary, and plenty of people do, but I’d recommend going to a pet store instead because their CBD products are hemp-derived, and as such, they’re completely THC-free. So instead of coming to our Durango dispensary for your pet, try The Pet Haus or Creature Comforts. Both pet stores are close to us, so you can simply swing by after getting something here for yourself. And both shops carry a wide selection of CBD products that’ve been formulated for pets—if you tell them the breed and size of your pet, and the issue you’re trying to combat with CBD, they’ll help you with recommendations and serving sizes. Neat, right?

Lastly, I’d like to point out that even though it’s my job to get you in here, in this post, I’m telling you to spend your money elsewhere. That should tell you something about our company. You’re allowed to bring your dog into our dispensary while you shop for yourself, but I’d recommend shopping only for yourself, and not your furry friend. To us, your pet’s safety is more important than selling you something, because after all, we really are Your Best Buds!

Best Bud of the Month: Gracie Grace Gordon, Shop Dog

Posted on January 19, 2019 - 9:00 am

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If we’re being honest, our Durango dispensary is more “Durango” than the other shops in town: our owners are FLC grads, and if they’re not here, one is rafting/skiing/biking while the other is fishing, and just about everyone else who works here wears one of those puffy coats that marks a bona fide local. But more importantly, we all have dogs (which is a Durangotan prerequisite), and yes, we bring them to work; there’s a whole pack in the back on a good day. For real, there’s simply something about working alongside dogs that tempers even the worst Monday. But there’s one dog in particular who’s here often enough to earn the title of “shop dog,” and she’s so wonderful that this month, she’s Your Best Bud: Gracie Grace Gordon.

Gracie has some Lab in her, but she’s too skinny and short-haired to be a purebred. She’s all the better for it though because she’s smarter and calmer than your average Lab, and she spends her hours here walking from employee to employee with her toenails clicking on the concrete as she asks for treats (it’s perfectly acceptable to offer her a bite of your sandwich, but you have to say “easy” in a serious voice while you feed her or she’ll “accidentally” eat your hand). Gracie is a sweet, old girl who just wants love or to play with her “ladybug,” but she’s always in the back, so you’ve probably never met the dog who brightens our days. This week, we’re going to fix that; here’s Gracie’s interview:

Q. Who’s a good girl?

Gracie. “Me.”

Q. When did you start working for The Greenery?

Gracie. “About twenty years ago (in dog years).”

Q. What’s your favorite way to enjoy marijuana?

Gracie. “I like eating grass. Does that count?”

Q. What’s your favorite outdoor activity?

Gracie. “You know, running, peeing, smelling; pretty much the same things you like to do.”

Q. Tell us about your pet.

Gracie. “Karen Gordon is my human. She’s The Greenery’s Chief Financial Officer, which has something to do with sitting all the time, but she’s super good at throwing things.”

Q. Which station do you stream while you’re working at The Greenery?

Gracie. “What?”

Q. What do you like most about working at The Greenery?

Gracie. “I like all the humans who work with me, because they have thumbs, so it’s easy for them to open the refrigerator.”

See what I mean? Gracie is awesome. She’s a loving pooch who has this uncanny ability to snap you out of a funk with a well-timed lick on your arm while you’re trying to type, and she’s a big part of why all the budtenders you meet have a smile on their faces when you come in. But more importantly, Gracie’s inclusion in our team says something about our company: we love dogs, and our company culture, one that was breed right here in Durango, makes room for our four-legged friends, and there’s nothing more “Durango” than that.

Actually, we love dogs so much that if they’re on a leash and well-behaved, you’re always welcome to bring yours into our dispensary while you shop. I promise your dog will appreciate the smells in here almost as much as you do, and it beats barking from your car in the parking lot any day. So, if you’re twenty-one or older with a valid I.D. proving it, come see us at 208 Parker Avenue and bring along your dog (he or she doesn’t need an I.D.). We’ll give you the best cannabis service and experience in town even if you bring your dogs, because we’re their Best Buds, too!

