February 20, 2025 • 33 mins
Cannabis Tourism: From Amsterdam to Vancouver Island
Cannabis might not be legal worldwide… yet. But that doesn’t stop the global cannabis tourism industry from buzzing along. In fact, Forbes values the U.S. cannabis tourism industry alone at USD $17 billion.
In this episode of The Potcast, we’re taking you on a journey from the pioneering cannabis tourist destinations, to North America’s first 420-friendly cafe, to the budding industry growing right here in beautiful British Columbia.
After all, BC weed is world-renowned, and we’ve got passionate people who’ve been in the business since long before legalization who can tell you where it all began, and where they plan to take it.
Like Kyp Rowe, VP of Brand Development and Sales at Victoria Cannabis Company – home to BC’s second and Vancouver Island’s first farmgate store, where locals and visitors alike can sample the best BC weed right where it’s grown.
And we’ll also chat with Graham Meckling from Victoria Cannabis Tours, who’s busy creating memorable tour experiences for visitors to Vancouver Island, served with a side of cannabis.
Buckle up – it’s going to be an interesting ride.
About Kyp Rowe - Victoria Cannabis Company https://www.victoriacannabiscompany.com/
Kyp Rowe is the VP of Brand Development & Sales at Victoria Cannabis Company (VCC). Located in the heart of Victoria, BC, with an indoor grow facility and farmgate store, VCC has roots reaching back as far as 25 years. The legacy of their experience informs and augments their every decision, resulting in the highest quality BC craft cannabis.
The VCC team believes in a balance between maintaining tried and trusted profiles developed in the Traditional Market with that of creating and discovering new flavours not yet available.
About Graham Meckling - Victoria Cannabis Tours
https://www.victoriacannabistours.ca/
Graham Meckling is a dynamic entrepreneur and creative visionary with a diverse portfolio of successful businesses. As the former owner of the award-winning Stage Wine Bar in Fernwood, Victoria, Graham established a reputation for creating unforgettable dining experiences that paired exceptional cuisine with a welcoming, community-focused atmosphere.
Today, Graham channels his passion for innovation into businesses that make a positive impact in the lives of its users, including Truedad, an online community dedicated to supporting new and expecting fathers based on his award-winning book Babies Don’t Talk. He also founded ADHD Lovebugs, a company that empowers individuals with ADHD to stay organized and productive using beautifully designed, indexed to-do list cards.
In addition, Graham's entrepreneurial spirit extends to Victoria Cannabis Tours, which offers curated walking and driving tours highlighting the local cannabis scene in one of Canada’s most vibrant cities.
Whether it’s crafting unique culinary experiences, building tools to help others thrive, or celebrating local culture, Graham’s ventures reflect his commitment to creativity, connection, and community.
About Ross
Ross Rebagliati is a Canadian snowboarder who won a gold medal in the men’s giant slalom event at the 1998 Winter Olympics. A positive cannabis test led the International Olympic Committee to strip him of his medal, but the decision was overruled in appeals court two days later because cannabis was not on the list of banned substances. For that reason, Ross’ medal is the only Olympic medal to have ever been returned
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
This podcast is intended for a mature audience over 19 years of age and is provided on aneducational and informational basis.
Any material presented is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as asubstitute for professional medical advice or as an endorsement or medical claim by
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(00:29):
Ross is looking good right now.
We're starved for Ross right now.
He's in first place.
Ross Rebagliati
to Ross's gold medal run.
Ross Rebagliati has tested positive for passive marijuana.
Forced to forfeit his gold medal.
(00:49):
Returns the medal and diploma awarded to the FF Rebagliati.
They put me in jail in Japan.
Overturned.
He did get the medal back.
I just wanted to take the control back again.
Let's turn this mess into a success.
I'd love if we could be part of normalizing cannabis use and to also stand up for thepeople who use cannabis.
(01:11):
It's personal.
I'm Ross Rebagliati and this is the podcast.
Welcome to the podcast with Ross Rebagliati where we explore the world of cannabis throughthe eyes of one of the world's premier cannabis advocates.
I've been at the forefront of cannabis awareness for over 25 years since that fateful dayin Nagano.
(01:32):
Join me as we dig deep for gold nuggets hidden in the wide world of weed.
It's growers, producers, innovators and enthusiasts.
Don't forget to hit that subscribe button and keep the podcast in your rotation.
Cannabis might not be legal worldwide, just yet, but that doesn't stop the world's weedenthusiasts from traveling foreign-wide to sample global cannabis delicacies.
(02:01):
In this episode of the podcast, we're taking you on a tour from the pioneering cannabistourist destinations to North America's first 420-friendly café to the budding industry
growing right here in beautiful British Columbia.
After all, Weed is world-renowned, and we've got passionate people who've been in thebusiness since, well, long before legalization who can tell you where it all began and
(02:25):
where they plan to take it.
like Kipro.
It was a vibe back in the day.
Our seat office was two doors down from Blum Brothers.
I know Darryl, I know Karen Watson started the Amsterdam Cafe.
There was a grubelbist down there, Mark Emory aside, that were driving the narrative downthere and it felt free at one point.
(02:45):
I Saturday nights at Blum Brothers were a vibe man.
They had bands and you could buy beers upstairs, know, you could puff in there and it waspacked.
There was all these yanks coming up and buying seeds.
And we'll chat with Graham Meckling, who's busy creating memorable tour experiences forvisitors to Vancouver Island, served with a side of cannabis.
I've got a passenger transportation license and all the things you need to drive peoplearound safely.
(03:09):
In my Jeep Grand Cherokee and started taking people for drives in the summer.
Just put a website up and said, hey, come do some sightseeing tours and get stoned.
So awesome.
I mean, that's what I would love to do.
I'm Don Schaeffer.
And I'm Ross Rebagliati.
And this is the podcast.
And now for the pot news.
2021 study at the University of Guelph concluded that Canada has the potential to becomethe Napa Valley of cannabis tourism.
(03:33):
The research showed that pairing cannabis with tourism helps normalize cannabis use,unlock new tourism revenue streams, and it could convince decision makers to embrace
Canada's reputation for cannabis, much like California's reputation for wine.
The researchers arrived at their findings by creating a database of all Canadian cannabistourism businesses.
(03:55):
through qualitative review of the first two years of cannabis legalization in Canada.
They discovered significant growth in public acceptance of cannabis use if it's presentedto tourists as legally separate from other illicit drugs.
South of the Canadian border, travelers who'd like to book a room that might come with acomplimentary joint instead of a chocolate on their pillow can do so on a website called
(04:19):
Bud & Breakfast.
The site, which functions similarly to Airbnb,
features 2,000 active listings of cannabis-friendly lodging in cities like Chicago and NewYork.
Button Breakfast Hosts offer places to stay that permit cannabis use and may even provideinformation about local cannabis shops and other weed-focused experiences to help cannabis
(04:40):
tourists make the most of their plant-powered vacation.
Cannabis tourism has existed long before legalization, and it's still a thing, even incountries where wheat hasn't been legalized.
Whether local authorities choose to enforce those laws is another story.
(05:05):
Take for example, Cambodia, where cannabis is illegal, but tourists can buy a slice ofhappy pizza from food vendors and tourist spots.
Each slice, of course, is infused with enough THC to, well, make you happy.
Allegedly.
Cannabis tourists traveled to Morocco to sample its world-renowned hash.
(05:26):
As the world's largest cannabis resin producer, it's no wonder.
It's an international destination for hash enthusiasts.
But even though it's widely used, it's still considered an illegal substance.
And on the legal cannabis tourism front, we have the U.S.
While Colorado and Washington were trailblazers in legalization and cannabis tourism inthe country,
(05:50):
Weed is now legal in 24 states with Forbes Magazine valuing the U.S.
cannabis tourism industry at a whopping $17 billion.
South Africa's cannabis tourism has been booming since the legalization of weed in privatespaces in 2018.
Thailand decriminalized cannabis in 2022, prompting an estimated 12,000 dispensaries topop up.
(06:14):
However, Thailand's new government is making moves to restrict cannabis use in the countryonce again.
And how could we forget the Netherlands, one of the most famous destinations and perhapswhat one might consider the ground zero of cannabis tourism.
