10 Things We Learned at Snoop Dogg’s Denver Weed Launch

Snoop Dogg and his assistants showed off their Leafs by Snoop wares at a private Denver launch on Monday. Photo: Courtesy of Leafs By Snoop

There’s something almost too perfect about Snoop Dogg ”” a man who once claimed to smoke 81 blunts a day ”” coming to a town nicknamed the Mile High City to debut his new line of cannabis products. But on Monday night, he descended upon Denver with his Leafs by Snoop collection to do just that. The 44-year-old rapper and entrepreneur turned a private residence into his own personal Dogghouse, showcasing his diverse weed wares, spinning some G-funk, spitting a few bars and, at one point, basically hotboxing a select crowd of Coloradans into oblivion with lots and lots of stinky, Snoop-selected strains.

The party, and the pot line, is the culmination of a string of recent marijuana-related endeavors for the man born Calvin Broadus Jr. He’s a managing member of the cannabis-focused VC fund Casa Verde (it’s Spanish for “greenhouse,” of course); has invested in the medical-marijuana delivery startup Eaze (known as the “Uber for weed”) and the packaging company FunkSac, which manufactures child-resistant and odor-locking baggies; and has his own line of Grenco Double G vape pens. Then there’s his new website, Merry Jane, a cannabis lifestyle and resource platform where you can watch Seth Rogen demonstrate how to roll a cross joint, read an article about, say, France’s homegrown marijuana culture, peruse a database that will match your personality to the perfect pot (are you more a Jedi Kush or Sour Diesel man?), and utilize a dispensary directory to locate the closest shop to go and get your smoke on.

Which is to say that, these days, Snoop is perhaps music’s greatest (all respect to Willie) pot-preneur and proselytizer. What’s more, he’s been preaching the ganja gospel for more than two decades. And so, while he has now come to Colorado, it’s quite possible that Colorado ”” which in 2012 passed groundbreaking legislation legalizing the possession and sale of recreational marijuana ”” has also, metaphorically speaking, come to him. Indeed, it’s a Doggy Dogg world ”” we’re all just getting really high in it. Here are 1o things we learned partying with Tha Doggfather in Denver.

1. Herbs and ‘burbs make a great pair.
Sure, you can buy and smoke marijuana legally in Colorado, but public consumption is still out of the question. Which is why many of tonight’s guests wind up taking a bus ”” make that, a party bus ”” from a meeting spot in downtown Denver out to a private residence nearby, where the owner of a staunchly suburban, and spacious, home has generously opened his doors to Snoop and his posse.

2. Snoop is a gracious host.
Not long after partygoers enter into the home’s foyer, the man of the hour, introduced as the “King of Cannabis,” makes his way from a spiral staircase to a microphone at the front of the room. Once there, Snoop greets his guests, which include an assortment of associates, cannabis professionals, lawyers, activists, journalists and even a next-door neighbor, who stops by after putting his kids to bed. After a short speech in which he thanks everyone for coming out and touts the legalization of marijuana in Colorado as a “beautiful thing,” the rapper unveils Leafs by Snoop, a diverse line of cannabis flowers, shatter and wax concentrates, and edibles. “Now, we’d like you to sample it,” Snoop says, “but sample it responsible.” He pauses. “As responsible as you can.”

3. Snoop is a really gracious host.
Following the speech, a curtain is pulled back on a small dining room to reveal a long table littered with an absolutely ridiculous quantity of weed product and paraphernalia. The assembled throng eagerly falls in behind Snoop, surrounding the rapper as he sidles up to the table, grabs one of the many LBS-emblazoned display jars stuffed with plump, chestnut-sized flowers and reaches in to pull out a few buds. He packs them into multicolored glass pipes and passes them out to his guests. “Purple Kush?” he asks a lady with long black hair sipping a glass of Chardonnay. “Thanks, Snoop,” she replies, accepting the bowl. He smiles. “Need a lighter, baby?”

4. Snoop isn’t just the man at the head of LBS ”” he’s also a client.
“Start me off with the Bananas,” he says to one of the female “servers” at the table, and a bowl is soon packed and placed in his hand. Snoop puts the glass to his lips and inhales deeply. A cloud of smoke billows around him, and he raises his arms up and out and begins bouncing his head from side to side, as if he’s grooving to his own personal weed soundtrack. As he puffs, three ladies, dressed identically in high heels, black miniskirts and tight white Leafs by Snoop t-shirts, sit on stools at one end of the table slicing open Swisher Sweets cigars and using the papers to roll thick blunts.

5. Leafs encourages you to taste the rainbow.
Leafs by Snoop is impressive in its range of offerings: eight cannabis strains personally selected by the rapper and available in flower and concentrate forms, as well as chocolate bars and other edible goodies (the candies, cleverly, have been christened Dogg Treats). And it’s all here to sample, from Lemon Pie buds, Blueberry Dream waxes and Peaches N Cream chocolates to cherry gummies, raspberry fruit chews and peanut butter “gems.” “And tomorrow,” Snoop says proudly, “everything will be available in stores.”

6.  Snoop’s sonic sensibility remains impeccable.
As the curtained-off dining room fills up with weed smoke, the party migrates back out to the main space where Snoop, under the guise of his alter ego DJ Snoopadelic, takes control of the music. “You have been smoking! You have been drinking! Now it’s time to get yo ass to the dance floor!” he declares. For the next 45 minutes or so, Snoop, mic in one hand, ever-present blunt in the other, spins a mix of contemporary crowd-pleasers (“Uptown Funk,” “Blurred Lines”) and classic jams (Prince’s “Kiss,” Rick James’ “Mary Jane”). He also pulls out a few surprises, rapping his bars from Dr. Dre’s “The Next Episode” and throwing in unexpected curveballs like Rod Stewart’s “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy.” This last one, Snoop announces, is a “shout out to all the sexy girls.”

7. This stuff is strong …
Number of partygoers that pass out: one ”” a male who hits the floor fast and hard, eyes wide open, as Snoop spins “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy.” Number of partygoers standing alone and giggling uncontrollably into their drink: again, one, this time as Snoop jams Icona Pop’s “I Love It.”

8. … and it’s the perfect munchies prelude.
Since man can’t live on Dogg Treats alone, Snoop and his team keep their attendees’ cravings at bay with some high/low hors d’oeuvres. There’s standard grown-up party fare like bacon-wrapped dates and crab cakes, but also classic stoner offerings like bite-size mac and cheese, Frito pie and a miniature chicken-and-waffle combo on a toothpick … finished with a drizzle of rosemary maple syrup.

9. Snoop has friends in high places.
Among the guests tonight is one of the attorneys who authored Amendment 64, the legislation that legalized the possession, use and regulated distribution of cannabis in Colorado. An expert in marijuana policy, he has been offering knowledge to Snoop and his team as they navigate the very new legal waters. “Snoop’s very serious about his business, and he wants to do it in a legitimate way,” he says. The lawyer also believes that Snoop’s high profile and widespread popularity will help to further the mainstreaming of marijuana in Colorado and beyond: “He’s a really, really well-known personality. I mean, even my mother knows who Snoop Dogg is.”

10. He’s not forgetting about the bottom line.
As the party winds down, Snoop sends everyone into the brisk Colorado night with something to remember him by: a Leafs by Snoop box that, in its stylish white simplicity, looks like something that might house an Apple product. Among the goodies packed inside are a gold Zippo lighter and an LBS-branded marijuana grinder. For those who would prefer to have one of these smartly designed boxes filled with actual bud? Head out to select Colorado dispensaries beginning, well, today, and pick one up.