Changes in our Durango Dispensary

Posted on November 10, 2018 - 9:00 am

Change really is the only constant here at The Greenery, even though saying so sounds like a platitude. But change is a good thing because it means we’re listening to you, our customers. And you’ve been asking for all sorts of things, from flavored exotic vape cartridges to more affordable dabs to fast-acting edibles, so this week, I wanted to check in and tell you about all the new stuff that’s popping off here in our Durango dispensary.

First, let’s talk about people: Jen and Porter are the two newest additions to our team. Jen is the calm, professionally-dressed woman who seems to be catching onto the whole “budtender” thing more quickly than humanly possible, and Porter is the young gentleman with an excited smile who’s probably sold to you more than once if you’re a regular. And I wanted to start off by talking about these two because they’re both wonderful additions to our team, and they’ve made it their personal goals to give you the kind of experience that keeps people coming back to our Durango dispensary.

But if I’m being honest, I know you come here for cannabis, and the good service is just a bonus, so let’s talk about what’s new per the products we’re selling. For one, we’ve added House Wax and Shatter to our shelves. These products are exclusive to The Greenery because they’re made from our boutique flower, and the price is phenomenal—the House Wax sells for $30 per gram after tax, and you can walk out our door with a gram of House Shatter for only $35. Seriously, you won’t find a better dab for a better price in Durango.

Secondly, many of you have been asking for one-gram cartridges, and we listened. We’re selling 1000mg carts filled with terpene-rich distillate for $85, and even though that might sound like a large investment, it’s a wonderful value. Most 500mg carts are priced in the $60 range, so these 1000mg carts save you money if you look at it like you’re buying in bulk, and the distillate inside these large carts is as potent and tasty as it comes. You’ve also been asking for flavored cartridges as well, so once again, we listened, and were now selling distillate PAX Pods that come in an assortment of flavors like Creamsicle and Lime Sherbet (pot has never tasted so good).

And yes, the “fast-acting edibles” I mentioned in that first paragraph do in fact exist. I’ll tell you more about those next week, but we’re now selling gummies and powdered drink additives that are made with a water-soluble THC distillate, which means that these edibles can take effect in as few as thirty minutes. If you’re a fan of edibles, I don’t have to tell you that this is a gamechanger.

Now, if you’ve shopped here before, you know that we have a loyalty card program wherein you can get deep discounts the more you shop (for instance, your tenth pre-roll in our shop will cost you a dollar out the door). But many of you have been telling us you’d like more freedom with your rewards, so once again, we listened, and we rolled out an electronic rewards program. Aren’t we fancy?! I’ll write a dedicated blog about it when the time is right, but basically, we’re using an electronic system that tracks your purchases (so you don’t have to keep a punch card in your wallet), and you’ll be able to use your discounts on just about anything, which wasn’t the case before. Trust me, it’ll be much better.

Okay… that covers all the new stuff, but some things will never change, just like Tupac said—we still have the best cannabis in town, our budtenders are still about fifteen times more knowledgeable than the other guys, and your experience in our store matters to us just as much as the product we sell. And most importantly, we still listen to our customers and make the changes you request. So, if you’re over twenty-one with a valid I.D. proving as much and you’d like to see these changes for yourself, come see us at 208 Parker Avenue, because We’re Your Best Buds!

Seniors and Cannabis

Posted on November 3, 2018 - 9:00 am

Let me tell you a story…

We have to check everyone’s I.D. when they walk into our Durango dispensary—it doesn’t matter if we know them of if they’re obviously old enough to be our grandparents, because rules are rules. But I always feel a bit odd when I ask someone from the Greatest Generation for their driver’s license, and they always look at me like I’m a bit odd for asking. And the other day, a gentleman walked in, I asked to see his I.D., he looked at me like I was daft before he fished it out, and then my mind exploded when I saw his birthday: he was born in 1927.

I’m sure you already did the math, but that gentleman was 91 years old. It was easy to see that he was still all there mentally speaking: he had a quick wit, his eyes were bright, he walked around as easily as the rest of us, and he just wanted to get high.

