Are you ready for some good news for once? With incredible speed, Friends in Weed has formed to help Colorado’s retail cannabis, restaurant, and hospitality industries cope during the COVID-19 crisis.
Unprecedented. Unimaginable. Unbelievable. These are some of more polite words that come to mind when thinking about the impact of the coronavirus. No one alive today remembers a time when global public health, prosperity, and well-being have been under such a massive and relentless threat.
Thankfully, state and local governments all across America have recognized cannabis as essential, and most cannabis businesses are able to stay open. But retail staff and budtenders now find themselves serving on the front lines of a crisis they never thought they’d need to train for.
Here in Colorado, several cannabis brands felt an immediate need to support their fellow industry members, who are working so hard to provide access to cannabis.
“It’s easy at a time like this, when really everyone is struggling, to feel powerless,” says Peter Barsoom, 1906 Founder and CEO, “but I knew that as a company, we wanted to help however possible.”
1906 joined with three other premium cannabis brands, Veritas, Olio, and Cookies, to found Friends in Weed on March 18.
Realizing that the restaurant community is under threat as well, the companies came up with a way to support cannabis retailers and provide needed revenue for local restaurants.
Friends in Weed is now including “Tips,” in the form of gift cards to local restaurants, to the staff of our store partners – a practice that will continue until things stabilize.
As of April 7, the program has sent out nearly $24,000 of “tips,” with more to come.
The growing list of restaurants involved includes, in Denver: Snooze (Boulder and Fort Collins too); The Post (Boulder as well); Lola; Bar Dough; Ask Kara; Señor Bear; Tap & Burger; J’s Pizza; Culinary Creative; Lou’s; and Rosenberg’s, in Boulder: Centro Mexican Kitchen; West End Tavern; Zolo, in Fort Collins: The Colorado Room, in the West Slope: Bully Ranch and Blue River Bistro, and in Southern Colorado: Tony’s Diner, Colorado Crust Pizza Co. and Oliver’s Deli.
Update: We’re delighted that seven additional cannabis companies have joined the effort: Dablogic, Verde Natural, Sum Microdose, Harmony Extracts, ZolTrain, Woodstock Cannabis, and 1856. The more brands that join Friends in Weed, the more we’ll be able to accomplish. The project has received already national attention via the article “Socially Conscious Cannabis Companies Are Seeding This Tough COVID-19 Era With Good Deeds” in Forbes.
Please spread the word and visit Friends in Weed to see how you can join in the effort. We will get through this – together.
Let’s Keep Colorado Healthy and Thriving!