


The "mobile cannabis lounge" recently hit the streets of America's fanciest ski town.

The bus at the base of Aspen Mountain
Courtesy of Toast

Aspen has a new place to smoke weed—and it's extra fancy.

This past weekend, a cannabis-friendly tour bus hit the streets of America's most luxurious ski town. And it's not just because Aspenites have been clamoring for the chance to drive and toke. The "mobile cannabis lounge" is a solution to the problem of where to smoke your legal weed.

While it's perfectly legal to buy pot these days from Colorado dispensaries, it's illegal to smoke it in public. "A major issue facing consumers is that they are unable to legally and responsibly consume cannabis outside their own homes," says Punit Seth, co-founder and CEO of Toast, the new cannabis cigarette brand that organized the bus.

After "a lot of conversations with city attorneys and city clerks," the bus launched in Aspen on February 10.

For one 27-year-old rider, the bus is the answer he's been looking for. He hopped on recently with a friend from out of town. "My buddy said 'This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!'" said the Aspen native, who did not want to give his name. "It was definitely an interesting social experience. I think you'll start seeing more places like this where people can go to consume cannabis products in a safe, secure way instead of dodging the regulations that are in place now."

The interior of the Toast bus
Courtesy of Toast

He's probably right. Since marijuana is now legal in 28 states and the District of Columbia, this is big business. In December, CNBC called the weed industry "one of the fastest -growing job generators in the United States." For their part, Colorado entrepreneurs are looking for ways to raise the profile of their products—and even more ambitiously, to change the public perception of pot-smoking.

Nobody's improved on the joint in, like, 3,000 years.

Seth and his Toast co-founders are a case in point. Seth worked at the hedge fund Bridgewater before getting into the marijuana business. One of his co-founders used to be the CMO of InBev, and another runs a marketing agency in New York that works with high-end fashion and spirits brands. His brand, Toast, is now available at two dispensaries in Aspen, the Original Leaf and Silverpeak, and multiple locations of the Health Center in Denver. The company has partnered with Loopr, a Denver-based "premium cannabis social lounge experience on wheels," to offer the Aspen bus for a this ski season and several times throughout the summer.

Rachel Shipp, a former vice president at BlackRock who now works at Green Rush, an online marijuana delivery marketplace that connects buyers with dispensaries, is a regular Toast user. (Toast is a new addition to her company's service) The Silicon Valley-based executive says that the pot industry is "moving away from the stoner culture and becoming more inclusive. We're truly addressing the moms, the professionals, and the executives who are now consuming marijuana."

Toast's cigarettes include filters are made with hemp paper.
Courtesy of Toast

That explains why Seth's product isn't called a joint. He doesn't want to conjure up memories of musty basement rec rooms or after-dark suburban parking lots. The Toast cigarettes, which come in packs of 10 that retail for $85, are "actually professionally manufactured cannabis cigarettes made with hemp paper," he says. "The filter is specially designed for cannabis, and it allows the cannabinoids to come through, but blocks some of the tar and makes it smoother."

Toast has dubbed each cigarette a "slice" and Seth says each one "is like one glass of champagne. With one 'slice' you'll feel really good, but you'll still feel in control" says Seth. They're ideal, in other words, for anyone afraid of a high that will leave them couch-locked. "A lot of products today are very high in potency—you do one hit and you're done" Seth says. "This is meant to be enjoyed over 10 to 15 minutes with friends, so it's just like having a cocktail."

Control is a really big deal. This is just like when you have a drink—you know what you're getting.

"Nobody's improved on the joint in, like, 3,000 years," says Eddie Miller, a serial entrepreneur who is Toast's fourth co-founder. "Imagine if you went to a house party and there's two boxes of Toast downstairs when you arrive, just like there is champagne or a cocktail depending on what type of psychoactive product you like to use."

Toast is staying away from edible cannabis options, at least for now, because Seth says they're harder to control and offer a different experience. "If you have the whole brownie, for example, you're stuck with [the high] for about six hours," he says. Toast's effects last for anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour, depending on how heavily one uses cannabis.

"Control is a really big deal," Seth says. "This is just like when you have a drink—you know what you're getting. It's hard to do that with edibles."

For now, Toast partners with growers in each state in which its product is sold: Colorado currently, with Nevada and California coming later this year.

The canni-bus might be rolling into your city before you know it.

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