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Freedom! Five, four, three, two, one ...
NARRATOR: Tens of thousands gather in Denver's Civic
Center Park.
It's the largest smoke out in the country,
celebrating Colorado's recently legalization of marijuana.
MC: Look at that cloud of freedom!
You can tell your grandchildren you were here!
NARRATOR: The happy scene turns into panic.
MAN ON STAGE: Oh no, are shooting. Right now I say.
NARRATOR: In Denver, the cannabis industry is booming.
With more medical marijuana dispensaries than Starbucks
coffee shops, the city is fast becoming the US capital of weed.
In November 2012 Colorado passed an amendment allowing the
recreational use of marijuana.
To celebrate, a massive party is planned on 4-20,
International Weed Day ...
... and the city is packed with visitors.
JJ WALKER: We've kind of created this as sort of the check in
room in the mornings which has been nice and we'll give them
their daily allowance.
MATT: I'll be downstairs and I'll make the go on the bus.
NARRATOR: Looking to cash in on the state's new Green Rush,
entrepreneurs Matt Brown and JJ Walker have put all their cash
and energy into their start up.
The first marijuana themed package tour
in the United States.
MATT BROWN: Two guys who are willing to take a little bit of
risk and putting a whole lot of work to, you know,
act like every other tourism company,
can have a very real economic and sort of social impact.
JJ WALKER: This will kind of manage them through the day
and at the rally, then that's where the puff puff really
starts.
NARRATOR: The stakes are high though the plan is pretty simple
Guide 160 visitors who paid up to $800 each for a weekend
packed with activities and plenty of weed.
TABBY: We smoked on the road and then me and my girl kind of
passed out while her boyfriend did the driving.
And then we woke up in Iowa and we smoked again and then we kind
of fell asleep again after a while.
We were coming no matter what.
No matter what. We weren't gonna miss it.
NARRATOR: It's 10 a.m.
and they are ready for the ultimate Denver weed experience.
MATT BROWN: You can smoke on the bus, just not cigarettes.
JJ and I are definitely the most stressed out ones here,
nobody else seems to notice.
NARRATOR: Though tourists don't mind as long as they get their
next puff.
MATT BROWN: It's more like camp counseling.
Just keep giving announcements and tell people when
to come back.
NARRATOR: Soon, Matt the tour organizer,
discovers that corralling a group of stoners is not
an easy task.
MATT: Grow tour...
NARRATOR: Colorado's legalization of weed
means new business for some.
But it's putting pressure on Denver's established drug
suppliers adding more fuel to the fire of old gang rivalries.
In north-east Denver's neighborhood of Park Hill,
Colorado Boulevard marks the border between the Crips
and the Bloods.
HIT MAN & DRUG RUNNER: It's all about the PHB you feel me?
You see what I'm saying?
I'm Bloods, I'm just a Park Hill Gangster Blood
xxxx all the xxxx on the east side.
NARRATOR: West of the Boulevard where the Park Hill Bloods
dominate, gangbangers are rapping about
getting ready for their next fight.
The gang war reaches far beyond You Tube.
BIG PH MAN: We know we can't go to the east side with 100 kilos
and try to moving that.
The BLEEP know that they ain't coming out here at all
with a 20 bot selling BLEEP to nobody or they gonna get
their heads split.
Stay where you're from, if not then your mom gotta go
to a funeral.
HIT MAN & DRUG RUNNER: xxxx them Crab *** xxxx...
We're bloods, they don't mean nothing to us,
know what I'm saying? Get it on. You feel me?
NARRATOR: Gang members on both sides have been locked
in the deadly feud for over two decades now.
BIG PH MAN: This wall right here, this is my memorial war.
We got a side right here, BIP.
That mean Blood in Paradise.
This is for all of our dear homies that we lost to the Crabs
out here. Every war loses soldiers.
You know what I'm saying, we got ours.
NARRATOR: For the gangbangers the means of making money
legally are limited.
BIG PH MAN: We got our hands in a little bit of everything
right now.
We gang *** active, and so anything that,
that comes with gangbanging, you know what I'm saying ...
... killing, robbing ... ... stealing,
you know what I'm saying, whatever we gotta do to stay
on top.
Anything that's making money, you know what I'm saying,
hustle is hustling out here.
NARRATOR: The Bloods biggest hustle is drugs.
Until recently they made money selling cheap weed for Mexico.
BIG PH MAN: Once marijuana got legalized out here,
like everybody wanted a piece of it.