Does that seem strange to you? Is it easier to picture an old man cupping a glass of whiskey than it is to imagine an old man smoking a joint? If we’re being honest, the answer is “yes” because the collective paradigm per marijuana was quite a bit different a few decades ago, and growing up around all the misinformation usually makes it so the elderly think about cannabis in a negative light. Think about it: that ninety-one-years-old man was nine-years-old when “Reefer Madness” made its horrific debut in theaters. If you’re not familiar with the movie, it was a piece of glorified propaganda. It depicted young men and women smoking the reefer and then going into crazed states of sexual abandon and going on crime sprees (you know, kinda like what alcohol does in reality). Believe it or not, the original title of the movie was going to be “Tell Your Children,” and the film was backed by a few people who waned to keep marijuana illegal for monetary reasons (you can read about that HERE).

Anyway, I talked for a while with that old man about his views on cannabis, and he told me that he was too old to care what other people thought. He told me that he used to be against marijuana because “that’s just the way it was” back in his day, and he told me that he wanted to see for himself what all the hubbub was about. So, I sold him a joint, shook his hand, and then checked his I.D. two days later when he came back for more. Isn’t that great?

And that man isn’t alone. One of our regular customers is a sweet lady who always wears floral dresses, and her I.D. shows a birthday from the thirties; she comes in once every week for cannabis salve. I’ve sold pot to wheelchair-bound men in their eighties, I’ve sold it to whole knitting circles of elderly women who want to make their book clubs more fun, and if I’m being honest, I sell to seniors just as often as I sell to millennials—believe it or not, our average customer is in their forties.

Do you know why? Well, it’s because The Greenery is the local shop for grownups. Customer service is just as important to us as the products we sell, so all our budtenders are trained thoroughly. You won’t find the archetypical stoned budtender in our shop, and none of us is the dazed and confused burnout you might’ve encountered in the tourist traps downtown. We care about your experience, not just your high, and if you’re looking for respect as well as the best marijuana in Durango, this is the place for you.

So, if you’re over twenty-one (or ninety-one) with a valid I.D. that proves it, come see us at 208 Parker Avenue right here in Durango, or call us at (970) 403-3710 if you’d like to talk with us before coming in, because no matter how old you are, We’re Your Best Buds!

RSO in Durango

Posted on October 27, 2018 - 9:00 am

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There’s still no such thing as genuine RSO in Durango, so I stand by the first blog I wrote about it that you can read HERE. Rick Simpson still lives in Croatia, and he still spends his days sending nastygrams to people in Colorado who slap Rick’s name on their oil. That being said, there’s something new we’re carrying in our Durango dispensary you need to know about: oil capsules from Sweet.

Let me back up and explain a couple things. Like I said in that first blog, Rick Simpson made his oil in his backyard with alcohol, cannabis, a bucket, and a stick. People think Rick Simpson oil is the bee’s knees because it was the first oil to become famous, but let me tell you, nowadays, we’ve progressed quite a bit since the “stick and bucket” days. So please, please, please believe me when I tell you that modern oils are better than the old ones, even though we don’t use Rick Simpson’s famous name.

To make cannabis oil today, we use liquid CO2, a pressurized stainless-steel vessel, and a rotary evaporator. See what I mean about progression? But here’s the important part: when most CO2 oil is produced, it’s winterized with ethanol to take out all the lipids and impurities to make the oil vaporizable, but most people looking for an edible oil want these things because they’re searching for “whole-plant” oil. So, Sweet listened when they made their CO2 oil capsules, and they skipped the winterization process; doing so allowed them to keep all the lipids and secondary plant compounds in their oil for that whole-plant effect people are looking for when they search for RSO.

The only other ingredient in the Sweet capsule is coconut oil, so you won’t need to worry about additives you can’t pronounce. And we sell 10-packs of these capsules (available in either Indica or Sativa) for $24 after tax. Each capsule delivers 10mg THC (and sometimes, a couple milligrams of CBD) for a total of 100mg THC per package. And if you’re looking for RSO, I’d recommend that you come in and try these capsules even though you won’t find Rick’s name anywhere on the packaging, because they were made with science instead of a stick. Sounds legit, right?

So, if you’re one of the many RSO-hunters who calls in daily or reads blogs like this (and you’re 21 or over with a valid I.D.), come see Your Best Buds at our Durango dispensary on 208 Parker Avenue, and we’ll send you on your way with the modern-day version of RSO!

