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The cannabis industry has a pest and sustainability problem. Here’s how Lightshade is tackling both.

Plants attract pests. Whether it’s from bugs or birds, they have a target on their backs. And cannabis grow operations have to contend with these weed-obsessed intruders. 

Too many cannabis grows use toxic pesticides for pest control. Unscrupulous growers carelessly spray crops to save money or avoid failure. Mite infestations spread like wildfire, and desperate growers can’t come to terms with the possibility of taking a loss, so they sacrifice the health of consumers (and our planet). 

And that’s not okay. 

We unflinchingly look at our processes to identify areas of improvement (from sustainability and planetary health perspectives). We find the good, the bad, and the ugly, and we make changes.

Here’s how Lightshade is caring for your health and the health of our planet.

Biocontrols – fighting pests with pests.

We’ve never used harmful pesticides. Instead, we give pests a taste of their own medicine. Biocontrols unleash beneficial bugs (yes, there are helpful insects) to eliminate the possibility of contamination from their less savory cousins. 

Here’s how it works: our growers maintain a baseline of beneficial insects to watch over the crop. They’re perpetually hunting pests. If a visitor brings unsavory friends (for example, spider mites) into the grow, our helpful pests get rid of them before anyone knows there could have been a problem. It’s guerilla warfare on a micro-scale.

A shortlist of beneficial living organisms:

• Dalotia Coriaria (aka the Greenhouse Rove Beetle)
• Stratiolaelaps (beneficial mite) 
• Amblyseius andersoni (beneficial predatory mite) 

Chemical-free pest management offers a solution to pests by using biological control agents. Biological control agents, also known as beneficial insects, are predatory mites and insects in various stages of development. By releasing beneficial insects into a garden space, you introduce natural predators to the common pests that damage your crop. Beneficial insects can be used as a preventative measure or for treating outbreaks, saving growers from having to resort to harmful or illegal pesticides.”—Leafly

Why are pesticides harmful?

The word ‘pesticide’ covers everything from fungicides to prevent mildew and mold, to herbicides for eliminating weeds, to insecticides to control bugs (and not the beneficial kind). All pesticides aren’t necessarily harmful to people (where the planet is concerned, that’s another story). But you still don’t want to smoke them. 

Relatively inert pesticides become harmful when combusted and inhaled. And while more research needs to be done before we can speak to or understand the full scope of health problems related to burned and inhaled pesticides, we encourage you to err on the side of caution. That’s what we’ve done, and it’s why we’ve never used pesticides in our grows. 

*Click here for the Colorado Department of Agriculture’s (CDA) list of pesticides approved for use in cannabis grows.  

Our overall sustainable practices.

In states like Colorado, where cannabis is legal, attention is increasingly focused on the sustainability impacts of our industry. We’ve initiated a sustainability program to reduce our environmental footprint. Here’s how:

• Last year we completed the construction of our state-of-the-art 40,000 square foot greenhouse. Our newest cultivation facility uses natural light for the entire year. Supplemental artificial light is used for only 6 months out of the year. And, our greenhouse is cooled through water evaporation which cuts our overall energy consumption by half. Also, every drop of water is recycled, allowing us to decrease nutrient and water consumption by 50 percent. 
• Lightshade’s original cultivation facilities always have and will always use organic pest control methods.
• We use LED lighting and high-efficiency climate control systems at each Lightshade Denver, Aurora, and Federal Heights dispensary. And our Colorado dispensaries use single-stream recycling containers to house every piece of waste produced.
• We switched our packaging last year to bags that use 85 percent less plastic than our previous drams. We’ve also partnered with Green for Green. They placed recycling bins at each dispensary – customers can return spent drams for cleaning and reuse. 

“Commercial buildings represent 35 percent of citywide emissions, and – as cannabis businesses occupy an increasing amount of commercial building space – the cannabis industry plays an important role in helping the community meet its emission reduction targets.”—Cannabis Environmental Best Management Practices Guide, Denver Public Health and Environment

Our commitment to the community and the environment is unwavering. And we are always looking at ways to improve. This year our cultivation team is sitting on the City of Denver’s sustainability committee and a committee for organic certification. Ligthshade is also working toward the goal of receiving organic certification – we’ll be one of the first grows in Colorado to earn this designation. 