Everybody wanted to be the drug lord, the marijuana king,
you know what I'm saying?
NARRATOR: Lately, they've been feeling the squeeze.
BIG PH MAN: There's a lot of people trying to push into
this weed business and it's so competitive right now when it
comes to, to weed sales that I don't even really deal with it
that much. I just smoke it.
NARRATOR: Crowded out by the expanding legal marijuana
market, the gangbangers are looking for business elsewhere.
BIG PH MAN: Supply and demand in Denver is pretty much crack
***, ***.
HIT MAN & DRUG RUNNER: This right here is about a quarter
bird 250g of ***. You know what I'm saying?
This is how we get down in Park Hill, you feel me?
We bag this xxxx up
It all just depends on your rank and what your job is.
Some BLEEP are, you know what I'm saying,
just stuck right here in the hood.
You can't do nothing unless it's moved in the hood.
Some BLEEP are asked to move *** out of state,
it all just depends on your position and your power out here
NARRATOR: Some of those at the top of Denver's drug business
started off right here on the streets.
GHOST: As far as growing up in the projects Mom on the pipe,
no food in the refrigerator Me and my brothers this was
our means to eat. Period
NARRATOR: Only 24 years old, Ghost is one of the biggest
drug wholesalers in Denver.
GHOST: If you grew up in Park Hill There's a 10% chance
that you might not find drugs.
They will find you
NARRATOR: Far from the hood, he set up his operation in one of
the wealthiest suburbs of the city.
GHOST: In Colorado there's only 3 other people in my position
You won't see us, you won't even get to talk to us
NARRATOR: Thanks to gang connections in California,
Ghost gets hooked up with high quality *** from Mexico.
GHOST: I go to California I easily spend a quarter million
Come back to Colorado 30 grand a key So I make an easy 350 grand
And then that's the same routine It never stops
NARRATOR: He makes five to $10,000 profit on each kilo
he distributes.
GHOST: It's already sold before I even get back here
It's already line up
NARRATOR: Ghost runs a large network that reaches all
the way to the streets.
GHOST: I'm just straight up, cash in hand Other people stand
out on the corner And they make all them transactions
and everything
I don't have time to sell rock after rock to everybody
That's other people's job.
NARRATOR: Gang members cut the powder, repackage it,
then sell it in small quantities.
HIT MAN & DRUG RUNNER: We got people, you know what I mean,
we sell to the white people down on on the south side
of Park Hill we sell T-shirt, you know what I'm saying?
T-shirts for 1.7, or a bag ... 1.9.
NARRATOR: To stay on top of business in the drug game,
Ghost threatens violence against anyone who fails to pay.
GHOST: Respect is much needed Come up missing,
there's a definite consequence Your family members get hurt
Sometimes it's not even just a gun You get tortured
Chop your hand off, sometimes chop a foot off
NARRATOR: Ghost surrounds himself with trusted lieutenants
who make sure he stays on top of the game.
T: I had to shoot BLEEP.
Every day you could think I'm gonna have to do it.
Not because I wanted to but because I had to.
I might be little, but these BLEEP will respect me out here.
No matter what. They're gonna respect me.
NARRATOR: As a woman, T had to work twice as hard to prove
that she was down with the gang.
T: I paid my dues.
NARRATOR: She was only 14 when the Bloods put her to the test
by giving her weed to sell.
Now she's in charge of some of Ghost's distribution business.
T: Wake up in the morning, get dressed,
leave the house by 8.45, hit them streets. Hit 'em hard.
My phone is ringing, I'm getting texts. It's a normal thing.
NARRATOR: She moves around Denver supplying street dealers
and regular customers with crack ***.
T: I got loyal customers, like they listen. It's like a class.
It's like my, my children. It's just my money's bigger.
Why? Cos more people are smoking crack.
More people are, you know what I'm saying ...
... BLEEP ***, BLEEP weed, you know what I'm saying, ***,
everything else. It's just like I want them rocks.
NARRATOR: For the gangbangers the biggest profits are made
from cooking *** into crack.
BIG PH MAN: You can get an ounce of *** for 900 bucks, 1,000,
you know, and if it's good *** you can flip that
that, you know what I'm saying, cook it up, turn it into crack,
make you six/ 7,000.
We got crack houses and trap houses out here that we go to
when we take care of our business.
NARRATOR: Crack *** sells by the dollar and by the crumb,
are done out in the open in some of Denver's known outdoor drug
markets like this one.