Marijuana Dispensary Words

Posted on October 20, 2018 - 9:00 am

Did you know that “sinsemilla” simply refers to a feminized cannabis plant, and that every strain of flower sold in modern-day dispensaries is in fact sinsemilla? I only ask because someone from the Baby Boomer generation comes in at least once a week and asks, “do you have any sinsemilla?” because that’s what good pot used to be called, and I wanted to set the record straight this week.

It’s the same story with “Thai stick,” which simply refers to old-school cannabis from Thailand wherein pot was wrapped tightly in a “stick” so it could be smuggled into the States. Most Baby Boomers think of Thai stick as the pinnacle of pot, and they all claim to have smoked it, when really, not many people have. And there’s nothing special about it in the first place: most of the cannabis that was smuggled in a few decades ago topped out at 10% THC, and we’ve got some Pineapple Trainwreck on our menu as I write this that’s pushing 30% THC, which blows anything old-school out of the water.

And now that I think about it, I shouldn’t stop with sinsemilla or Thai stick because there’s a litany of esoteric terms used in the cannabis industry, and if you don’t know them, it might sound like your budtender is speaking a foreign language during his or her spiel. And vice-versa, if you’re a Baby Boomer and you use words from your generation in a dispensary, there’s a damn good chance the twenty-five-years-old budtender you meet won’t have a clue what you’re talking about. So, this week, I’m going to talk about all the weird words we use to talk about pot, both now and way-back-when, so we can all be on the same page.

Let’s start with the word “marijuana” itself. A lot of people don’t like that word because it has racist roots (the word was used intentionally way back when to tie cannabis to Mexican drug runners rhetorically to smear cannabis), but it is what it is. And most people think that “marijuana” is a Spanish word, but it’s not: its root can be found in the Spanish word for oregano (“mejorana”) and the English word for oregano (“marjoram”), but nobody’s really sure where the word comes from (if you don’t believe me, ask Wikipedia HERE).

Secondly, there’s a huge difference between hemp and cannabis even though they share a scientific name: hemp cannot get you high, but cannabis is famous for it. Hemp is a tall leafy plant, and the products made from it (textiles and CBD oils) are legal in almost all fifty states; cannabis is a small bushy plant that’s legal only in smart states like Colorado.

Alright… let’s get to some specific words. Do you know the difference between a “joint,” a “pre-roll,” and a “blunt”? Well, the first is something you roll at home, the second is something you buy already rolled from a dispensary, and the third is something rolled with a tobacco wrapper. Of course, tobacco is illegal to sell in a dispensary, so the blunts we sell use a hemp wrapper (they’re awesome).

But if you like loose pot as opposed to joints, you’ve probably heard us refer to it as “flower” instead of “weed” or “pot” because that’s the new fancy term for bud these days. And if you think about it, it’s accurate because the part of the plant you smoke is indeed the “flower.” As to the bud itself, we call it the “cola” officially, but if the buds are small, we call it “popcorn” because the little buds resemble popcorn. And instead of “shake” (which refers to all the trimmed leaves), we call it “trim” because it’s more accurate.

Now, on to descriptive words. As a disclaimer, stoners are notoriously lazy, so most of the words we use to describe cannabis are just abused words. For example, if the flower is leafy instead of dense, we call it “larfy,” which is what it’d sound like if you said “leafy” with a mouthful of peanut butter. And if the flower is grown indoors, we call it “indo,” which is also a term used to describe good cannabis, just like “dank” or “kind.” And if the cannabis is grown hydroponically as opposed to in a soil medium, we call it “hydro” which is also another adjective used to describe good pot (even though the stuff that’s not “hydro” is better). See? We’re learning.

Alright, here come a bunch of words all at once: “OG” stands for “ocean-grown” and most of these strains originated on the Left Coast in California; “kush” refers to a relaxing Indica as does “skunk,” even though the latter strains smell like skunks; “haze” is a moniker that’s usually associated with potent Sativa strains; “diesel” and “chem” are designations associated with strains that smell like fuel or chemicals; words like “mota” or “ganja” or “cheeba” are simply regional names for cannabis. Did you get all that? I hope so. And I’m not going to get into the difference between Indica and Sativa because I’ve harped on that during more than one blog, just like I have when it comes to terpenes or “terps,” which are the compounds that give weed its flavor, smell, and secondary effect. But if you hear someone refer to a specific strain as a “mid” or a “craft mid,” it means that it’s a middle-grade strain that’s just okay.