Although cannabis is not legal federally, Amsterdam's regulated consumption lounges,called coffee shops, have been in operation since the 70s.
(06:41):
Of course we would have to cancel the podcast altogether if we didn't shout out Canada'sown Amsterdam Cafe.
the legendary self-proclaimed respectable joint in operation on Hastings Street indowntown Vancouver since 1998.
Well before weed was legal in Vancouver, folks were traveling from all over the world topull up a seat at North America's first 420-friendly cafe where you could roll up your
(07:06):
joints and smoke them in the designated smoking room and then maybe pick up somehouse-made munchies and non-alcoholic drinks to enjoy after.
In fact, our first guest on the podcast today was around during those glory days of theAmsterdam Café.
If you're a cannabis enthusiast, know B.C.
(07:28):
is famous around the world.
People have been hearing the legend for decades, even traveling long distances to see whatthe fuss is all about.
One person has been there since the beginning, keeping the torch lit for B.C.
Bud lovers.
My name is Kip Bro.
I am the VP of Brand Development and Sales at the Victoria Cannabis Company located in VicWest on Vancouver Island.
(07:52):
I've been in this 30 years.
I started out hustling packs to Americans back in the day in Vancouver, like everybodyelse did in my age group.
If you're in cannabis, I owned a store in Kitsilano for four years called High End.
Then I owned a seed company called Legend Seeds from 1999 to 2007 and soldinternationally.
And so we sold Dutch seeds, Canadian breeders and whatnot.
(08:14):
So I've been in this my entire adult life.
Kipp is from what some folks in the industry might call the legacy market.
But you'll never hear him use that term.
When an illegalization came and they started coining the term legacy, it used to drive mebatshit because I was so sick of some corporate hack coming up with a name that defined an
(08:35):
entire generation's worth of industry people.
They were taking it.
And to me, it just made more sense.
was traditional market cannabis.
That's what British Columbia cannabis was.
There was no Ontario cannabis scene back in the early 90s.
It was all BC.
All BC, bud.
Absolutely.
It was East Hastings.
It was Blood Brothers.
It was Amsterdam Cafe.
was Hep B.C.
You know, was that to me was the traditional market back in the day.
(08:59):
And so I wanted to bring that to the forefront where we are talking about traditionalflavor profiles, traditional cannabis that was bred in British Columbia, the traditional
vibe of separating smalls and eight-bookles, like just those packs that all the Yankswould see back in the day when they'd make it down to the ATL or down to Miami.
from BC that gave the name BC Bud a good name and not just all the swag that was grown onEastern Ed Basements.
(09:26):
It's not just a branding play.
No, it wasn't because it meant something to people.
It truly did.
And I wanted to bring that culture back.
Kip was there when Vancouver started making a name for itself as a cannabis tourismdestination.
It was a vibe back in the day.
Our seat office was two doors down from Blunt Brothers.
(09:47):
I know Daryl, I know Karen Lawson started the Amsterdam Cafe.
There was a group of us down there, Mark Emory aside, that were driving a narrative downthere.
it was a total scene, man.
It made that block safe, to be quite honest.
It's a lot safer than it is now, that's for sure.
And it really promoted the culture and the scene that was going on here at the time.
(10:10):
Yeah.
It seemed like a pretty interesting vibe back then.
Like in the nineties, I was out of the country quite a bit, just doing my racing and stuffin Europe, but coming back home and having that culture ready for me to get back into it,
you know, every time I got home, you know, it's a special feeling.
Felt like home, didn't it?
Yeah.
That's what you equated to BC, being in BC.
That felt like home.
(10:30):
I know I, I absolutely loved it.
It was a great time and it just incredibly thankful to be a part of it.
Well, I had the same kind of trajectory as you did.
We had a store in Kelowna, the Ross Gold store, and that was pre-legalization.
And I don't want to steal the spotlight here, but for me, it was all about putting my neckon the line and fighting for legalization like everybody else and not just jumping on to a
(10:51):
bandwagon that was already predetermined after legalization.
So I get where you guys came from and I can appreciate it too.
You push the needle.
Everyone in that scene, kind of like 2006 to 2014 scene pushed it.
They made the government change the laws.
They absolutely did.
And I love everyone for it.
Like was involved in that time period, Ross, why we're here today.
(11:14):
Yeah, it was quite a magical time.
It was almost like the sixties, you know, all over again, where we were like pushing therealms of the law, but doing what we thought was right and coming through at the end of
the day.
was good to be part of.
Oh dude, absolutely.
That's why we're here today.
Right, Ross?
A lot's changed since those early days.
With cannabis legalized in Canada, the farm gate store is permitted, the legal cannabistourism industry is taking off.
(11:39):
Now, locals and tourists alike can come and purchase BC Bud right where it's grown, muchlike picking up a pint of cherries at a roadside farm stand.
And if you really want the traditional BC cannabis experience, visiting Kip and his teamat Victoria Cannabis Company should definitely be on your itinerary.
(12:00):
They're pioneering the scene in BC as the second farm gauge store to open in the province,and the first on Vancouver Island.
I've been on with the team here for about two and a half years.
They didn't have their own brand yet.
There were, I think, five employees in the entire building when I arrived.
I think the last count were up to 36, so it's been quite an adventure.
(12:21):
I took this company and created the brand, Victoria Cannabis Company.
And we've been slowly going on and ever since we added a standard processor to thebuilding as well.
We also have farm gate, obviously too.
So we've got five licenses under one building.
That's excellent.
That's the only way to go.
The end game was to make that farm gate store and we're 14 weeks in now.
(12:43):
Wow.
It's seeing it's a provision.
Nice work, Kip.
I used to have hair.
I appreciate that Ross.
Thank you, brother.
Yeah, no, it's no small feat.
Yeah, it's been an absolute journey.
mean, the team is a killer team here at VCC.
With Farmgate, we can finally live the dream of seeds strictly to sale and we're a greatspot here and we're really excited and seeing the community out here in Victoria has been
(13:08):
so supportive of us.
It really feels community in a space that, you know, we're trying to educate the public asmuch as possible as well, too.
It's been a wild ride.
I'm just loving every minute of it.
Also draws about 20 Karens that hate it so but I can't tell you how many letters andemails we get all the time from people that aren't really too happy about us being here.
(13:31):
They're gonna have to live with it.
That's right, Roz.
I was in Victoria like a year and a bit ago at an event at a coffee shop and there was amajor turnout for that.
It was a happening place that night.
I can only imagine on a daily what it's like out there.
I gotta get back to the island.
The scene is pretty ripe here.
(13:51):
You can't get any more left coast than Victoria.
To be honest.
Yeah, right.
You know, the epicenter of people taking cannabis very bloody seriously.
So big things ahead.
Looking forward to our first summer with the store open.
That's going to be huge.
I'm going to have to come out for that one.
Absolutely.
Please do.
We'd love to have that.
I'll show you around the facility as well.
We are going to be doing some tours.
(14:12):
We don't have a lot of space in this facility.
We don't have a window in the store that goes onto a flower room or anything like that.
But what we do have in the store is we've got a video, the loops that shows all differentaspects of the building.
And what we do here in the grow rooms, the nursery, the processing, and all of ourattenders.
Some of them actually worked before the store was open in the facility and they knowexactly what's going on.
(14:35):
They can tell you every step of every process.
That seems like really organic and a nice way to introduce people.
who may not know so much about the cannabis industry and its roots.
Agreed, 100 % agreed.
mean, we've had some naysayers in the neighborhood.
I walked three Karens essentially through the entire facility before we opened up, becausethey tried to stop this store.
I wish I was there for that one.
(14:57):
it was painful.
But education's huge for us.
We're trying to change hearts and minds.
And it's really important for us to be looked at like any other business in the community.
And it's a community based in like wellness, right?
And for people to not really understand that, that's a little bit of a uphill battle forthe cannabis business.
(15:18):
But in reality, it's all about feeling better and doing better and being the best you canbe.
And that's the message that we're all trying to promote, or most of us anyway.
Forget the Karens.
Let's get back to what we all came for.
That legendary BC Bud.
What kind of local delicacies can cannabis enthusiasts expect to find it?
(15:38):
VCC's Farmgate store.
Well, first off, we don't just sell our product.
We only do about 1200 kilograms a year.