It's also an open competition area for the gangs that are
fighting over the business
Recently members of the Crips posted this video on
You Tube claiming it as theirs.
JASON BREST: This area of Denver is it's crack central.
There's no really better way to say it,
it's crack dealing and smoking in broad daylight.
It's the lowest of the street level.
I mean you can buy crack literally for $2.
NARRATOR: The park is hot on the Denver police radar.
Undercover Detective Jason Brest and the District 6 narcotic team
are hitting it as part of Operation Dope Day.
JASON BREST: You can actually see the deal going right there.
She's giving him the crack, see it?
Okay Sarge, the ... the black female with the grey sweats
and the black hoodie is definitely up and running.
She's got like a line, you might as well take a number.
NARRATOR: Once the dealer is identified,
the detectives need to make a move.
JASON BREST: We want to get in there quickly before she sells
out otherwise she's gonna walk away with all that money.
NARRATOR: An informant the man wearing the red sweatshirt
is being sent in to make a deal.
JASON BREST: The CI is making his way towards the middle
of the Park.
NARRATOR: The deal falls through.
JASON BREST: She told the CI that she was out and that
it would be about 10 minutes before she got her re-up.
NARRATOR: But it takes seconds to get another one.
JASON BREST: Our guy is on the wall now with a bunch of people
around him.
Looks like he might be doing a deal.
He's given a signal.
NARRATOR: The informant confirms the purchase has been made.
JASON BREST: Black male wearing a grey hoodie,
a grey coat with a black Colorado Rocky's beanie cap,
with a purple shirt under it.
He's on the wall, getting ready to do another deal.
JASON BREST: So we got a positive ID from the CI and now
the Sergeant's called the uniformed officers to come in
and arrest out bad guy.
He's ... he's sitting right there on the wall.
He's like making it perfect for you.
He's just waiting for you guys. There you go. Bingo!
And before he knew it, they had his hands behind his back and
they've put him in handcuffs.
NARRATOR: Operation Dope Day is underway in Downtown Denver.
The police are targeting the open air drug market.
This small park is a hub of drug activity and soon
there's another deal in progress.
RADIO VOICE: Left here ...
NARRATOR: The arrest team moves in again.
DENNIS BEDENBENDER: Couple of rocks, maybe $20 total.
Let's say it's broke in half so maybe two tens.
NARRATOR: And again.
DENNIS BEDENBENDER: They were together and then that one guy
took off, may have done the deal for him, gave him the $20.
NARRATOR: And again.
DENNIS BEDENBENDER: I got him, Sarge 24 they're taking him
into custody.
NARRATOR: Minutes after the police unit leaves,
the open air drug market resumes.
JASON BREST: To all these people driving by,
the citizens of Denver, makes it appear like we're not doing
anything about it when we're down here constantly
and they just keep coming back. It's like they don't care.
NARRATOR: Denver police asked us not to name the park,
to discourage dealers and users from frequenting it.
JASON BREST: What we do on Dope Day is buy-busts all day.
We're just going out getting street level dealers,
buying dope and arresting them on the spot.
NARRATOR: The unit moves to another corners of Downtown
right by the state's capital.
It's a one-stop shop drug market.
Sergeant Bedenbender is overseeing this operation.
DENNIS BEDENBENDER: The park is known pretty much everything
from marijuana to *** to *** to ***.
NARRATOR: The surveillance teams observe the action
from a distance as the informant goes in to buy drugs.
JASON BREST: And it looks like this is gonna be our guy.
NARRATOR: The informant gives the agreed signal.
JASON BREST: He's giving it to her.
NARRATOR: The woman is what they call a 'middler'.
DENNIS BEDENBENDER: Middlers, oh, they're just users,
they're just looking for a little bit of shaving off
the rock, and they'll be charged accordingly just as if
they were a drug dealer.
So it doesn't matter to us that you're just getting a bump
off it.
RADIO VOICE: We've gotta make the call, let's go, guys,
let's move.
DENNIS BEDENBENDER: See the officer's got the female.
They got the female right there.
RADIO VOICE: Right on him now.
DENNIS BEDENBENDER: Those two right there.
NARRATOR: The other arrest team gets the dealer.
RADIO VOICE: John's got the right guy
NARRATOR: It is part of a much bigger cat and mouse game
the Denver police are engaged in on a daily basis.
DENNIS BEDENBENDER: There's a relationship there.
