Harbingers of a Smoking Summer: Colorado Symphony and Golf Digest Embrace Marijuana

In two more benchmarks of acceptance, the Colorado Symphony will be performing a series of concerts aimed at marijuana enthusiasts this summer, and Golf Digest magazine is reaching out to potheads who putt.

“Classically Cannabis: The High Notes Series” will host three fundraisers at an art gallery — appropriately called Space Gallery — with a patio for smoking and a BYOC (Bring Your Own Cannabis) policy. The season will culminate in a concert at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Curated by Jane West of Edible Events Co., the opening May 23 “Pan American Highway” event is co-sponsored by Ideal 420 Soils and two Denver dispensaries, the Farm and Gaia Plant-Based Medicine. Food and drink will be available, and guests are encouraged to use Uber, taxis or public transit instead of driving themselves home.

“We think it’s a great opportunity for the symphony to satisfy two of its needs: to reach a younger, more diverse audience and raise money,” Jerome Kern, the symphony’s chief executive, told the Los Angeles Times. “Cannabis is legal. The industry is legal. The people we are dealing with comply with all the laws, and they will provide very large financial support.”

The symphony also performs a “Beethoven and Brews” series at local brew pubs.

Golf Digest magazine has similarly reached out to younger, marijuana-smoking readers in its June issue, with Jimmy Fallon on the cover. According to the New York Times, the issue contains articles about adding Bluetooth speakers to golf carts and smoking marijuana on the course.

A survey of 1,020 male golfers conducted by the magazine last year found that 11 percent of millennial-aged golfers admit to smoking marijuana while golfing, compared with 3 percent of golfers 35 to 54 years old and 1 percent of golfers 55 or older. By a nearly 3-to-1 ratio, millennials want music available while they golf.

Classical, anyone?

UPDATE: 05/14/2014

Sad to say, Denver city officials have urged the CSO to cancel the concerts or face arrest.

The CSO said in a statement saying “We’re reviewing the issues with our legal team. When the Colorado Symphony accepted support from the legal cannabis industry – as a means of supporting our financial operations and connecting with a culturally diverse audience – we believed we did so in full compliance with the law.”

UPDATE: 05/28/2014

The CSO earned $50K at their first “Classically Cannabis” Fundraiser. Just another way other states are missing out.