It's a drop in the bucket.
So we wanted to focus on British Columbia cannabis.
That was a big sticking point for me when we opened the store.
didn't want to carry Big Pub Co.
weed.
I didn't want to carry a lot of stuff that was outside of our province because I want toshowcase all of my friends, my homies that have dedicated their lives to this plant and to
(16:03):
this industry.
And I wanted to help support them as much as possible.
That said, are certain SKUs that we need to carry to fulfill what our customers arelooking for.
Mostly edibles and drinks.
There's not a lot of companies in BC that actually do that, to be quite frank.
So we have had to make some allowances for sure.
So they can expect like a snapshot British Columbia cannabis growers when they come intoour store, as well as SKUs from BCC that aren't readily available in other stores in the
(16:29):
province or in Canada.
We do have some stuff that's just available at our FarmGate store.
And for visitors who
want to get really nerdy about their BC weed, Kev's the guy to talk to.
So to me, breeders are the real authors of our cannabis experiences.
They kind of got lost in the shuffle with legalization to be quite honest.
Back in my life, Freaker's Life Selling Seeds, they were the kings.
(16:52):
They were the epicenter of everything.
They were the ones that created new flavor profiles.
did the hunting, they were the real heroes of our underground industry at times.
So I want to tell these stories again.
And one particular one is the very first cultivar that we came out with under the VCCbrand was Pamelo skunk.
It was actually called Siroc, but we tried to get that through the government.
(17:14):
They wouldn't let us use Siroc.
And that was bred by a gentleman named Carl from Landsville genetics here on the island.
It's a Cetrique cross rock star.
You can't get two more iconic
British Columbia cultivars and that, and the cross is just this turpenoline equatorialbomb.
Love that turpenoline.
Yeah.
You and our turpenoline juggies.
(17:35):
Yeah.
My mango gold, the last round of mango gold had over 2%.
Anyway, I'll let you get back to it.
that's eye watering.
my God.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I wanted to tell that story.
So every time we have folks come in and they're like, I love it.
Mala scump.
We get to tell that story about, well, it was bread an hour and 40 minutes.
Amazing.
We have another one called after eighth.
(17:55):
After eight.
After eight.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Love that.
That was bred by Raya the Leaf from Chimera genetics and he's a Canadian and it was theoriginal S1 cookies he grabbed down in some California and he crossed it at Legends OG.
And we hunted it from seed and we found this little dominant cultivar, which is very rareand it's sweet and floral.
(18:20):
And I mean, I love telling those stories too, because that's a flavor profile that youdon't really find too much.
outside of medical.
The medical users love the little law.
This is the kind of weed and stories you can expect at the Farmgate store where thepassion for BC cannabis is palpable.
We get to tell stories directly from us to them.
There's no middleman.
It's just more of a connection to the grower itself.
(18:42):
It's truly Farmgate.
It's like going to farmers markets.
You're meeting the farmer.
You're buying the onions and the apples from the farmers and you're having theseconversations.
I think it's extremely important because
As a small cannabis producer, that's what we have is our story.
What makes us different from the big pubco's is the care and all the small parts that wedo.
The passion.
(19:03):
The passion.
Absolutely.
You can't survive without it.
We want to show that yes, our stuff might be a little bit pricier, but here's the reasonwhy.
These are the differences and to have these conversations, then you can choose to supportus or not.
And we're finding that we're changing hearts and minds for sure.
You can literally taste the difference, right?
Amen.
100%.
Amen.
So you're going straight to the stores, you're talking just kind of like old school days alittle bit where you've got a grower very nearby and that's what people like, I think, is
(19:31):
not having like have commercial corporate weed, you know, too many pointy shoes in theroom, that type of thing.
Pointy shoes, amen, brother.
Aside from fewer Karens and pointy shoes, what does Kip think the cannabis tourismindustry in Canada needs to thrive?
Be progressive.
Let's let British Columbia producers have a store off site.
(19:52):
and let them have just as much of a chance as mega retail with seven sites across theprovince.
That's progressive to me.
That's one thing I want to leave the listeners with is something like that.
It should mirror the other industries that are similar, like the wine industry, forexample, as a perfect example of farm gate and offsite stores and bringing people into the
(20:13):
organic part of the business and seeing what goes on behind the scenes.
So I think there's a lot of room to move in the right direction.
but also there's got to be numbers to support it and we're getting those numbers.
So I think it's time.
Yeah, slowly but surely, man.
Booze is going down and cannabis consumption is going up.
100%.
Yeah, absolutely.
(20:33):
I couldn't agree more.
And Ross, please, anytime you're on the island, man, just head me out.
We'd love to show you around.
At our next stop in the podcast, Cannabis Tour, we're chatting with someone who can showyou some of the best views on Vancouver Island, after stopping to pick up some of that
delicious BC wheat, of course.
(20:54):
My name is Graham Meckling.
I live here in Vancouver Island.
I own several businesses and all those businesses, I have one goal, which is to positivelyimpact lives of other people.
I work for New Expecting Dads, award-winning restaurant tour.
I have to-do list cards for people with ADHD and I prefer a puff over a pint which is whyI started Victoria Cannabis Tools.
(21:14):
Beauty.
I prefer a puff over a pint myself.
Yo that, buddy.
It's funny for me because I grew up in the restaurant business, Where for like 25 years,that's all you did was see alcohol everywhere.
Yeah.
And there's something really beautiful about a glass of Chardonnay on a patio on a Fridayin the sunshine, right?
No one would disagree with that.
We've also seen all the opposite sides of alcohol, right?
(21:35):
As we see alcohol just taking a nosedive in usage and people just enjoying cannabis morebecause it's just a lot safer, a lot more relaxing.
It's nice to be in a different style of business split that way.
When cannabis was legalized in Canada, Graham saw an opportunity to use his hospitalityexperience in a different way.
I used to own a couple of restaurants here in Victoria and when they legalized cannabis Iwas like, man, this is awesome.
(21:56):
And I also thought, it's gonna be a big boon for the restaurant business, right?
Like there's gonna be groups of 10 people standing outside trying to lay the strain,coming in for preset menus, and then of course it got legalized and absolutely nothing
happened.
So a couple of years went by and I was talking to this friend of mine that ran walkingtours.
Mostly the more Americans coming off cruise ships.
And so how many of these people are asking you for cannabis?
(22:17):
And she's like, every single one of them.
I was like, what?
She's like, yeah, at the very end of the tours, they all whisper in my ear like they'regonna get arrested, right?
Like, where do I buy them cannabis?
And so I was like, oh my gosh.
And then I said to her, like, what are these people paying for a tour?
And they're like 150 bucks.
You asked to like go for a two hour walking tour and have like two pints of beer.
And I was like, oh my gosh.
So I just said, well, that's it.
(22:37):
And so I talked to the city and said, Hey, this is what I want to do.
They said, awesome.
That sounds great.
And then I talked to tourism Victoria and they said, okay, sounds okay, but we need to seewhat you're up to.
And I said, no sweat.
And then I just.
launched it just out of my van.
I've got a passenger transportation license and all the things you need to drive peoplearound safely.
In my Jeep Grand Jerky and started taking people for drives in the summer.
(22:57):
Just put a website up and said, hey, come do some sightseeing tours and get stoned.
So awesome.
Yeah, because I was like, man, that's what I would love to do.
If I was going to Portland or Ticton or anywhere, I'd be like, if someone's going to pickme up in a nice Jeep, take me directly to a dispense tree where could buy some weed and
then take me to a cool spot to smoke it and then show me all these cool places aroundtown, that's my dream scenario.
(23:19):
Speaking of that dream scenario, how is Graham turning it into reality for cannabistourists in Victoria?
We're have two types of tours this year.
So we're going do like a walking tour and that works very simply.
Right in front of the Empress Hotel, right in the inner harbor, we pick you up and we walkyou directly to a dispensary where you get to ask your questions because all the
budtenders are ridiculously amazing.
Their knowledge is crazy.
(23:39):
Ask the questions you want, get the right information and know what you're going to take.
Know the rules and regulations, know how much you can carry with you.
Remember to not take any back across the border or back onto your cruise ship.
And then you get to enjoy it and take it.
We go to a place where you can smoke with Joyner, eat your edible.
