10 Things We Learned at Snoop Dogg’s Denver Weed Launch
There’s something almost too perfect about Snoop Dogg — a man who once claimed to smoke 81 blunts a day — coming to a town nicknamed the Mile High City to debut his new line of cannabis products. But on Monday night, he descended upon Denver with his Leafs by Snoop collection to do just that. The 44-year-old rapper and entrepreneur turned a private residence into his own personal Dogghouse, showcasing his diverse weed wares, spinning some G-funk, spitting a few bars and, at one point, basically hotboxing a select crowd of Coloradans into oblivion with lots and lots of stinky, Snoop-selected strains.
The party, and the pot line, is the culmination of a string of recent marijuana-related endeavors for the man born Calvin Broadus Jr. He’s a managing member of the cannabis-focused VC fund Casa Verde (it’s Spanish for “greenhouse,” of course); has invested in the medical-marijuana delivery startup Eaze (known as the “Uber for weed”) and the packaging company FunkSac, which manufactures child-resistant and odor-locking baggies; and has his own line of Grenco Double G vape pens. Then there’s his new website, Merry Jane, a cannabis lifestyle and resource platform where you can watch Seth Rogen demonstrate how to roll a cross joint, read an article about, say, France’s homegrown marijuana culture, peruse a database that will match your personality to the perfect pot (are you more a Jedi Kush or Sour Diesel man?), and utilize a dispensary directory to locate the closest shop to go and get your smoke on.
Which is to say that, these days, Snoop is perhaps music’s greatest (all respect to Willie) pot-preneur and proselytizer. What’s more, he’s been preaching the ganja gospel for more than two decades. And so, while he has now come to Colorado, it’s quite possible that Colorado — which in 2012 passed groundbreaking legislation legalizing the possession and sale of recreational marijuana — has also, metaphorically speaking, come to him. Indeed, it’s a Doggy Dogg world — we’re all just getting really high in it. Here are 1o things we learned partying with Tha Doggfather in Denver.
Video courtesy of Merry Jane
1. Herbs and ‘burbs make a great pair.
Sure, you can buy and smoke marijuana legally in Colorado, but public consumption is still out of the question. Which is why many of tonight’s guests wind up taking a bus — make that, a party bus — from a meeting spot in downtown Denver out to a private residence nearby, where the owner of a staunchly suburban, and spacious, home has generously opened his doors to Snoop and his posse.
2. Snoop is a gracious host.
Not long after partygoers enter into the home’s foyer, the man of the hour, introduced as the “King of Cannabis,” makes his way from a spiral staircase to a microphone at the front of the room. Once there, Snoop greets his guests, which include an assortment of associates, cannabis professionals, lawyers, activists, journalists and even a next-door neighbor, who stops by after putting his kids to bed. After a short speech in which he thanks everyone for coming out and touts the legalization of marijuana in Colorado as a “beautiful thing,” the rapper unveils Leafs by Snoop, a diverse line of cannabis flowers, shatter and wax concentrates, and edibles. “Now, we’d like you to sample it,” Snoop says, “but sample it responsible.” He pauses. “As responsible as you can.”