Are you interested in learning more about what Lightshade is doing to support the health of our community and the environment? Get in touch!

The first state to legalize recreational cannabis was also the first state to imprison two people for its sale and possession.

On October 2, 1937, Samuel Caldwell opened his hotel room door to an audience of FBI Agents and Denver Police Officers. Caldwell, an 8th-grade educated petty criminal clad in farmer’s overalls (now enshrined as the ‘first pot POW’), had roughly four pounds of cannabis in his room. 

It’s said Caldwell attracted the eye of local authorities after selling two joints to 23-year-old Denver local, Moses Baca (more on that later). 

Caldwell was sentenced to four years hard labor at Leavenworth Penitentiary, and Baca, also arrested, found himself in a cell for 18 months. The fanfare surrounding Caldwell and Baca’s trials brought to Denver cannabis opponent (and known racist), Harry Anslinger, the nation’s first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. As America’s leading anti-cannabis zealot, Anslinger couldn’t resist taking a front-row seat in the courtroom. 

The irony of Baca and Caldwell’s convictions isn’t lost on students of Colorado cannabis history. They were the first cannabis-related arrests in the same state that ended its prohibition 76 years later.

Moses Baca bought two joints from Samuel Caldwell. Or did he?

Claims that Moses Baca bought two joints from Samuel Caldwell are false. Here’s the real story: Baca’s arrest came three days before Caldwell’s – in Five Points – for a quarter ounce of weed hidden in his dresser drawer.  

“As the folk hero status of Caldwell and Baca grew with the cannabis reform movement, the two began being erroneously linked as buyer and seller of those first federal joints. Facts, as they say, should never get in the way of a good story.” — Daniel Glick, Leafly 

The cannabis folk hero status bestowed upon Caldwell and Baca in the decades since their arrests confused an already hazy history. Today Caldwell is deified on mugs and t-shirts, but let’s not forget that the now-lauded cannabis Prisoner of War was also a career criminal. 

(Caldwell wasn’t a cannabis consumer. Seeing a financial opportunity, he had only started selling weed a few months before its prohibition.)

And Baca, Caldwell’s 23-year-old “accomplice,” was a bystander in our nation’s racist campaign against “marihuana.” As a Mexican-American, Baca was a shiny poster-boy for cannabis prohibition. His arrest stoked the fears of Americans taken by the government’s anti-immigrant rhetoric. In 1937 Congress criminalized cannabis and not because they felt it was psychologically or physically harmful. Cannabis prohibition was an attempt to stem the tide of Mexican immigration and control the economic competition hemp posed to the timber and pharmaceutical industries. 

Still, Moses Baca wasn’t entirely innocent. Like Caldwell, Baca had a lengthy rap sheet; it was a “Drunk & Disturbance” charge that led Denver authorities to his door, and he had a strong reputation as an abusive husband. 

Baca’s violent past is too often overshadowed by his cannabis martyrdom. 

The facts of Caldwell’s and Baca’s arrests, and their popularity as cannabis folk heroes, belie a more profound history. One in which truth is obscured (on both sides) by agenda and stereotypes. 

Credit is due to “Uncle Mike” for uncovering the stories of Steven Caldwell and Moses Baca.

Most of what we know about Steven Caldwell and Moses Baca comes from the Colorado cannabis activist “Uncle Mike.” 

“Uncle Mike calls himself “just a redneck from Craig,” a rural Colorado town more well known for being a hardscrabble coal community than it is for breeding cannabis activists. After a lifetime of living in the underground, he still isn’t comfortable using his real name.”—Leafly 

After serving time for a cannabis-related offense, Uncle Mike hit the history books, uncovering the truth surrounding Caldwell and Baca. Mike sifted through years of dusty documents and jumbled news stories to assemble a coherent and truthful story. He collected his findings in a book: 

U.S. District Court, Denver, Colorado, Imposes First Federal Marihuana Law Penalties: Compilation of Publications, Interviews, Criminal Files, and Photographs of Moses Baca & Samuel Caldwell

Today we have Uncle Mike to thank for shedding light on this forgotten corner of cannabis history.

A growing interest in the functional and recreational properties of cannabis is creating a space for culinary innovations.

Colorado cannabis consumers love edibles – and we can’t blame them. After all, edibles are a discreet (and delicious) way to enjoy our favorite plant. And with advancements in dosing, healthier options, and the emergence of infused beverages, the category is set to grow even further in the new decade. 

