Pot vendors going for the green on Black Friday
Black Friday is almost here, and some shoppers are preparing to rush out and buy family and friends a stocking full of marijuana.
At least that's how the shopping extravaganza is playing out in Colorado, where adults have been able to buy pot legally since the first of the year. Marijuana vendors in the state are putting their own spin on Black Friday, offering doorbuster specials, discounts and other promotions to attract local residents.
"We have a lot of people talking about knocking out three, four, five Christmas gifts in one stop to the store," Ryan Fox, CEO of The Grass Station, a marijuana dispensary in Denver, told CBS MoneyWatch.
Fox is planning a series of sales at his dispensary, hoping to capture some of the Black Friday spending in the state. The store will sell an ounce of marijuana for the rock-bottom price of $50 to the first 16 customers through the door on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It will sell 60 joints each day for $1 each.
Americans freely give each other buzz-inducing gifts of wine or Scotch over the holidays, but buying someone a gift box full of bud? That idea is just sinking in across the state. "People are just starting to consider the notion of, 'Well hey, I can give this,'" Fox added.
Last year, when marijuana was only legally available on a medicinal basis, Black Friday was the second-best day of sales at Grass Station after the informal "4/20" pot holiday in April.
Other dispensaries are planning similar Black Friday promotions, and many are taking out ads in local newspapers or promoting their sales online. An edible-pot maker in the state is offering a miniature pumpkin pie laced with marijuana, according to The Associated Press. Stores will also be selling spiced holiday teas, marijuana mint cookies and creams for sore muscles.
Dispensaries are also selling non-cannabis gifts for people who live out of state. The Grass Station sells T-shirts and coffee mugs with its logo online. Other shops are offering rolling papers and lotions.