As I showed my prospective employee around the museum, the older couple walked in the back door.
“Are you open? We wanted to see the museum!”
Though we weren’t technically open, and wouldn’t be for another month, I said,”Sure, come take a look around. We’re not really open, but I’m working today anyway, so feel free. Where are you from?” I inquired.
The couple looked to be in their fifties, and seemed somewhat carefree. I thought perhaps they were from the local area and just up for a late spring drive up in the mountains.
“We’re from Chicago” replied the woman, a tall, blonde woman.
I wondered why people from Chicago were visiting during Colorado during what is one of our slowest times of the year. Notoriously, May and November are the slowest tourism months. May is too late for ski season — with only a couple of resorts still open. But May is also a time when we can still have abundant snow in the mountains, and can feel almost wintry-like as it did this weekend, with temperatures in the 20s. Why would someone from the midwest want to visit now?
“Are you visiting family in the area?” I asked.
“No, we’re here for the marijuana. It’s her birthday tomorrow, and we thought it would be fun to come out and sample the pot.”
I tried not to let my jaw drop. While marijuana has been legal for over three years now in Colorado, I had never actually met people who said that was the express reason for coming to Colorado.
“Do you know where the best dispensaries are in town?” inquired the burly-looking man with the ponytail.
I hadn’t really prepared myself for this question. We get lots of questions at the museum about the area, but usually it’s asking about hiking trails, scenic drives or restaurants.
I did know there were a couple of dispensaries off the main drag and pointed them in that direction. Ponytail man was not satisfied with that response though.
“Which one has the best pot?” he pressed on with the questions.
“I really don’t know, I haven’t bought anything from them.” He looked me in disbelief. I can only imagine him thinking, how could you live here and not take advantage of legal marijuana? This isn’t the first time I’ve confronted this assumption. Nederland is a rather liberal, progressive town, and I’ve met many a person who thinks everyone here is a hippy, stoner type who regular tokes.
Finally, they were on their way to buy premium bought, contributing to the local economy. The thought occurred to me that this kind of tourist probably wasn’t as unusual as one would think. I suspect a lot more skiers come with the alternate thought of purchasing marijuana.
No doubt marijuana sales greatly contribute to both tourism and the economy. 2015 sales of marijuana reached record levels of $1 billion dollars. The taxes alone topped $135 million dollars, much of that money going towards education and schools. And each month, pot sales seem to increase over the previous month.
Who would have dreamed so many years ago that a different kind of Rocky Mountain High would be one of the great drivers of the economy in Colorado? I guess I should expect more pot tourists for the future, and scope out where the pot dispensaries in town, to better answer the question of inquisitive tourists.