And then we just give you like a walking tour of Victoria, just like you'd love to do inany other city, right?
But you get to just be lovely and enjoy it and be stoned while you do it.
(24:00):
And then there's the private driving tours.
So we pick you up from your hotel, wherever you're at in the Grand Cherokee.
It's all like leather and plush and tosy, the seat warmers if you need them.
And then you get a little gift bag that's got your bubbly water, your rogers chocolates,get a little beer, cozy, some little bit of merch.
Everyone gets a lay around your neck so that if you feel like you just don't want to chat,you just want to have quiet time.
You just take it off.
That's everyone's signal to know that you just have a some quiet time.
(24:22):
And we just drive to the places that you don't normally get a chance to go to on a regulartour.
It's where the only company that takes you to Gonzalez Beach.
It's my favorite beach.
To the spot.
Yeah, it's like the most beautiful beach in the world.
Don't tell anybody about it.
Right in the ocean, right?
So we go there, it's beautiful, we drive up the coast, go past Willis Beach, I go up tothe top of Mount Tome, and then we cruise back downtown.
It's awesome.
(24:44):
Part of creating an enjoyable cannabis experience for tourists also involves putting theirminds at ease about the legalities of partaking in Canada.
Because if you come from England, Australia, half the state still, right, where you go toprison, if you're getting caught with weed, right, it's very hard to make a little jump
and
trust the word like Amsterdam and can just smoke and join.
(25:06):
Right?
So I saw super high affluent like Americans like walk into a beautiful dispensary, comeout like they bought a brick of cocaine and like try as fast as they can to get the lid
off right by the garbage can, like looking around, you know, and it's Victoria, whereaspeople smoking joints all over and you're, and you're like, Hey guys, it's okay.
So people are coming here wanting to try BC weed or Canadian weed or wanted to do itbecause it's legal.
(25:31):
Legal weed.
Yeah.
But they just don't know what.
to do next, they've got it on them, but now what?
That's where the hard part is the jump of trust from, I'm not going to go to jail too.
I can go on this guy's man and trust that he's going to just not drive me somewhere crazy.
know?
That's awesome.
I remember when legalization came and the whole like mystique and the hiding and sneakingaround was kind of over.
(25:52):
And I found myself not getting as high anymore.
Yeah, like I was still using cannabis as much, but I just didn't feel like so cookedknowing that.
I could be arrested and that was a novelty actually.
And think tourists from south of the border and other places in the world would probablylike to experience that anti-anxiety part of, you know, legal weed.
(26:13):
Man, that's what I tried to push the most.
I tried to get people the experience that I would want.
And I come from customer service background and I talk about Victoria cannabis tours asbasically like a customer service company because there is nobody on earth that loves
great customer service more than someone who's stoned.
Like there's nobody, right?
If you're stoned and then like two minutes later, I'm like, hey, do you want to try it?
(26:34):
We have some Rogers chocolates in your gift bag.
And they're like, what?
Rogers chocolate for me?
Oh, perfect.
You know, like, oh, just, that's all I wanted.
Thank you.
You're like, no sweat.
And by the way, there's a little bubbly water.
You can rinse it down.
It's like carbonated.
So it kind of cleanses your palate.
Oh, thank you so much.
Right.
So I think it's just giving people the chance to get stoned, like you're saying, Rob andthen just do something, right?
(26:55):
Just enjoy the experience without the stress and the anxiety that comes with it whenyou're going to go to prison in England.
It's a big difference, you know?
100%.
I remember being in prison in Japan and that was no fun.
Yeah, you win that one, buddy.
Yeah.
One day was one day and the next day was a different day.
I'll tell you that.
But yeah, here we are now, 25 years later.
And what does Graham envision for the future of cannabis tourism?
(27:18):
I want to see people do this.
I think cannabis tourism should be customer service tourism.
I think whatever you're doing,
If you're running a knitting circle, if you are running like a bike trail thing, whateveryou are passionate about that you do, I think that you can just add cannabis to it.
What makes a cannabis experience great is not just what you're doing, but like theservices that you're providing, right?
(27:43):
Give them something to drink because they're going to be thirsty.
Give them something to eat because they're going to want to nibble on something.
And just be patient.
That's it.
You do those three things.
Anything that you want to do cannabis tourism related will be awesome.
One of the ideas that I have for cannabis tourism is something I've been thinking aboutfor decades is cannabis ski tours.
For example, whatever ski resort you want to pick, I'll take them on a tour of themountain.
(28:08):
It would be great to have like a little dispensary or some kind of like dedicated littlehut at the top of the mountain that you could go to and check out the local cannabis and
go for a tour of the mountain.
Go have a puff in the trees, like in the olden days.
Yeah, we've all done that.
You know, sign me up.
I think that's it Ross.
I think if that's your thing, right.
(28:28):
Of course, who wouldn't want to go hang out with a professional Olympic gold medal,awesome dude who's like, you know, like I would be like, yeah, sign me up, charge me
whatever you want.
Right.
Cause I think it's just give people a great experience.
And there's like bars and everything at the top of the mountain too, right?
Like, yeah, you know, people are up there drinking and then they ski down.
So the precedence there.
I think if you can build.
(28:49):
a great positive cannabis experience, then that will be an award winning experience.
If you told me I can go with you Ross, and in that hut, there's going to be like, Nami hotchocolate.
Yeah.
And like a one-on-one with you.
That would be the best.
And I would happily do it.
My wife is a ski bunny.
She would love nothing more.
She would be so jacked.
I live in the Okanagan now and wine tours are a big deal.
And obviously they're mostly all farm gate around here on the Nermata bench.
(29:13):
And it would just be great to have.
those sorts of venues available for cannabis where you have windows.
So people aren't going into the rooms.
They're like, there's shutters that go up when the lights turn on and people can walkthrough a hallway that's on the exterior of the building that they can see in, see the
people working on the plants, see the plants.
And then go to a patio, like you say, and order a pizza and maybe some local cannabis andenjoy the view.
(29:40):
It feels weird that we have to talk like this.
Don't you think Ross?
Like it's kind of weird that we have to be like, no, it'd just be nice to be able to justsmoke a J and eat a pizza.
Right?
Yeah.
After all these years of legalization, we're still not there yet, but I think, you know,guys like you are pushing the envelope.
So we're just talking about smoking a J as an adult.
As an over 19 year old person who just wants to like go and do whatever you want to dowith cannabis.
(30:04):
Do want to go and have a quiet time on the bus?
No sweat.
You want to go have a puff and have a giggle?
Great, you wanna go put your feet in the ocean?
I had two ladies who went for a swim in the ocean.
Okay, like I carry towels in the car, because we wash your feet off from the sand andstuff.
Like do mind if we take a dip?
I'm like, I don't care.
That sounds awesome.
If you want to do those things, it's just a matter of a couple of phone calls to yourlocal city, to your local counselor, and just say, hey, like this is what I wanna do.
(30:27):
It's 100 % on the up and up.
I wanna do it in conjunction with you guys.
Let's talk about what the best practices are.
Let's talk about what your concerns are.
Like what are you concerned about from the city?
If anyone out there wants to just ask me a question about like the phone calls that youcan make, I'm happy to answer.
Because the more of us that do it, the better for everybody.
Like the culture is not one person, the culture is a bunch of us.
I just have to ask this question because it inevitably will happen where somebody greensout.
(30:52):
Yeah.
Or has too much and then all of a sudden they're like hanging on to the railing going, ohmy God, I'm so cooked right now.
I don't know if I could carry on.
Do you have any plans for that sort of?
Yeah, one of the reasons why we have the lays is so you could take that off and no onetalks to you if you just smoke a little bit too much, right?
But also the tours, we have a slogan of a moderate consumption equals maximum experience,right?
(31:13):
We don't spend an hour smoking pot, right?
Then going back on the tour, because that's not fun for anybody.
I think, you know, if you have like a couple of tokes and then you jump back into thetour, that's what you want.
You want that first little peek of high, right?
And I warn everybody and I tell them, hey,
Just let you know, this is like an hour and 45 minute tour.
And on the way back, you're going to be getting a little tired, right?
(31:35):
You had a little puff.
So it's okay if it gets quiet in here.
Don't worry about it.
That's part of the tour.
That's when you can take some deep breaths, roll the windows down.