Boom! Now we all know the same words and we’ll speak the same language when you come into our Durango dispensary. Things like that are important. So please, come see us at 208 Parker Avenue regardless of which words you use, because We’re Your Best Buds, and now we’re on the same page!

Vape Pens and Vape Cartridges

Posted on October 13, 2018 - 9:00 am

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The very first blog I wrote for The Greenery was about vape pens—that was seventy-five blogs ago, and I told you how old I felt on my first day working here, because in my day, all you could do was smoke pot, but now, you can vaporize distilled CO2 cannabis oil with a ceramic atomizer… If Luke Skywalker enjoys cannabis, this is probably how he does it. And even though I wrote that first blog only a year and a half ago, things have changed drastically, and it’s obvious that you care because 1,200 of you read that first post (I’m famous!). So, this week, I wanted to revisit cannabis vape pens and oils to let you know what’s new.

For one, we now sell Bluetooth-capable vape pens. Seriously. If you buy a PAX Era battery (we sell them for $33 out the door), you can download an app for your smartphone and do all sorts of cool things: you can lock the battery from your phone and then leave it on your coffee table without worrying about roommates smoking your oil, you can adjust the heat remotely from your phone, and you can even play a few vape-themed games on your phone, if you’re into that sort of thing. But you don’t need the app to use the PAX Era pen (I don’t have the app, and I use my PAX all the time), so don’t worry if technology isn’t your thing.

Now, as to the cartridges or “pods” the Pax uses, I’ll simply say that they’re awesome. We carry all the exotics, like pods filled with Live Resin or Budder or Distillate, and you need to try these things. The Live Resin pods are full of terps and they taste and feel just like traditional marijuana, the Budder pods pack a punch, and the distillate pods are filled with naturally-occurring terpenes for a wonderful taste and a clean high: right now, we have blueberry, orange creamsicle, and lime sherbet—giving these exotic vape products a candy-like flavor.

And then there’s Evolab; these people are straight-up scientists. They’re the only company out there who has managed to create a “cannabis-derived cutting agent,” or CDCA. You see, all oils need to be thinned with something to make them smokable, because most oils and distillates are nearly solid after processing, so something needs to be added to make them viscus. PAX pods use PG or MCT, some companies use terpenes, but Evolab can claim that 100% of the oil in their carts comes from the cannabis plant thanks to their CDCA. We sell 500mg distillate cartridges that’ll fit on any universal 510-threaded battery, and that’s a good thing because the Chroma carts are as clean and pure as they come. The Alchemy Balance carts deliver high percentages of both THC and CBD, and the Evolab disposable vape pens we sell contain 250mg pure CO2 oil.

Third, we carry the full gamut of pure CO2 oils from Sweet (which stands for “southwest expert extraction technology,” because this oil is produced right here in Durango). We sell their cartridges and disposable vape pens, but for those of you who like to dab oil or fill your own cartridges, we also sell one-gram syringes filled with Sweet’s potent oil; the value and convenience is unbeatable. And speaking of value, we also sell 500mg carts from V3 Oil, and you need to come check these things out because you wouldn’t believe the price if I put it in this blog.

And lastly, we need to talk about O.pen. We still sell this company’s standard and Reserve cartridges (the ones I talked about in that first blog), but now, we’re selling their terpene-rich distillate as well—this product is ludicrously good. The distillate is CO2 derived, but the problem with most distillates is that they don’t contain any terpenes, so the high is potent but it isn’t complex. So, O.pen started including up to 13% strain-specific terpenes in their Craft Distillate, which was already one of the best products on the market. Now, when you smoke the Craft carts we’re selling (which will soon be available in a one-gram version!), you get the familiar type of high and taste you’d get from flower.

There! Those are the all the new and exciting things you need to know about the world of vaporizable cannabis oils. So please, if you’re twenty-one or older with a valid I.D. that proves it, come see Your Best Buds at 208 Parker Avenue if you’re interested in vaping marijuana, because there’s no such thing as a Durango dispensary with a higher-quality selection than The Greenery!

