Aspen Peak - Niche Media - Aspen living at its peak
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which educates consumers about edibles and says people who work in dispensaries are being trained to guide consumers through the edible landscape and to spot people who should not be served marijuana. "A guy wants a decadose (an edible that contains 10 doses of marijuana in one package). It's up to the seller to say, 'Wait, this is a powerful piece of candy.' If the buyer says he hasn't used in 20 years, the budtender should say, 'This isn't for you. It will incapacitate you,'" says DiSalvo. "The other part is, if we do get to the point where there is a vapor lounge [a place, like a private club, where people can legally smoke pot], if somebody walks in drunk, they are not going to be sold weed." S ilverpeak Apothecary owner Jordan Lewis hasn't launched a cannabis club— yet—but he is an ambitious pot salesman. A high-end Silverpeak puff club in downtown Aspen would not surprise. Lewis opened Silverpeak in 2009 as a medical- marijuana dispensary. As Aspen marched toward recreational legalization, he was leading the This focus on youths echoes worries voiced by others across Colorado, including Governor John Hickenlooper. "This will be one of the great social experiments of the 21st century. We have a moral responsibility to regulate it properly. That means making sure kids under 21 don't get it," says Hickenlooper, adding that there are neuro- scientists who believe if people with growing brains smoke high-THC-content pot, it can hurt their memories. (Tetrahydrocannabinol or THC is the psychoactive constituent of cannabis, so the higher the content in the weed the more intense the effect of the drug.) Hickenlooper adds, "Kids think because marijuana is legal, it's less danger- ous. [So] we are arguing caution." Another DiSalvo concern is the edible mar- ket—the world of pot-saturated chocolate bars, bags of granola, jars of cooking oil, sacks of pop- corn, and more. "We've had quite a few people who have been in the emergency room, who are having trouble with the unpredictable nature of the edible product," he says. "It won't kill you, but it's going to be a bad trip for a bad time." DiSalvo champions Silverpeak's brochure, A cannabis bud is examined for any deficiencies. crowd, talking about responsibility, making investments in real estate, and thinking long-term. With his empire now taking over three downtown storefronts, Lewis is building a high-tech, 25,000-square-foot greenhouse in Basalt that, when it opens, could be one of the most advanced pot grow houses in the country; for now, he grows his weed in facilities near Durango and Redstone. Lewis says he wants his dispensary to "define what a retail cannabis experience is," and he hopes to open more, similar dispensaries. He is on track to drop more than $5 million on his Aspen enter- prise alone and recently partnered with the High Times Growth Fund, a private equity venture that aims to raise $200 to $300 million to invest in the legal marijuana industry. For his latest posh out- post, Lewis hired a design team led by Javier Jarak and Diego Agulleiro, of Argentina, who were involved in the recent $49 million renovation at the Four Seasons Hotel in Buenos Aires. Since adding its recreational component, Lewis's business has grown tenfold. "We are in an all-out scramble to get things in place. We are tri- pling the size of our retail space," he says in a ASPENPEAK-MAGAZINE.COM 167 164-169_AP_F_MJ_V3_SUM_FALL_14.indd 167 5/6/14 3:40 PM