I play like chill beats.
That's a great thing to let them know.
Like don't feel obligated to have to carry a conversation or, know, cause cannabissometimes gives you time to be introspective or.
Yeah.
And that's why they part of what we do is a big onboard speech.
(31:56):
Knowledge is power in no matter what circumstance, anything to tell people, look, this ishow it's going to work.
Everyone's safe from here on in.
Is government approved?
City approved?
There's nothing here that's shady or scary whatsoever.
All that's on the up and up.
All we're to do is go buy some cannabis, which is 100 % legal.
We're going to go to a spot to smoke it or eat it, which is 100 % legal.
We're going to go on a tour and then we're going to come back.
(32:17):
And if at any time anyone needs anything, they can just come talk to me.
I got your back.
You know, when we're all in it together.
So let's just have some fun.
Thanks to Kipro.
from Victoria Cannabis Company and Graham Meckling from Victoria Cannabis Tours forjoining us today and for doing their part to show the world how beautiful BC is, not just
for its bud, but also its people.
(32:37):
And of course, the spectacular views.
If you've got Vancouver Island on your next vacation itinerary, be sure to look them upfor a good time.
Join us for the next episode of the PoTcast where we'll be examining the fascinating worldof terpenes, the entourage effect, and why the conversation about cannabis should cover a
(33:01):
lot more than just THC.
Subscribe to the PoTcast with Ross Rebagliati so you don't miss a beat.
Another Everything Podcast production.
Visit everythingpodcast.com, a division of Patterson Media.
Subscribe wherever you get your podcast.
This podcast is intended for a mature audience over 19 years of age and is provided on aneducational and informational basis.
Any material presented is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as asubstitute for professional medical advice or as an endorsement or medical claim by
Everything Podcasts or Ripco.Pro.
(00:29):
Ross is looking good right now.
We're starved for Ross right now.
He's in first place.
Ross Rebagliati
to Ross's gold medal run.
Ross Rebagliati has tested positive for passive marijuana.
Forced to forfeit his gold medal.
(00:49):
Returns the medal and diploma awarded to the FF Rebagliati.
They put me in jail in Japan.
Overturned.
He did get the medal back.
I just wanted to take the control back again.
Let's turn this mess into a success.
I'd love if we could be part of normalizing cannabis use and to also stand up for thepeople who use cannabis.
(01:11):
It's personal.
I'm Ross Rebagliati and this is the podcast.
Welcome to the podcast with Ross Rebagliati where we explore the world of cannabis throughthe eyes of one of the world's premier cannabis advocates.
I've been at the forefront of cannabis awareness for over 25 years since that fateful dayin Nagano.
(01:32):
Join me as we dig deep for gold nuggets hidden in the wide world of weed.
It's growers, producers, innovators and enthusiasts.
Don't forget to hit that subscribe button and keep the podcast in your rotation.
Cannabis might not be legal worldwide, just yet, but that doesn't stop the world's weedenthusiasts from traveling foreign-wide to sample global cannabis delicacies.
(02:01):
In this episode of the podcast, we're taking you on a tour from the pioneering cannabistourist destinations to North America's first 420-friendly café to the budding industry
growing right here in beautiful British Columbia.
After all, Weed is world-renowned, and we've got passionate people who've been in thebusiness since, well, long before legalization who can tell you where it all began and
(02:25):
where they plan to take it.
like Kipro.
It was a vibe back in the day.
Our seat office was two doors down from Blum Brothers.
I know Darryl, I know Karen Watson started the Amsterdam Cafe.
There was a grubelbist down there, Mark Emory aside, that were driving the narrative downthere and it felt free at one point.
(02:45):
I Saturday nights at Blum Brothers were a vibe man.
They had bands and you could buy beers upstairs, know, you could puff in there and it waspacked.
There was all these yanks coming up and buying seeds.
And we'll chat with Graham Meckling, who's busy creating memorable tour experiences forvisitors to Vancouver Island, served with a side of cannabis.
I've got a passenger transportation license and all the things you need to drive peoplearound safely.
(03:09):
In my Jeep Grand Cherokee and started taking people for drives in the summer.
Just put a website up and said, hey, come do some sightseeing tours and get stoned.
So awesome.
I mean, that's what I would love to do.
I'm Don Schaeffer.
And I'm Ross Rebagliati.
And this is the podcast.
And now for the pot news.
2021 study at the University of Guelph concluded that Canada has the potential to becomethe Napa Valley of cannabis tourism.
(03:33):
The research showed that pairing cannabis with tourism helps normalize cannabis use,unlock new tourism revenue streams, and it could convince decision makers to embrace
Canada's reputation for cannabis, much like California's reputation for wine.
The researchers arrived at their findings by creating a database of all Canadian cannabistourism businesses.
(03:55):
through qualitative review of the first two years of cannabis legalization in Canada.
They discovered significant growth in public acceptance of cannabis use if it's presentedto tourists as legally separate from other illicit drugs.
South of the Canadian border, travelers who'd like to book a room that might come with acomplimentary joint instead of a chocolate on their pillow can do so on a website called
(04:19):
Bud & Breakfast.
The site, which functions similarly to Airbnb,
features 2,000 active listings of cannabis-friendly lodging in cities like Chicago and NewYork.
Button Breakfast Hosts offer places to stay that permit cannabis use and may even provideinformation about local cannabis shops and other weed-focused experiences to help cannabis
(04:40):
tourists make the most of their plant-powered vacation.
Cannabis tourism has existed long before legalization, and it's still a thing, even incountries where wheat hasn't been legalized.
Whether local authorities choose to enforce those laws is another story.
(05:05):
Take for example, Cambodia, where cannabis is illegal, but tourists can buy a slice ofhappy pizza from food vendors and tourist spots.
Each slice, of course, is infused with enough THC to, well, make you happy.
Allegedly.
Cannabis tourists traveled to Morocco to sample its world-renowned hash.
(05:26):
As the world's largest cannabis resin producer, it's no wonder.
It's an international destination for hash enthusiasts.
But even though it's widely used, it's still considered an illegal substance.
And on the legal cannabis tourism front, we have the U.S.
While Colorado and Washington were trailblazers in legalization and cannabis tourism inthe country,
(05:50):
Weed is now legal in 24 states with Forbes Magazine valuing the U.S.
cannabis tourism industry at a whopping $17 billion.
South Africa's cannabis tourism has been booming since the legalization of weed in privatespaces in 2018.
Thailand decriminalized cannabis in 2022, prompting an estimated 12,000 dispensaries topop up.
(06:14):
However, Thailand's new government is making moves to restrict cannabis use in the countryonce again.
And how could we forget the Netherlands, one of the most famous destinations and perhapswhat one might consider the ground zero of cannabis tourism.
Although cannabis is not legal federally, Amsterdam's regulated consumption lounges,called coffee shops, have been in operation since the 70s.
(06:41):
Of course we would have to cancel the podcast altogether if we didn't shout out Canada'sown Amsterdam Cafe.
the legendary self-proclaimed respectable joint in operation on Hastings Street indowntown Vancouver since 1998.
Well before weed was legal in Vancouver, folks were traveling from all over the world topull up a seat at North America's first 420-friendly cafe where you could roll up your
(07:06):
joints and smoke them in the designated smoking room and then maybe pick up somehouse-made munchies and non-alcoholic drinks to enjoy after.
In fact, our first guest on the podcast today was around during those glory days of theAmsterdam Café.
If you're a cannabis enthusiast, know B.C.
(07:28):
is famous around the world.
People have been hearing the legend for decades, even traveling long distances to see whatthe fuss is all about.
One person has been there since the beginning, keeping the torch lit for B.C.
Bud lovers.
My name is Kip Bro.
I am the VP of Brand Development and Sales at the Victoria Cannabis Company located in VicWest on Vancouver Island.
(07:52):
I've been in this 30 years.
I started out hustling packs to Americans back in the day in Vancouver, like everybodyelse did in my age group.
If you're in cannabis, I owned a store in Kitsilano for four years called High End.
Then I owned a seed company called Legend Seeds from 1999 to 2007 and soldinternationally.
And so we sold Dutch seeds, Canadian breeders and whatnot.
(08:14):
So I've been in this my entire adult life.
