Looking for cannabis friendly ways to get into the holiday spirit?

Check out these Colorado cannabis events that will ensure your Christmas is merry and lit.

High for the Holidays at The Oriental Theater
Dec. 20, 8-11 pm
The Oriental Theater
4335 W. 44th Ave., Denver

Still need a last-minute gift for your favorite toker (or yourself)? Check out this cannabis-themed holiday market with local vendors, smoking accessories and stoner apparel.  Unwind with performances by pot comedians Rick Bryan and Derrik Rush, music, and burlesque shows. You can even take a photo with CannaClaus (only if you’ve been nice).

The event is 21+ and tickets are $14.20 each, or $4.20 with a valid marijuana industry badge.
While there’s no consumption allowed in the venue, a smoke bus will be outside from 7-9:30 pm.

Creatively Cannabis: Tokes and Brush Strokes
Dec. 22, 3-5:30 pm
The Coffee Joint
1130 Yuma Ct., Denver

Get in touch with your creative side at this cannabis consumption and painting event. The BYOB cannabis event will be held at The Coffee Joint, Denver’s only public cannabis consumption venue. Past painting experience isn’t required, so grab some flower and get your Picasso on.

Tickets are $45 in advance and $55 the day of the event. Painting supplies and a 16″x20″ canvas are included.

Christmas at the Coffee Joint
Dec. 24-25
The Coffee Joint
1130 Yuma Ct., Denver

Really get into the high holiday spirit with classic Christmas movies at The Coffee Joint on Christmas Eve, and a daylong Doctor Who marathon on Christmas Day.

Entry into the 21+ venue is $5 or free if you make a purchase at the dispensary next door.

Roaring ’20s New Year’s Celebration
Dec. 31, 8 pm-1 am
Speakeasy Vape and Cannabis Club
2508 E. Bijou St., Colorado Springs

Say goodbye to one decade ring in the new one with a Roaring ’20s themed New Year’s Eve party at Speakeasy Vape Lounge and Cannabis Club. Come dressed in your best flapper gear, enjoy some medicated chocolate fondue, and get down to music by DJ K-Mac.

Admission is $20, or two tickets for $30.

2020 4/20 Party
Jan. 4, 4 pm
Studio 420
808 E. 78th Ave., Denver

Who says the party has to stop after New Year’s Day? Celebrate 2020 with Studio 420, an indoor smoking lounge in north Denver. The event is 21+ and members-only (you can become a member by calling 303-781-4642). Entry is $4.20.

Hold on to your CBD-infused lattes, because cannabis is going to space.

Front Range Biosciences, an agricultural technology company, has partnered with the University of Colorado, Boulder to send 480 hemp and coffee plant cultures to the International Space Station (ISS).

“This is one of the first times anyone is researching the effects of microgravity and spaceflight on hemp and coffee cell cultures,” said Dr. Jonathan Vaught, Co-Founder and CEO of Front Range Biosciences in a press release. “There is science to support the theory that plants in space experience mutations. This is an opportunity to see whether those mutations hold up once brought back to earth and if there are new commercial applications.”

The goal of the experiments is to see if zero gravity and radiation will mutate or genetically alter the coffee and hemp plants. Scientists will be able to see how the plants react to the stress of space travel. The research could help scientists develop plants that can endure drought and cold. On Earth, that could mean developing more resilient crops that can be grown in environments that don’t normally support hemp growth.

“We envision this to be the first of many experiments together,” said Louis Stodieck, Chief Scientist of BioServe Space Technologies at the University of Colorado, Boulder. “In the future, we plan for the crew to harvest and preserve the plants at different points in their grow-cycle so we can analyze which metabolic pathways are turned on and turned off. This is a fascinating area of study that has considerable potential.”

The hemp and coffee cultures will travel to the ISS aboard SpaceX CRS-20 in March 2020. The incubated cells will spend a month is space before returning to Earth to be analyzed by Front Range Biosciences.

