Colorado Offers $1 Joints On "Green Friday"

So, is everybody excited about Thanksgiving dinner? Just picture it: the heaping spread of food, the pleasing aromas, the uncomfortable silences whenever the alcohol starts outpacing the tact. It is, in every sense, as American as the apple pie some of you will be devouring. But now, picture the day after — the infamous Black Friday. You're don't really want to grind through the holiday rush like that, do you? In fact, why bother when you could just enjoy some dirt-cheap marijuana instead? Get this, citizens of Colorado: your marijuana stores want "Green Friday" to become a tradition of its own, and they're pulling out the stops with some dynamite deals.

It's a predictable development, all things considered — with legalization in Colorado dragging pot suppliers out of the darkness and into the light, and budding entrepreneurs (that's the only awful pun in this, I swear) to pursue more traditional means of selling their products, it was only a matter of time before we started seeing these sorts of seasonal promotions. Rest assured, you'll probably see similar discount deals coming around in mid-April or so.

Several different Colorado shops will be offering dramatically cut prices on their marijuana on Friday — as detailed by Stuff.co.nz, Denver's "Grass Station" will be dishing out a limited supply of joints for just $1, as compared to the usual price of $7.

Moreover, a full ounce of marijuana will sell for only $50. If you've never seen an ounce of marijuana, that may not sound so shocking, but it is — that's a lot of weed, and according to the report would usually be selling for about $250.

Now to be clear, in case you feel uncomfortable with a cannabis celebration so soon after kissing your grandmother goodbye the night before, marijuana is still a federally banned Schedule 1 drug, as classified by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). While it's inclusion on that list is often mocked and derided (it's grouped together with heroin and cocaine, for some perspective), it is worth bearing in mind that recreational drug use isn't for everyone, especially if you're prone to habit-forming behavior. Also, it goes without saying that smoking and inhaling anything is probably not good for you — that's a rather common-sense standard, so maybe a cookie is in order.

But all that said, it's kind of nice to see marijuana sellers embracing the same sorts of sales pitches and seasonal promotions that traditional retailers do. It's been a long, hard road even to achieve legalization in the handful of states that now have it — Washington and Colorado are now selling legally, while Alaska and Oregon will follow after voters approved legalization in the Nov. 4 midterms — and each increasing bar of legitimacy helps remind people that buying marijuana is no different than buying a case of beer.

In fact, scientifically speaking, it's better. Cannabis has long been considered far less harmful and addictive than alcohol, so if you're looking for a relaxing sojourn after the stress and busyness of the Thanksgiving holiday, maybe pass up that glass of wine for a pot cracker. After all, you'll probably have leftovers to chew through.

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