I believe for sodas THC is made into a syrup with other ingredients, then the syrup is used to make soda. At least that is one way to make them.
This is a legit question and I think the answer is in part that this is an industry which is truly in its infancy. Well, at least in the sense operating under the eye of a state and following the law. I was told by all three stores that they grow their own pot, but they buy edibles like chocolate. I don’t know where this stuff’s coming from, or what kinds of quality assurance programs there are. And I can guess there are no labeling laws for recreational pot products.
Recreational pot is legal for about a year and half now and I think there just hasn’t been time yet to establish industry rules and practices.
I have made green-butter, melted a little in some hot milk which was then added to tea. There is an Indian? drink based on the same idea.
ETA: Bhang!
Here’s the problem. It’s easy for manufacturers to assure x mg of THC is in the bar, but it’s a lot more difficult to assure uniform distribution within it. To do it reliably they’d have to have an assembly setup like the pharmacy industry rather than one like, say, the the Silly String industry.
I’d like to think the makers are going a pharmaceutical route, but for all I know the stuff is put together by North Korean political prisoners.
These are two question that I didn’t ask and can’t anwer.
They sell by the gram, and by eighth and quarters. Colorado state laws allow them to sell me no more than a quarter ounce in any one visit. There’s not a lot of price differentials among “brands” of pot – 8 out of 10 strains would all have the same price, and one or two pricier or cheaper.
I don’t want to talk specific prices, mostly because I don’t know how volatile their market is. But a bunch of them have websites with descriptions of their products and prices.
How long were you in a shop? They’d have to toss my ass out.
ETA: Bouncers? Security?
The smallest amount sold was a gram, so you could say the cheapest gram was a minimum purchase price. There were pre-rolled joints but I didn’t get any.
As to whether it spreads to other states, or how fast, I suspect that it depends a lot on what the revenue turns out to be. The state taxes it at about 20%
Hi, thanks again for the great driving route! It was a great experience, though not exactly according to plan.
So, before I start this tale, I want you all to understand that as I was on my driving excursion. I was not stoned at all. Just in case it seems that way when you get a little bit in. I wanted to experience mountain driving and I did.
And I learned in short order that I’m very bad it it. It’s not that I couldn’t learn to be a good mountain driver, it’s that … I was too damn distracted. I was being constantly exposed to interesting mountain sides or buildings or animals. My eyes would be drawn to all this stuff … and off the road. And since the road’s curve is constantly changing, I found myself drifting out of my lane. Again and again and again. And while the intervals of drifting off course was improving, it was not stopping. Then I decided I was dangerous to me and everyone else in range, so I turned around and headed back after about an hour.
I don’t think I spent more than 20 minutes in any of them. But loitering would be … very obvious at least. When you go in they assign some as more or less your personal shopper, they call them “bud tenders”. These people will show you what you want to show and sell you what you want to buy, but there’s no convenient aisle to wander out of sight down.
Since you were travelling from out of state, did you stay at a hotel? And if so, where is it legal to actually smoke pot if you’re not in a private home? Not in a store, not in a park, not in a restaurant, not in a police station or school, so where would you go? To some deserted road several miles out of town?
I’m sure they’ll come up with something. Probably more along the lines of alcohol/proof. Even if you’re a regular smoker, it would be helpful to have something more concrete than ‘this is really good, but this is better and this is, like, the best stuff I’ve ever seen’. As a former pothead, ‘the best stuff ever’ is a pretty relative term. Also, as someone who’d happily go to a pot store if they’d legalize it around here, I’d need to start light. I was the guy who could out smoke everyone in college. I’d sit in the circle and pass around whatever was being passed around and when the next group showed up, I’d just stay there and sit with them. An hour later when the first group was back…I was still there.
Many, many years later, I felt like an old man. Two or three puffs of some good weed and I was stoned off my ass for the rest of the night.
I mean, I knew it was going to happen, even now I now it would only take one or two puffs to get me pretty blasted, but going from ‘wow, maybe I shouldn’t have had that third bowl’ to ‘maybe I shouldn’t have had a third puff’ is quite a difference.
Having said all that, it be nice if there was some kind of rating. An amount of THC is probably all that’s needed. Yes, I know there’s other stuff in there. Maybe some kind of index then.
The problem I see with that is that either everyone is just going to buy the stuff that has the highest THC content OR the stuff with the highest THC content is going to be artificially priced higher.
Of course OTOH, at some point, you do want stuff with a lower THC content since it’s nice to be able to roll a joint or pack a bong and not have everyone falling asleep after one time around the table. I guess it’s like the difference between liquor and beer. Not everyone runs out and buys Everclear, take shots can be nice, but I’d rather sit around with my friends and have some beers.
I’ve only ever smoked it, but wouldn’t the teas be made like tea? Steeped in hot water and strained? 
(Mental note to self: Plan trip to Colorado. :D)
Last weekend, I signed a petition to put legalizing medical marijuana on the ballot in Ohio! Baby steps, baby steps…patience, Why Child.
There are several iOS apps for studying up on strains and their effects, so one could prepare ahead of time or just take your device to the store and look stuff up.
The cookies I have bought in Washington state sometimes have the source strain identified on the label (talk about profit margin). I ate an entire gingersnap (10mg) first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach, and experienced severe “couch-lock” about two hours later. It was not at all pleasant for about 20 long minutes.
In some stores in Washington, they sell oil, for you to use as you please, but I have not looked at the prices. The only store I have been into has no door security or bouncers, but they have to make sure you get your receipt because it has warnings about intoxicating effects and about not crossing state lines.
The THC in the pot won’t dissolve in water, so the tea made would not get you high.
There are several initiatives in Ohio in various stages of progress. The dominant one so far seems to be the one that would establish 10 specific growing sites, meaning it would be mostly in corporate hands.
Colorado resident here.
It’s still illegal to smoke pot in public. From what I’ve read, it’s fairly common for police to ticket people who don’t realize that.
There are a few places that exist as sort of private clubs for the purpose of allowing people to bring in pot from home to use. I’m not sure if all the legal issues have been sorted out yet, though.
What do you mean by “verify” your ID?
paranoid
There are also “420 friendly” hotels that allow pot smoking. Others expressly forbid it, so a traveler should be aware of the policy at their hotel/motel rather than assume a ‘Smoking’ room means it’s okay to light up a joint.
Yeah, that’s one of the hazards of driving in Colorado! And if you stop at every scenic spot it can take all day to get anywhere.