Kipp is from what some folks in the industry might call the legacy market.
But you'll never hear him use that term.
When an illegalization came and they started coining the term legacy, it used to drive mebatshit because I was so sick of some corporate hack coming up with a name that defined an
(08:35):
entire generation's worth of industry people.
They were taking it.
And to me, it just made more sense.
was traditional market cannabis.
That's what British Columbia cannabis was.
There was no Ontario cannabis scene back in the early 90s.
It was all BC.
All BC, bud.
Absolutely.
It was East Hastings.
It was Blood Brothers.
It was Amsterdam Cafe.
was Hep B.C.
You know, was that to me was the traditional market back in the day.
(08:59):
And so I wanted to bring that to the forefront where we are talking about traditionalflavor profiles, traditional cannabis that was bred in British Columbia, the traditional
vibe of separating smalls and eight-bookles, like just those packs that all the Yankswould see back in the day when they'd make it down to the ATL or down to Miami.
from BC that gave the name BC Bud a good name and not just all the swag that was grown onEastern Ed Basements.
(09:26):
It's not just a branding play.
No, it wasn't because it meant something to people.
It truly did.
And I wanted to bring that culture back.
Kip was there when Vancouver started making a name for itself as a cannabis tourismdestination.
It was a vibe back in the day.
Our seat office was two doors down from Blunt Brothers.
(09:47):
I know Daryl, I know Karen Lawson started the Amsterdam Cafe.
There was a group of us down there, Mark Emory aside, that were driving a narrative downthere.
it was a total scene, man.
It made that block safe, to be quite honest.
It's a lot safer than it is now, that's for sure.
And it really promoted the culture and the scene that was going on here at the time.
(10:10):
Yeah.
It seemed like a pretty interesting vibe back then.
Like in the nineties, I was out of the country quite a bit, just doing my racing and stuffin Europe, but coming back home and having that culture ready for me to get back into it,
you know, every time I got home, you know, it's a special feeling.
Felt like home, didn't it?
Yeah.
That's what you equated to BC, being in BC.
That felt like home.
(10:30):
I know I, I absolutely loved it.
It was a great time and it just incredibly thankful to be a part of it.
Well, I had the same kind of trajectory as you did.
We had a store in Kelowna, the Ross Gold store, and that was pre-legalization.
And I don't want to steal the spotlight here, but for me, it was all about putting my neckon the line and fighting for legalization like everybody else and not just jumping on to a
(10:51):
bandwagon that was already predetermined after legalization.
So I get where you guys came from and I can appreciate it too.
You push the needle.
Everyone in that scene, kind of like 2006 to 2014 scene pushed it.
They made the government change the laws.
They absolutely did.
And I love everyone for it.
Like was involved in that time period, Ross, why we're here today.
(11:14):
Yeah, it was quite a magical time.
It was almost like the sixties, you know, all over again, where we were like pushing therealms of the law, but doing what we thought was right and coming through at the end of
the day.
was good to be part of.
Oh dude, absolutely.
That's why we're here today.
Right, Ross?
A lot's changed since those early days.
With cannabis legalized in Canada, the farm gate store is permitted, the legal cannabistourism industry is taking off.
(11:39):
Now, locals and tourists alike can come and purchase BC Bud right where it's grown, muchlike picking up a pint of cherries at a roadside farm stand.
And if you really want the traditional BC cannabis experience, visiting Kip and his teamat Victoria Cannabis Company should definitely be on your itinerary.
(12:00):
They're pioneering the scene in BC as the second farm gauge store to open in the province,and the first on Vancouver Island.
I've been on with the team here for about two and a half years.
They didn't have their own brand yet.
There were, I think, five employees in the entire building when I arrived.
I think the last count were up to 36, so it's been quite an adventure.
(12:21):
I took this company and created the brand, Victoria Cannabis Company.
And we've been slowly going on and ever since we added a standard processor to thebuilding as well.
We also have farm gate, obviously too.
So we've got five licenses under one building.
That's excellent.
That's the only way to go.
The end game was to make that farm gate store and we're 14 weeks in now.
(12:43):
Wow.
It's seeing it's a provision.
Nice work, Kip.
I used to have hair.
I appreciate that Ross.
Thank you, brother.
Yeah, no, it's no small feat.
Yeah, it's been an absolute journey.
mean, the team is a killer team here at VCC.
With Farmgate, we can finally live the dream of seeds strictly to sale and we're a greatspot here and we're really excited and seeing the community out here in Victoria has been
(13:08):
so supportive of us.
It really feels community in a space that, you know, we're trying to educate the public asmuch as possible as well, too.
It's been a wild ride.
I'm just loving every minute of it.
Also draws about 20 Karens that hate it so but I can't tell you how many letters andemails we get all the time from people that aren't really too happy about us being here.
(13:31):
They're gonna have to live with it.
That's right, Roz.
I was in Victoria like a year and a bit ago at an event at a coffee shop and there was amajor turnout for that.
It was a happening place that night.
I can only imagine on a daily what it's like out there.
I gotta get back to the island.
The scene is pretty ripe here.
(13:51):
You can't get any more left coast than Victoria.
To be honest.
Yeah, right.
You know, the epicenter of people taking cannabis very bloody seriously.
So big things ahead.
Looking forward to our first summer with the store open.
That's going to be huge.
I'm going to have to come out for that one.
Absolutely.
Please do.
We'd love to have that.
I'll show you around the facility as well.
We are going to be doing some tours.
(14:12):
We don't have a lot of space in this facility.
We don't have a window in the store that goes onto a flower room or anything like that.
But what we do have in the store is we've got a video, the loops that shows all differentaspects of the building.
And what we do here in the grow rooms, the nursery, the processing, and all of ourattenders.
Some of them actually worked before the store was open in the facility and they knowexactly what's going on.
(14:35):
They can tell you every step of every process.
That seems like really organic and a nice way to introduce people.
who may not know so much about the cannabis industry and its roots.
Agreed, 100 % agreed.
mean, we've had some naysayers in the neighborhood.
I walked three Karens essentially through the entire facility before we opened up, becausethey tried to stop this store.
I wish I was there for that one.
(14:57):
it was painful.
But education's huge for us.
We're trying to change hearts and minds.
And it's really important for us to be looked at like any other business in the community.
And it's a community based in like wellness, right?
And for people to not really understand that, that's a little bit of a uphill battle forthe cannabis business.
(15:18):
But in reality, it's all about feeling better and doing better and being the best you canbe.
And that's the message that we're all trying to promote, or most of us anyway.
Forget the Karens.
Let's get back to what we all came for.
That legendary BC Bud.
What kind of local delicacies can cannabis enthusiasts expect to find it?
(15:38):
VCC's Farmgate store.
Well, first off, we don't just sell our product.
We only do about 1200 kilograms a year.
It's a drop in the bucket.
So we wanted to focus on British Columbia cannabis.
That was a big sticking point for me when we opened the store.
didn't want to carry Big Pub Co.
weed.
I didn't want to carry a lot of stuff that was outside of our province because I want toshowcase all of my friends, my homies that have dedicated their lives to this plant and to
(16:03):
this industry.
And I wanted to help support them as much as possible.
That said, are certain SKUs that we need to carry to fulfill what our customers arelooking for.
Mostly edibles and drinks.
There's not a lot of companies in BC that actually do that, to be quite frank.
So we have had to make some allowances for sure.
So they can expect like a snapshot British Columbia cannabis growers when they come intoour store, as well as SKUs from BCC that aren't readily available in other stores in the
(16:29):
province or in Canada.
We do have some stuff that's just available at our FarmGate store.
And for visitors who
want to get really nerdy about their BC weed, Kev's the guy to talk to.
So to me, breeders are the real authors of our cannabis experiences.
They kind of got lost in the shuffle with legalization to be quite honest.
Back in my life, Freaker's Life Selling Seeds, they were the kings.
(16:52):
They were the epicenter of everything.
They were the ones that created new flavor profiles.
did the hunting, they were the real heroes of our underground industry at times.
So I want to tell these stories again.
And one particular one is the very first cultivar that we came out with under the VCCbrand was Pamelo skunk.
It was actually called Siroc, but we tried to get that through the government.
(17:14):
They wouldn't let us use Siroc.