The humble edible was once limited to the classic pot brownie and infused cookie. Still, as cannabis legalization spreads, the opportunities for product innovation grow, and with improved dosing accuracy, and more variety, the options for Denver dispensary customers at every stage of their cannabis journey are significant. 

Lightshade’s broad selection of Colorado edibles appeals to every kind of cannabis consumer, from the canna-sseur (see what we did there?), to the yogi, endurance athletes, to people interested in a healthy wine alternative. Budtender’s at our medical and recreational dispensaries in Denver and Aurora, and our Federal Heights, Colorado dispensary, answer questions about cannabis edibles every day. So, we decided to collect the most common questions Colorado dispensary customers have about edibles and our answers in one place. 

Without further ado, here is our guide to Colorado cannabis edibles!

What are the most common types of edibles found in a Colorado dispensary?

Cannabis gummies, infused baked goods, tinctures, and beverages, are the most common types of edibles found in Colorado dispensaries. We are also starting to see more experimental infused options like marshmallows, and truffles to round-out our Denver dispensary edibles selection. 

Most edibles are digested through the gastrointestinal tract, which means that these infused products take the longest to kick-in. But it’s worth the wait! The effects tend to last the longest – up to eight hours (or more) in some cases.

Cannabis-Infused Drinks, Tinctures, and Hard Candies are three types of increasingly popular edibles.

Cannabis Beverages

Cannabis-infused beverages hit Colorado dispensary shelves a few years ago, and today they are growing in popularity. From soda to sparkling water, to cold brew coffee, Denver dispensary customers love THC-infused drinks. 

Like an infused gummy or baked good, cannabis-infused drinks pass through your digestive system. But since it’s a liquid, the effects are felt faster – as fast as a tincture in most instances (but they last longer).

Hard Candies and Cannabis Tinctures

Hard candies and tinctures are growing in popularity as fast as infused drinks. And while the practice of making and consuming herbal tinctures dates back thousands of years, after a decline in demand, tinctures are very much back in fashion. Tinctures and candies are a discreet and fast-acting consumption method, which explains the sudden rise in popularity. 

Absorbed through a process known as oral uptake, a few drops of a tincture beneath the tongue sends potent cannabinoids directly to the bloodstream and brain, bypassing the digestive system, which explains the speedy onset. In contrast to edibles and drinks, the effects of a tincture or infused candy tend to last only two to three hours.

Are edibles good for new cannabis consumers?

Edibles have a reputation for being inconsistent and risky. While we understand the reputation, with today’s accurate dosing and strict regulations, the chances of finding yourself in a state of edible-induced panic are slim. 

That said, there are a few guidelines newly initiated Colorado dispensary customers should follow. Beginners need to start with a microdose and slowly work their way up to higher potency. The phrase “start low and go slow” applies to you if you’re a new cannabis consumer! 

Ask a budtender in one of our eight Colorado dispensary locations if you have questions about the safe consumption of cannabis edibles. We want you to have the best experience possible.

Are there side effects of cannabis edibles?

The effects of an edible vary by type and dosage. Still, regardless of dosage or the style of edible, you can expect more of an overall body high than the deep cerebral (head) high you get from smoking or vaping cannabis. 

THC is synthesized into 11-hydroxy-THC when it’s absorbed through the digestive system – it’s far more potent than the delta-9-THC received by our brains after smoking or vaping weed. And edibles take longer to move through the body, which is why the effects are more sustained. We suggest that you wait at least one hour after the first dose (enough time for the results to fully kick-in), before considering another round.

Uh-oh, you over-consumed. What should you do?

Breathe deeply – you’re going to be okay. There is not one single recorded death from a cannabis overdose. It’s impossible. 

And, CBD is your best friend if you’ve consumed too much. CBD helps reduce the side-effects of THC, so it’s a good idea to keep a 100% CBD edible or tincture nearby for those times when you’ve gone a little too far. 

Follow the CBD tincture up with a good round of sleep, and you’ll be right as rain.

If you’re wondering, “what’s the closest dispensary near me?” head to our locations page for a list of Lightshade Colorado dispensary locations. Also, don’t forget to visit our order page to check out Lightshade’s selection of edibles and place an order for pickup.