Wednesday February 18, 2015

By Coit Stevenson

Recreational weed has been legal in Colorado for over a year, which in this age of instant...everything is ample time for pot patrons to find plenty of places and procedures to procure discount drove. Here at Colorado Pot Guide, saving money is the mission. We provided you with the basics of purchasing without punishment to your pocketbook, but now it's time to graduate to every freshman's nightmare: business 101.

This time around we'll go deeper down the rabbit hole and explore ways to save money like a local, even if you're only in town for a visit.

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Always Have Your Colorado Buddy

When coming to Colorado, it's only right that a visit to one of Colorado's now infamous dispensaries be on the list. A large mistake many people make, however, is making the venture alone. Instead, find a friend and have them accompany you to whichever rec shop you choose. Many dispensaries give local discounts to those with a Colorado driver's license, and this way you'll have a personal tour guide for those questions you can't, or are simply too embarrassed, to ask the budtender. Like, 'What's the difference between the different top shelf and kind shelf price points?' for instance. SPOILER ALERT: It's quantity, not quality. If a dispensary has an excess of a certain crop, the price of this particular crop decreases.

BAM! First lesson in business 101.

Use the Web

It's time to graduate from simply Googling 'Good Denver Rec Shops' in an attempt to find what fits your weed needs when coming to the Mile High City. Doing so might even get you on a watch list depending on the state in which you reside. That's a joke...sort of.

There are far more resources available now than ever before, so don't limit your searches to those dispensaries with enough cash to pay for showing up first in a Google search.

While there are literally 1000's of sites available online, we will limit it to two in the interest of time.

r/COents on Reddit. If you still haven't heard of the 'front page of the internet', aka Reddit, it's time to come into the present. Simply put, Reddit is an online forum which allows users to 'upvote' or 'downvote' other users' posts and comments in an attempt to make the most relevant and helpful posts/comments rise to the top. The forum is broken down into sub-forums - known as subreddits - of every topic imaginable...including recreational marijuana. The Denver/Colorado-based marijuana forum is known as r/COents ( ent is a slang term for a regular marijuana user). Immediately once entering this subreddit - which one can do without a Reddit username or subscription, although both of which are 100% free - you will find a post collecting all of the recreational deals for that week (typically Wed.-Wed.) at the top. It's literally a one stop shop for everything you'd ever need in terms of Denver recreational marijuana info. Dive a bit deeper and you can find individual shop reviews, strain reviews, and personal accounts and even weed hangouts and events, all in the voice of your fellow pot patrons. 10/10 highly recommend. PotGuide Dispensary Deals While #1 above will give you the locals insight on everything happening in real time in Colorado, PotGuide offers an all-in-one coupon book for the canna-connoisseur for both medical and recreational products. These deals are not weekly or monthly, but available 24/7 and can be used at any time during normal business hours. Sectioned by strain, shop, and even location, PotGuide dispensary deals will help you save some green every time you buy!

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Buy First, Then Head Up the Hill

In keeping with the theme, the next unit in business 101: supply and demand. Yes, we addressed this concept previously, but it's so important we're coming back to it.

At last check, the city and county of Denver contains no less than 330 recreational and medical marijuana stores. In contrast, the town of Silverthorne has all of one and Frisco has merely five, despite the fact that thousands stream through these mountain towns every ski season. For those visiting looking to combine their ski getaway with a rec shop stop, the choices are extremely limited once in the high country. This allows recreational shops in the higher elevations to have higher prices. Not price gouging, necessarily, but $60-80 1/8ths are not uncommon. Like you do with the rest of your vacation, be a good traveler and plan ahead. Check the online resources listed previously, cross reference with your hotel location, bus/train station terminal, or wherever you may find yourself when arriving in Denver and search for recreational (sometimes indicated only as 21+) shops in that area. If I was a betting man - which I am - I'd be willing to be there's a recreational marijuana store merely a stone's throw away from wherever tourists find themselves.

To find the best prices on buds, it's simply business 101, with a little local info thrown in for best results. Don't worry, there is no written portion of this exam. The real test comes at checkout, if you still have an arm and a leg in which to walk out the rec store door; Congratulations, you passed!

Happy hemp hunting.