How to Smoke Marijuana

Posted on September 29, 2018 - 2:54 pm

There’s nothing wrong with not knowing how to smoke pot. I just read a news story that said one out of seven Americans smoked pot in 2017, so if you think about it, that means six out of every seven people you see on the streets haven’t smoked the stuff recently (granted, this statistic probably isn’t accurate here in Colorado). And at least once a day, one of these six people comes into our Durango dispensary and asks quietly, “so… how do you smoke marijuana?” If you’re one of these people, I hereby swear that we’ll never judge you for your inexperience because we were all there at one point.

Melissa is the best at answering these questions. I’ll admit that the average budtender might react to the “how do you smoke pot?” question with an “are you serious?” expression, but it never phases Melissa. She’ll pull out a pipe and a grinder and a lighter and go through the process for first-timers with a parent’s patience. And this week, I’ve decided to emulate Melissa and write something comprehensive for all you first-timers out there who’ve decided to try smoking cannabis; here we go.

Step 1: Buy pot.

It’s an easy thing to do now that cannabis is legal here in Colorado, but not all marijuana is created equally. To see the good stuff, check out our menu HERE. We have the relaxing Indica strains and the energetic Sativa strains and everything in-between—to learn about the differences so you can make the right selection, click HERE.

Step 2: Grind the pot.

For the record, I’ve smoked pot for more years than I haven’t, and I’ve never used one of those fancy grinders: I simply break the pot apart with my fingers and shove it into my pipe like a caveman. But if you want to grind your pot properly, you’ll need a grinder. This is important because if you simply stuff a bud into your pipe without grinding it, it won’t burn evenly. Grinding the cannabis allows the fire to get into all the nooks and crannies, and it’ll allow the bowl to form a “cherry,” which is a little burning ember that’ll make it so you only have to use the lighter once or twice.

Step 3: Load the pot.

You’ll need to put the ground pot into the bowl of your pipe, but don’t pack it too tightly because that’ll clog your pipe, and that’s never a good thing. Simply fill up the bowl of your pipe and press the flower down lightly with your thumb so it doesn’t fall out, and you’re ready to smoke. If you want to step things up a bit for that true Colorado experience, you can sprinkle a little old-school hash on top of your flower after loading it. This will add potency and flavor to your bowl, and it’ll make it last longer. In fact, we have our very own Hash Factory, and we make and sell the best old-school hash in Colorado.

Step 4: Burn the pot.

A simple lighter works best, and instead of torching the whole top of the bowl while you inhale, try burning just the side of it. This will make it so you can burn a little “green” with each hit so each puff tastes fresh. Some people call this method the “hippy hit” because it’s friendly: if you don’t torch all the green in the first hit, everybody in your smoking circle can taste a bit of the freshness instead of the first person getting all of it. Secondly, on the side of most pipes, there will be a little hole called the “carburetor.” You’ll need to cover this hole with your finger while you’re burning the pot and inhaling; take your finger off the hole at the end of your hit to clear all the smoke out of the pipe. Or, if you’re a pro, you can cover the hole partially while inhaling to let a little fresh air mix with the smoke for a lighter hit.

Boom! That’s how you smoke pot. Granted, you can always roll joints, but I’d recommend buying one pre-rolled (we sell one-gram joints for $12 all day long) because rolling a joint isn’t something I can teach you how to do in a blog. And then there’re bongs and glass blunts and all sorts of fancy ways to light pot on fire, but a pipe is always best for novices. So, if you’re a first-timer, come in and see Your Best Buds here at 208 Parker Avenue: we’ll take our time to answer all your questions with respect, because that’s what we do!

The History of Cannabis

Posted on September 22, 2018 - 9:00 am

I lied to you.

I promised that this week, I’d write something light after that post about the history of cannabis prohibition which was followed by that piece about the endocannabinoid system, and yet here I sit, about to write something about the history of cannabis. So, I apologize. However, in my never-ending fight to normalize legal marijuana and smash the unfortunate stigma that comes along with it, I figured that this week, I should prove to you that people have been smoking pot throughout recorded history, and there’s not a damn thing wrong with it. But I promise to keep this brief, so let’s get started…

We’ve all thought about it, but seriously, who was the first guy to eat an oyster? Was he simply hungry when he did it, driven to do something disgusting because of starvation? Don’t get me wrong, I love oysters, but only because I know they’re safe—if I’d never seen an oyster before, I’d imagine it’d come across as a weird rock full of slimy meat. That’s probably what the first guy thought right before slurping it down, but I’m glad he took the risk because we’ve all benefited from it. And pot is the same way: who was the first guy to light it on fire and breathe in the smoke?