“In the future, we plan for the crew to harvest and preserve the plants at different points in their grow-cycle, so we can analyze which metabolic pathways are turned on and turned off,” Louis Stodieck, director of BioServe Space Technologies at the University of Colorado, Boulder, said in a statement. “This is a fascinating area of study that has considerable potential.”

The passage of the 2018 Farm Bill removed hemp as a Schedule I substance, legalized the production of hemp, and removed barriers to federal research. Hemp is a type of cannabis plant that contains less than 0.3 percent THC and has a variety of uses, including in textiles, bioplastics and biofuel, food, and insulation.

Hemp also contains high concentrations of CBD and other non-intoxicating cannabinoids.

While scientific research on hemp in space is in its early stages, it’s not the first time cannabis has left Earth. Earlier this year, Space Tango sent hemp seeds to the ISS for a series of experiments. The hemp seeds were sent back to Earth and planted for another series of experiments. The results have not yet been published.

Recreational marijuana officially lit in Michigan

On Dec. 1, Michigan became the first state in the Midwest to allow recreational marijuana sales.

On the first day of sales, the state’s three licensed retail marijuana shops generated more than $200,000 in cannabis sales and an estimated $36,000 in tax revenue.

“The consumer demand was off the charts,” said Rick Thompson, who serves on the Michigan NORML board. “Each of the provisioning centers had lines out the door and around the block. Most had police officers on hand to ensure people were safe from traffic.”

Michigan voters approved Proposal 1 to legalize adult-use marijuana in 2018. Sales were originally slated to begin Jan. 1, 2020, but the state moved up the date in an effort to reduce black market sales.

1,400 of Michigan’s 1,800 cities and townships do not allow marijuana sales. Detroit has delayed recreational sales until Jan. 31.

Adults 21 and older can purchase up to 2.5 ounces of flower, including up to 15 grams of concentrate.

Marijuana Industry Daily projected that marijuana sales in Michigan are expected to reach $1.4 billion to $1.7 billion per year when the market reaches maturity.

 

Illinois to ring in the new year with legal adult-use cannabis

Jan. 1, 2020, will mark the beginning of more than just a new decade in Illinois as the state’s first recreational marijuana dispensaries are set to open on New Year’s Day.

Illinois was the first state to legalize recreational marijuana through the state legislature rather than through a voter-approved ballot initiative.

“As the first state in the nation to fully legalize adult-use cannabis through the legislative process, Illinois exemplifies the best of democracy—a bipartisan and deep commitment to better the lives of all of our people,” Pritzker said. “Legalization of adult-use cannabis brings an important and overdue change to our state, and it’s the right thing to do.”

In June, Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) signed a bill that allows adults 21 and older to possess and purchase cannabis. In addition to legalizing adult-use cannabis, the new law includes provisions to expunging prior marijuana convictions and the creation of social equity programs.

Recreational marijuana will have a graduated tax rate according to the THC content:

“The most historic aspect of this is not just that it legalizes cannabis for adults but rather the extraordinary efforts it takes to reduce the harm caused by the failed war on marijuana and the communities it hurt the most,” said state Sen. Toi Hutchinson (D).

Illinois is the eleventh state to legalize recreational cannabis.

 

Massachusetts sells $400 million in marijuana during first year of recreational sales

During its first year of legal recreational marijuana, Massachusetts raked in nearly $400 million in sales despite having only 36 licensed retail shops.

For comparison, during the first year of its recreational marijuana market, sales in Colorado amounted to $300 million with 306 licensed retailers.

Data released from the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) shows that daily sales regularly exceed $1 million, and often exceed $2 million. At its current pace, adult-use sales could exceed $1 billion by 2021.

The lack of marijuana dispensaries in the state is something CCC Chairman Steven Hoffman says the Commission is planning to address.

“I have no expectation there will be a retail store on every corner, but we have a lot more geographic expansion to do,” Hoffman said. “That’s the biggest part of our job.”

The CCC has approved an additional 53 provisional licenses for cannabis retailers, with another 166 applications pending.