What’s in a Name? Ask the Denver Post

A couple of weeks ago, just in time for recreational sales to begin in Colorado, the Denver Post launched its cannabis coverage blog The Cannabist, a sleek, clean, streamlined site meant to create a reliable feed of information about the new cannabis industry in Colorado. Sound familiar?

Weedist should be more than flattered, it should be proud of the work it has done leading the reshaping of the landscape of cannabis media, which traditionally has not embraced the diversity and maturity of the cannabis user. Clearly, it wasn’t just Weedist’s name that attracted the Denver Post to it.

I have written over the years for many cannabis publications, and also worked and continue to work with the best and oldest cannabis book publishing company in existence—Ed Rosenthal’s Quick Trading Company. I don’t make the statement of them being the “best” lightly, marijuana media has been lacking for many years.

First and foremost, Rosenthal’s company has always put activism first, even before profits in many cases, because they believe equality and an end to the Drug War is more important than cashing in on frat boy culture, which coincidentally happens to be one of the weakest consumer segments anyway.

Second, most of Rosenthal’s office is and has been run by strong women of various ages, races and backgrounds, which I know to be a major key to its success.

In the past, marijuana media has been relegated to the goofy, sometimes even outlandish party subculture. Attempts have been made to give it a medical makeover, but a true reflection of the diversity of marijuana users has been seriously lacking for years. I am excited to see that as a socially conscious, college-educated professional woman, my point of view on cannabis is finally being reflected in almost every cannabis media outlet, and a lot of that is thanks to the responsible yet stylish and accessible coverage at Weedist and other new, responsible media outlets.

Let’s not forget that the media played a hand in the criminalization of cannabis in the first place. Financially incentivized yellow journalists of the Hearst era proudly published story after story about American minorities becoming violent murdering rapists, creating the drive for cannabis prohibition in the first place.

Although mountains of studies prove its efficacy and safety in the medicinal realm and we have seen the potential a legal industry has economically, the media has continued to pigeonhole marijuana stories into pun-riddled jokes and mockery, creating the very need for cannabis industry-based journalism to exist, to create diversity in the market by reflecting the real market. By The Denver Post creating The Cannabist, it is a sign they are ready to cover the topic responsibly and factually.

At Cannabis Now Magazine, where I serve as Editor-in-Chief, we aim to provide coverage that normalizes cannabis and the industry—medical, recreational and hemp—in every way.

In 2013, we saw a drastic rebranding of cannabis as a healthy lifestyle alternative, and a lot of that is thanks to the new media outlets shaping the national conversation. Weedist, since its inception, has been one of the most responsible media outlets covering the complex world of cannabis, while still maintaining a tie to the counterculture that birthed today’s marijuana markets.

Weedist even made dabbing seem as natural as swilling beer at your local pub, even though I still firmly believe most of the people I know who “dab” are also the last people I would want carrying around blowtorches, a strong argument for on-site cannabis consumption lounges.

Public acceptance means embracing the diversity of today’s cannabis consumer, regardless of race, gender, social class or disability.

So what’s in a name? Ask the Denver Post.