Don’t know. But the first guy to write about the stuff was Emperor Fu Hsi from China. This guy was the East’s version of Leonardo da Vinci: Fu Hsi lived almost five thousand yeas ago, but he pretty much invented martial arts, he domesticated animals, he standardized Chinese writing, and he wrote about cannabis as a medicine. He probably didn’t smoke it—it was most likely mixed into a tea, just like ginseng—but he wrote about “Ma” (the Chinese word for cannabis) all the time, and he believed it to be a powerful medicine (just like last week, if you’d like to read more of the information I used to write this, click HERE).

The first bona fide stoners were the Scythians; a nomadic tribe credited with bringing marijuana to Europe about two-thousand years ago. And these guys didn’t mess around. They’d fill a bowl full of pot, light it on fire, bring it into a tent, close the flap, and breathe deeply until the fire burned out; the Scythians invented the hotbox long before you did it in college.

As to the Americas, the Jonestown settlers brought hemp to the New World in the early sixteen-hundreds. George Washington grew it on Mount Vernon, everybody used it to make rope and textiles, and as to cannabis, it was smoked recreationally and considered to be a medicine all the way up until the early nineteen-forties when the false propaganda I told you about two weeks ago started to spread.

And that brings us to where we’re at today: living and playing happily in Colorado where weed is legal once again, just as it should be, just as it was for Fu Hsi, the Scythians, and the founders of this country. Wonderful, right? But if you’d rather smoke pot that read a history lesson about it, come into our Durango dispensary that’s located at 208 Parker Avenue right here in Bodo Park, and we’ll sell you some without a lecture like the one you just read, because We’re Your Best Buds!

September’s Best Bud of the Month

Posted on September 15, 2018 - 9:00 am

Cameron Mask
Budtender, Paraphernalia Purchaser, Insanely Fast Joint Roller

About your Best Bud:

Cameron’s birthday is on the 29^th of this month, but that’s not the reason we’re featuring him this week—Cameron is a young professional and Army vet who’s truly passionate about this industry. He’s two years away from earning his business degree, and as soon as he has it, Cameron has aspirations of opening his own concentrate production company (he plans to call it “Tree House Club Concentrates,” and the hidden THC acronym is awesome). But for now, Cameron is cutting his teeth as a Budtender and the guy who orders all our non-marijuana products. He’s soaking up knowledge and learning the ins and outs of legal marijuana with the best team in Durango. And since he’s part of the reason we’re the best, we figured you should meet him this week:

Q. When did you start working for The Greenery?
Cameron. “March sixth of this year.”

Q. What’s your favorite way to enjoy marijuana?
Cameron. “Dabbing. I really enjoy dabbing, and I love the taste of Live Resin.”

Q. What’s your favorite outdoor activity?
Cameron. “Running.”

Q. Tell us about your pet.
Cameron. “I have two. I have a Border Collie named Panda, and a Blue Nose named Kya.”

Q. Which station do you stream while you’re working at The Greenery?
Cameron. “I let other people pick. I’m flexible, as long as it sounds good.”

Q. What do you like most about working at The Greenery?
Cameron. “I love the professionalism, and the education we impart to our customers. But as to the industry, I love educating tourists so they can go back home and push for marijuana legalization in places that don’t yet have it.”

Cameron really is an expert connoisseur when it comes to concentrates. He makes them in his home, he smokes them, and he knows more about them than just about anyone who works at The Greenery; he’s our resident aficionado. We all like working with him behind the counter because there’s no such thing as a question about hash Cameron cannot answer, and there’s no such thing as a customer who deals with Cameron and leaves our store without a smile and a little more knowledge about this industry, just like he said in his last response.

So, this week, we’d like to thank Cameron for his service, for his dedication and passion, and for being a part of our team. Congratulations, Cameron, you’re September’s Best Bud of the Month!

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