And that was bred by a gentleman named Carl from Landsville genetics here on the island.
It's a Cetrique cross rock star.
You can't get two more iconic
British Columbia cultivars and that, and the cross is just this turpenoline equatorialbomb.
Love that turpenoline.
Yeah.
You and our turpenoline juggies.
(17:35):
Yeah.
My mango gold, the last round of mango gold had over 2%.
Anyway, I'll let you get back to it.
that's eye watering.
my God.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I wanted to tell that story.
So every time we have folks come in and they're like, I love it.
Mala scump.
We get to tell that story about, well, it was bread an hour and 40 minutes.
Amazing.
We have another one called after eighth.
(17:55):
After eight.
After eight.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Love that.
That was bred by Raya the Leaf from Chimera genetics and he's a Canadian and it was theoriginal S1 cookies he grabbed down in some California and he crossed it at Legends OG.
And we hunted it from seed and we found this little dominant cultivar, which is very rareand it's sweet and floral.
(18:20):
And I mean, I love telling those stories too, because that's a flavor profile that youdon't really find too much.
outside of medical.
The medical users love the little law.
This is the kind of weed and stories you can expect at the Farmgate store where thepassion for BC cannabis is palpable.
We get to tell stories directly from us to them.
There's no middleman.
It's just more of a connection to the grower itself.
(18:42):
It's truly Farmgate.
It's like going to farmers markets.
You're meeting the farmer.
You're buying the onions and the apples from the farmers and you're having theseconversations.
I think it's extremely important because
As a small cannabis producer, that's what we have is our story.
What makes us different from the big pubco's is the care and all the small parts that wedo.
The passion.
(19:03):
The passion.
Absolutely.
You can't survive without it.
We want to show that yes, our stuff might be a little bit pricier, but here's the reasonwhy.
These are the differences and to have these conversations, then you can choose to supportus or not.
And we're finding that we're changing hearts and minds for sure.
You can literally taste the difference, right?
Amen.
100%.
Amen.
So you're going straight to the stores, you're talking just kind of like old school days alittle bit where you've got a grower very nearby and that's what people like, I think, is
(19:31):
not having like have commercial corporate weed, you know, too many pointy shoes in theroom, that type of thing.
Pointy shoes, amen, brother.
Aside from fewer Karens and pointy shoes, what does Kip think the cannabis tourismindustry in Canada needs to thrive?
Be progressive.
Let's let British Columbia producers have a store off site.
(19:52):
and let them have just as much of a chance as mega retail with seven sites across theprovince.
That's progressive to me.
That's one thing I want to leave the listeners with is something like that.
It should mirror the other industries that are similar, like the wine industry, forexample, as a perfect example of farm gate and offsite stores and bringing people into the
(20:13):
organic part of the business and seeing what goes on behind the scenes.
So I think there's a lot of room to move in the right direction.
but also there's got to be numbers to support it and we're getting those numbers.
So I think it's time.
Yeah, slowly but surely, man.
Booze is going down and cannabis consumption is going up.
100%.
Yeah, absolutely.
(20:33):
I couldn't agree more.
And Ross, please, anytime you're on the island, man, just head me out.
We'd love to show you around.
At our next stop in the podcast, Cannabis Tour, we're chatting with someone who can showyou some of the best views on Vancouver Island, after stopping to pick up some of that
delicious BC wheat, of course.
(20:54):
My name is Graham Meckling.
I live here in Vancouver Island.
I own several businesses and all those businesses, I have one goal, which is to positivelyimpact lives of other people.
I work for New Expecting Dads, award-winning restaurant tour.
I have to-do list cards for people with ADHD and I prefer a puff over a pint which is whyI started Victoria Cannabis Tools.
(21:14):
Beauty.
I prefer a puff over a pint myself.
Yo that, buddy.
It's funny for me because I grew up in the restaurant business, Where for like 25 years,that's all you did was see alcohol everywhere.
Yeah.
And there's something really beautiful about a glass of Chardonnay on a patio on a Fridayin the sunshine, right?
No one would disagree with that.
We've also seen all the opposite sides of alcohol, right?
(21:35):
As we see alcohol just taking a nosedive in usage and people just enjoying cannabis morebecause it's just a lot safer, a lot more relaxing.
It's nice to be in a different style of business split that way.
When cannabis was legalized in Canada, Graham saw an opportunity to use his hospitalityexperience in a different way.
I used to own a couple of restaurants here in Victoria and when they legalized cannabis Iwas like, man, this is awesome.
(21:56):
And I also thought, it's gonna be a big boon for the restaurant business, right?
Like there's gonna be groups of 10 people standing outside trying to lay the strain,coming in for preset menus, and then of course it got legalized and absolutely nothing
happened.
So a couple of years went by and I was talking to this friend of mine that ran walkingtours.
Mostly the more Americans coming off cruise ships.
And so how many of these people are asking you for cannabis?
(22:17):
And she's like, every single one of them.
I was like, what?
She's like, yeah, at the very end of the tours, they all whisper in my ear like they'regonna get arrested, right?
Like, where do I buy them cannabis?
And so I was like, oh my gosh.
And then I said to her, like, what are these people paying for a tour?
And they're like 150 bucks.
You asked to like go for a two hour walking tour and have like two pints of beer.
And I was like, oh my gosh.
So I just said, well, that's it.
(22:37):
And so I talked to the city and said, Hey, this is what I want to do.
They said, awesome.
That sounds great.
And then I talked to tourism Victoria and they said, okay, sounds okay, but we need to seewhat you're up to.
And I said, no sweat.
And then I just.
launched it just out of my van.
I've got a passenger transportation license and all the things you need to drive peoplearound safely.
In my Jeep Grand Jerky and started taking people for drives in the summer.
(22:57):
Just put a website up and said, hey, come do some sightseeing tours and get stoned.
So awesome.
Yeah, because I was like, man, that's what I would love to do.
If I was going to Portland or Ticton or anywhere, I'd be like, if someone's going to pickme up in a nice Jeep, take me directly to a dispense tree where could buy some weed and
then take me to a cool spot to smoke it and then show me all these cool places aroundtown, that's my dream scenario.
(23:19):
Speaking of that dream scenario, how is Graham turning it into reality for cannabistourists in Victoria?
We're have two types of tours this year.
So we're going do like a walking tour and that works very simply.
Right in front of the Empress Hotel, right in the inner harbor, we pick you up and we walkyou directly to a dispensary where you get to ask your questions because all the
budtenders are ridiculously amazing.
Their knowledge is crazy.
(23:39):
Ask the questions you want, get the right information and know what you're going to take.
Know the rules and regulations, know how much you can carry with you.
Remember to not take any back across the border or back onto your cruise ship.
And then you get to enjoy it and take it.
We go to a place where you can smoke with Joyner, eat your edible.
And then we just give you like a walking tour of Victoria, just like you'd love to do inany other city, right?
But you get to just be lovely and enjoy it and be stoned while you do it.
(24:00):
And then there's the private driving tours.
So we pick you up from your hotel, wherever you're at in the Grand Cherokee.
It's all like leather and plush and tosy, the seat warmers if you need them.
And then you get a little gift bag that's got your bubbly water, your rogers chocolates,get a little beer, cozy, some little bit of merch.
Everyone gets a lay around your neck so that if you feel like you just don't want to chat,you just want to have quiet time.
You just take it off.
That's everyone's signal to know that you just have a some quiet time.
(24:22):
And we just drive to the places that you don't normally get a chance to go to on a regulartour.
It's where the only company that takes you to Gonzalez Beach.
It's my favorite beach.
To the spot.
Yeah, it's like the most beautiful beach in the world.
Don't tell anybody about it.
Right in the ocean, right?
So we go there, it's beautiful, we drive up the coast, go past Willis Beach, I go up tothe top of Mount Tome, and then we cruise back downtown.
It's awesome.
(24:44):
Part of creating an enjoyable cannabis experience for tourists also involves putting theirminds at ease about the legalities of partaking in Canada.
Because if you come from England, Australia, half the state still, right, where you go toprison, if you're getting caught with weed, right, it's very hard to make a little jump
and
trust the word like Amsterdam and can just smoke and join.
(25:06):
Right?
