GRAND JUNCTION (AP) – A Volkswagen Westfalia Vanagon is rumbling across Colorado this summer, and it’s loaded with baked treats dubbed Mary Jane and Acapulco Gold.
On the back window of this tan van named “Bud,” a decal asks, “Got THC Brownies?”
In the driver’s seat, you won’t find Cheech or Chong. It’s a man who traded sirens, handcuffs and busting stoners for selling the idea of pot in dessert form – well sort of.
Behind the wheel is former Grand Junction Police Chief Greg Morrison, freshly retired from a 37-year career in law enforcement. It’s not often you see a retired cop driving around a pot-leaf-decorated van. But Morrison is high on entrepreneurial spirit, and he’s started a second career selling a joke made possible by the state’s recreational marijuana industry.
He’s looking to hook you up with some sweet, Colorado-baked treats, which are completely marijuana-free.
Essentially, Morrison is selling a delicious gag gift and capitalizing on Colorado voters’ decision in 2012 to legalize recreational use of marijuana.
“Everywhere I went, when people found out I was from Colorado, they’d want to talk about marijuana,” he said.
He considered bringing some grocery-store brownies on the plane and sprinkling them with oregano as a spoof.
The idea of Colorado’s pot business as a novelty appealed to Morrison. He remembered back to his older brother’s college days, when he’d come home on break and load his car with cases of Coors Light for buddies back east.
He sees his market as one including both residents and tourists. Maybe someone wants to take a souvenir home on a plane that’s legal and pot-related. Maybe a resident wants to mail a box of THC Brownies to grandma in Illinois as a joke.