They know the game, you know, that we're coming out here
to try and put a dent in narcotics activity in the area.
NARRATOR: Denver's trying to keep drug activity off
the streets to make them safer for locals and visitors.
MATT BROWN: Please, please, please do not do anything that
will ruin this for the next group of tourists or certainly
will get anybody in trouble with the State of Colorado.
NARRATOR: A major tourist destination for decades,
the city now has a whole new group of fans,
who are here for one thing.
For Matt Brown's pot tourists the first stop
is a welcome party.
The highlight the latest stoner craze consuming butane
extracted cannabis oil known as dabbing, so potent,
it's like smoking a whole joint in one hit.
JJ: One rip of that and it gets you good for a couple of hours.
We kinda regulates who's kinda doing what.
TOURIST: Yes, I'm from New Zealand.
NARRATOR: Like any new business, the 4-20 Cannabis Tour still
has some details to hash out.
MATT BROWN: Our plans are changing by the minute.
Tours that we had locked in facilities three weeks ago,
this morning decided absolutely no how, no way so we're having
to kind of scramble and figure out replacement tours.
NARRATOR: The pot tourists on the bus don't seem to mind
as long as they get their next puff.
Denver's marijuana Green Rush was what attracted Cole
and Schuyler to the city.
COLE: I moved out here the second time because I had a job
waiting for me at a grow.
NARRATOR: Working in the weed business they earn fast money,
and the spent it getting high on ***.
SCHUYLER: Almost every single person we know uses ***.
A lot of them though they don't necessarily have to shoot it.
You know, they can smoke enough to get high and feel good.
NARRATOR: Soon their addiction took over.
They lost their jobs and they're now homeless.
Addicts like 23 year old Schuyler and Cole are after dope
that keeps them high longer.
In Denver, the better quality *** is known as 'Pager Dope'.
COLE: We are hooked up with someone that has a number.
There's these names that, you know, they go by,
and you call their number ...
NARRATOR: The Mexican networks use this system to sell their
more expensive ***, taking drug sales away from the street
corners.
COLE: Someone answers the phone ...
SCHUYLER: Someone answers who goes by an alias.
COLE: And then you tell them where they're at and they send
out a driver ...
NARRATOR: To pay for the drugs, Cole and Schulyer are always
looking to make a quick buck.
Selling stolen goods is part of their endless struggle chasing
the next hit.
COLE: I've boosted batteries and sold 'em here and I've stolen
money from parking boxes.
I've done returns at stores, anything I can do to make money,
you know.
I'm gonna walk around this parking lot here,
then I'm gonna walk up to people, they're in their cars,
getting out their cars, whatever, and be like:
Excuse me, Miss, do you need batteries?
Three bucks apiece, two for five.
I'm gonna sell this whole bag, lots of batteries.
No investment 100 percent return.
I've got change if you need it ...
NARRATOR: Cole needs to sell fast before he gets caught
by police.
COLE: Three a piece or two for five for five...
Anybody need any batteries?
Three bucks apiece, two for five. Do a deal.
NARRATOR: Cole is desperate to make some money to pay
for his *** before he goes into withdrawal.
COLE: I'll give you a deal, seven bucks.
Do you need some doubles? Come back here tomorrow.
NARRATOR: And it doesn't take long.
COLE: Sixty-five dollars. How long? About 15/20 minutes.
It was nonstop sales.
NARRATOR: With $65 Cole and Schuyler are ready to call
a dealer.
COLE: Schuyler's gonna meet him, so I'm giving him 60 bucks,
he's gonna get us four bags of black.
I don't ever feel that sick when I got money in my pocket
and on my way to the dealer. SCHUYLER: Yeah.
NARRATOR: Pager dope distribution in Denver operates
very much like pizza delivery, running *** from one end
of town to the other.
SCHUYLER: He'll usually tell me a general area,
I'll start heading that way.
When I get close, call up again and he'll give me the exact
intersection. Okay. You'll be there soon?
Okay, I'll be there in like a minute or two. Right.
NARRATOR: Schuyler's got the cash ready when the dealer's car
shows up.
SCHUYLER: They ... they send a driver out to you usually in
a very kind of like nondescript car, they never ride, you know,
in anything flashy.
NARRATOR: Moments later he returns with the drugs.
SCHUYLER: He's just holding them in his mouth so that way
if we were to get pulled over
... he would not have to then put them in his mouth and look
weird to the cop.
NARRATOR: It's been four hours since their last dose and Cole
needs his fix now.
