A cannabis tour of the west coast

I attend conventions all over the west coast. This year I was at the LA Convention Center twice – once for E3 (video game expo) and once for CWBC (cannabis expo).

At E3, I was one of very few smokers and noticed vaping was actually more popular than smoking (this isn’t true in Arizona yet). At the CWBC in the same spot, not only were there more smokers, there was plenty of weed going around. I smoked with some very prominent people.

When security finally cracked down was on the last day of the event, because the Emmy’s were coming and they needed to make everything look family friendly for the cameras.

In San Francisco, I was there for the Cannabis Cup and cops were getting a contact high on the outside of the fence barricading the medication area. I didn’t try smoking anywhere else, but I did light up when I got to Weed, CA.

Here’s what it’s like everywhere else on the west coast outside California:

In Denver, CO, smoking anything in public is frowned upon, but the police are generally cool if you’re not being a jerk about it. You can smoke weed in public, but don’t do it near a dispensary or they’ll get mad at you.

I sat at a table in front of a McDonald’s in Glenwood Springs (about 30 mins outside Aspen) and lit up a bowl. Not only did nobody care, many people sat and talked to me so I would share some with them (which I gladly did), and I made some new friends.

In Seattle, WA, I forgot cannabis had been legalized until I walked by a crowd of kids and smelled it, and a cop was maybe 20 feet away. While in the smoking area at the convention center there for PAX Prime, I was smoked out and given a joint for later by a Microsoft engineer who simply said, “Hey, it’s Seattle,” when I expressed my surprise.

In Eugene, OR, pretty much everyone I met grew pot and it was easy to find. In July 2015, their decriminalization laws finally went into effect, and they were just giving it out everywhere all over Oregon. I also went to Portland and smoked in public there, though the police presence was noticeably stronger than Eugene.

In Salt Lake City, UT, I kept my pot smoking confined to my room, as I know better than to mess with the Mormons.

In Las Vegas, NV, I smoke in public quite often, though it’s casino security you have to worry about more than police. I was at a marijuana business conference at the Rio last November, and security was extremely strict, even at VIP parties sponsored by cannabis companies, where I saw two guys get patted down, have their drugs confiscated, and forced to sign a waiver. I did get a couple security guards high though – they were trolling the conference looking to score some cheap product.

Arizona is still a dangerous place to smoke weed. I don’t even wear any cannabis-related clothing when I’m home in AZ, because the police can be a bit discriminatory.