So I saw super high affluent like Americans like walk into a beautiful dispensary, comeout like they bought a brick of cocaine and like try as fast as they can to get the lid
off right by the garbage can, like looking around, you know, and it's Victoria, whereaspeople smoking joints all over and you're, and you're like, Hey guys, it's okay.
So people are coming here wanting to try BC weed or Canadian weed or wanted to do itbecause it's legal.
(25:31):
Legal weed.
Yeah.
But they just don't know what.
to do next, they've got it on them, but now what?
That's where the hard part is the jump of trust from, I'm not going to go to jail too.
I can go on this guy's man and trust that he's going to just not drive me somewhere crazy.
know?
That's awesome.
I remember when legalization came and the whole like mystique and the hiding and sneakingaround was kind of over.
(25:52):
And I found myself not getting as high anymore.
Yeah, like I was still using cannabis as much, but I just didn't feel like so cookedknowing that.
I could be arrested and that was a novelty actually.
And think tourists from south of the border and other places in the world would probablylike to experience that anti-anxiety part of, you know, legal weed.
(26:13):
Man, that's what I tried to push the most.
I tried to get people the experience that I would want.
And I come from customer service background and I talk about Victoria cannabis tours asbasically like a customer service company because there is nobody on earth that loves
great customer service more than someone who's stoned.
Like there's nobody, right?
If you're stoned and then like two minutes later, I'm like, hey, do you want to try it?
(26:34):
We have some Rogers chocolates in your gift bag.
And they're like, what?
Rogers chocolate for me?
Oh, perfect.
You know, like, oh, just, that's all I wanted.
Thank you.
You're like, no sweat.
And by the way, there's a little bubbly water.
You can rinse it down.
It's like carbonated.
So it kind of cleanses your palate.
Oh, thank you so much.
Right.
So I think it's just giving people the chance to get stoned, like you're saying, Rob andthen just do something, right?
(26:55):
Just enjoy the experience without the stress and the anxiety that comes with it whenyou're going to go to prison in England.
It's a big difference, you know?
100%.
I remember being in prison in Japan and that was no fun.
Yeah, you win that one, buddy.
Yeah.
One day was one day and the next day was a different day.
I'll tell you that.
But yeah, here we are now, 25 years later.
And what does Graham envision for the future of cannabis tourism?
(27:18):
I want to see people do this.
I think cannabis tourism should be customer service tourism.
I think whatever you're doing,
If you're running a knitting circle, if you are running like a bike trail thing, whateveryou are passionate about that you do, I think that you can just add cannabis to it.
What makes a cannabis experience great is not just what you're doing, but like theservices that you're providing, right?
(27:43):
Give them something to drink because they're going to be thirsty.
Give them something to eat because they're going to want to nibble on something.
And just be patient.
That's it.
You do those three things.
Anything that you want to do cannabis tourism related will be awesome.
One of the ideas that I have for cannabis tourism is something I've been thinking aboutfor decades is cannabis ski tours.
For example, whatever ski resort you want to pick, I'll take them on a tour of themountain.
(28:08):
It would be great to have like a little dispensary or some kind of like dedicated littlehut at the top of the mountain that you could go to and check out the local cannabis and
go for a tour of the mountain.
Go have a puff in the trees, like in the olden days.
Yeah, we've all done that.
You know, sign me up.
I think that's it Ross.
I think if that's your thing, right.
(28:28):
Of course, who wouldn't want to go hang out with a professional Olympic gold medal,awesome dude who's like, you know, like I would be like, yeah, sign me up, charge me
whatever you want.
Right.
Cause I think it's just give people a great experience.
And there's like bars and everything at the top of the mountain too, right?
Like, yeah, you know, people are up there drinking and then they ski down.
So the precedence there.
I think if you can build.
(28:49):
a great positive cannabis experience, then that will be an award winning experience.
If you told me I can go with you Ross, and in that hut, there's going to be like, Nami hotchocolate.
Yeah.
And like a one-on-one with you.
That would be the best.
And I would happily do it.
My wife is a ski bunny.
She would love nothing more.
She would be so jacked.
I live in the Okanagan now and wine tours are a big deal.
And obviously they're mostly all farm gate around here on the Nermata bench.
(29:13):
And it would just be great to have.
those sorts of venues available for cannabis where you have windows.
So people aren't going into the rooms.
They're like, there's shutters that go up when the lights turn on and people can walkthrough a hallway that's on the exterior of the building that they can see in, see the
people working on the plants, see the plants.
And then go to a patio, like you say, and order a pizza and maybe some local cannabis andenjoy the view.
(29:40):
It feels weird that we have to talk like this.
Don't you think Ross?
Like it's kind of weird that we have to be like, no, it'd just be nice to be able to justsmoke a J and eat a pizza.
Right?
Yeah.
After all these years of legalization, we're still not there yet, but I think, you know,guys like you are pushing the envelope.
So we're just talking about smoking a J as an adult.
As an over 19 year old person who just wants to like go and do whatever you want to dowith cannabis.
(30:04):
Do want to go and have a quiet time on the bus?
No sweat.
You want to go have a puff and have a giggle?
Great, you wanna go put your feet in the ocean?
I had two ladies who went for a swim in the ocean.
Okay, like I carry towels in the car, because we wash your feet off from the sand andstuff.
Like do mind if we take a dip?
I'm like, I don't care.
That sounds awesome.
If you want to do those things, it's just a matter of a couple of phone calls to yourlocal city, to your local counselor, and just say, hey, like this is what I wanna do.
(30:27):
It's 100 % on the up and up.
I wanna do it in conjunction with you guys.
Let's talk about what the best practices are.
Let's talk about what your concerns are.
Like what are you concerned about from the city?
If anyone out there wants to just ask me a question about like the phone calls that youcan make, I'm happy to answer.
Because the more of us that do it, the better for everybody.
Like the culture is not one person, the culture is a bunch of us.
I just have to ask this question because it inevitably will happen where somebody greensout.
(30:52):
Yeah.
Or has too much and then all of a sudden they're like hanging on to the railing going, ohmy God, I'm so cooked right now.
I don't know if I could carry on.
Do you have any plans for that sort of?
Yeah, one of the reasons why we have the lays is so you could take that off and no onetalks to you if you just smoke a little bit too much, right?
But also the tours, we have a slogan of a moderate consumption equals maximum experience,right?
(31:13):
We don't spend an hour smoking pot, right?
Then going back on the tour, because that's not fun for anybody.
I think, you know, if you have like a couple of tokes and then you jump back into thetour, that's what you want.
You want that first little peek of high, right?
And I warn everybody and I tell them, hey,
Just let you know, this is like an hour and 45 minute tour.
And on the way back, you're going to be getting a little tired, right?
(31:35):
You had a little puff.
So it's okay if it gets quiet in here.
Don't worry about it.
That's part of the tour.
That's when you can take some deep breaths, roll the windows down.
I play like chill beats.
That's a great thing to let them know.
Like don't feel obligated to have to carry a conversation or, know, cause cannabissometimes gives you time to be introspective or.
Yeah.
And that's why they part of what we do is a big onboard speech.
(31:56):
Knowledge is power in no matter what circumstance, anything to tell people, look, this ishow it's going to work.
Everyone's safe from here on in.
Is government approved?
City approved?
There's nothing here that's shady or scary whatsoever.
All that's on the up and up.
All we're to do is go buy some cannabis, which is 100 % legal.
We're going to go to a spot to smoke it or eat it, which is 100 % legal.
We're going to go on a tour and then we're going to come back.
(32:17):
And if at any time anyone needs anything, they can just come talk to me.
I got your back.
You know, when we're all in it together.
So let's just have some fun.
Thanks to Kipro.
from Victoria Cannabis Company and Graham Meckling from Victoria Cannabis Tours forjoining us today and for doing their part to show the world how beautiful BC is, not just
for its bud, but also its people.
(32:37):
And of course, the spectacular views.
If you've got Vancouver Island on your next vacation itinerary, be sure to look them upfor a good time.
Join us for the next episode of the PoTcast where we'll be examining the fascinating worldof terpenes, the entourage effect, and why the conversation about cannabis should cover a
(33:01):
lot more than just THC.
Subscribe to the PoTcast with Ross Rebagliati so you don't miss a beat.
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Visit everythingpodcast.com, a division of Patterson Media.
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