Billed as the “premier cannabis lifestyle magazine,” Kush Colorado debuted last month, one more sign of galloping growth in the state’s medical-marijuana business, says the Denver Post. Denver has more than 300 medical-marijuana dispensaries, the highest number in the U.S. outside California. The pace of growth in the industry prompted the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws to recently name Denver “America’s cannabis capital.” While Los Angeles has more than 1,000 dispensaries, Denver outstrips the City of Angels on a per-capita basis, with more storefronts selling pot than Starbucks shops peddling coffee.
In the first four days the free magazine was available, shoppers snapped up 20,000 copies from stands at retail stores and dispensaries around the metro area, Kush publisher Michael Lerner said. Racks are reloaded twice a week. “It is flying off the shelves,” Lerner said. He and two other friends launched Kush LA last May. Kush Michigan and clones in several other cities in California and Oregon are expected to roll off the presses shortly. Each magazine will feature content that is generated locally. With medical-marijuana laws on the books in 13 states, New Jersey poised to become the 14th and bills that would permit the drug’s use pending in others, Lerner expects the Kush brand to circulate in 34 cities by the end of the year.