Video: Stephen Colbert Highlights “Ganjapreneurs” Shaping New Industry

Every time a late night host mentions positive marijuana news, audiences go wild. Most recently, Colbert Report host Stephen Colbert did a segment breaking down the successes in Colorado since the industry came above ground in January, live to a cheering audience in New York.

Colorado brought in $2 million in sales taxes in January from legal sales of cannabis.

“The market has spoken, and the market is tokin’,” said Colbert while introducing the segment. “As a staunch capitalist I must now honor my long-standing pledge to instantly ditch my morals for anything profitable.”

“If you want a piece of the pie, and if you’re high you do, I am going to help you make some money right now with the help of a big red button,” Colbert said while tapping a prop red button. The 6-minute segment “Bears & Balls: Bears & Bowls Edition” looks at the evolving industry and pokes fun at mainstream media coverage of the emerging industry and the innovation it has sparked.

“If your conscience does not allow you to sell pot, there are plenty of indirect ways to cash in on Colorado’s new marijuana craze,” Colbert said discussing cannabis tourism and travel searches to Denver now outpacing all other internet travel inquiries. People have paid as much as $300 to be picked up at the Denver airport in a party bus and driven to a ski resort, toking the whole way.

“Here is how you spot people who have been on the marijuana ski bus: they are the ones snowboarding,” Colbert said.

Finally, Colbert used the opportunity to insert a job to banking institutions responsible for the financial collapse not taking the new industry’s money.

“If bankers accept drug money they might go to jail,” Colbert said laughing to a cheering audience. “What am I saying? Whoever wrote that line was high.”