COLE: We're gonna go up here and cook this up really quick.
SCHUYLER: I ... I never really got the whole,
er ... when people say that they're addicted to the needle
until recently ... I love it.
COLE: Once you cook it once you have to always cook it.
I muscle it because I don't have veins.
Ow! Never done that before!
When you push it in certain muscles it burns like a BLEEP.
It's more just like maintenance, daily maintenance, you know.
Just staying well. Not being sick.
NARRATOR: By the afternoon they'll need to score again.
Their middle class families have now cut them off.
COLE : We're not gonna be doing this forever and I don't plan
on it.
I don't really have, I kind of have plans to stop soon.
NARRATOR: The Mexican drug gangs are aggressively pushing ***
and other hard drugs into Denver.
They're the ones standing to lose most from the shrinking
illegal drug market.
SILENT HUNTER: The legalization of marijuana in Colorado has
affected Mexico already But not like it's going to
in the years to come
NARRATOR: The availability of high quality Colorado cannabis
has meant a collapse in demand for cheap Mexican brick weed.
SILENT HUNTER: Marijuana's very low down on the chain.
In volume and weight ***, ***, err *** I mean,
they're worth more than gold
NARRATOR: Silent Hunter spent the majority of the last two
decades as a major drug dealer and trafficker.
SILENT HUNTER: I looked around and realized I don't know one
successful drug dealer Because that's not the way it works
The way it works is, you go to prison or you die
NARRATOR: Now he uses his inside knowledge to help
law enforcement infiltrate drug organizations.
SILENT HUNTER: I come in as a prospective buyer who wants
to buy large amounts of methamphetamine or ***
The goal there is to get to the source and not actually
the low level guys
NARRATOR: Law enforcement uses informants like him to penetrate
sophisticated distribution operations.
And with *** flooding the city,
Denver's narcotics detectives have their hands full.
BRETT STARNES: This little investigation started, er,
Civic Center Park area where we arrested an individual
for selling ***.
Information was developed from that individual which led us
to another individual which we took that person off.
That person led us to Nico.
NARRATOR: Undercover detective Bred Starnes has had a dealer
who calls himself Nico under surveillance for several days.
BRETT STARNES: As everybody gets in the area just let me know
when you're set up and ready.
NARRATOR: Nico's gang is part of a system that sets up local
franchises to distribute pager dope.
BRETT STARNES: They can take an ounce of *** and repackage it
and double or even make more money than that.
NARRATOR: The sky rocketing demand for *** is fuelled
by rising prescription drug abuse, especially painkillers.
BRETT STARNES: A lot of the individuals that are using
the *** have claimed *** addiction.
It's cheaper for them to come out and buy 20/$40 worth of
*** than OxyContin when they've been cut off
their script.
NARRATOR: The narcotics team is setting up for a buy-bust
operation.
BRETT STARNES: CI's gonna go in and make the purchase
and come back out.
If he sees that Nico has a large quantity of *** we'll take
him off.
The bad guy here told our guy that,
er, he's going to get more dope, to wait here for five minutes.
NARRATOR: When Nico, their target, shows up for the deal
with the informant, the narcotics team is waiting
to strike.
BRETT STARNES: There's a meeting taking place.
RADIO VOICE: CI is walking over the embankment on the south side
RADIO VOICE: Looks like there's been an exchange They're walking
together back towards Federal
NARRATOR: The dealer, Nico, has just sold black tar ***
balloons to a police informant.
The detectives are ready to move in.
BRETT STARNES: He's walking southbound in front
of the restaurant. He's getting his phone out. Visual's good.
The visual's good, guys. There they go.
NARRATOR: Nico is caught selling six balloons of ***.
RADIO VOICE: ... that guy in the black ...
BRETT STARNES: He made $180 with the *** right there,
on that little sale.
I mean he's doing more than several times a day.
He's making pretty good living for a two minute
conversation, he makes $180.
NARRATOR: The so-called dope pagers like Nico,
are keeping Denver narcotics detectives busy.
They conduct dozens of operations like this.
BRETT STARNES: Basically it's like emptying the ocean
with a bucket.
You know, you go out there and you do this and yet
there's already way more than that coming back in.
NARRATOR: As the Mexican cartels shift sales of black tar ***
into high gear, the constant stream of illegal immigrants
like Nico provide them with a cheap disposable workforce.
At the Denver County Jail the 23 year old from Honduras
is settling in, waiting for his deportation.
NICO: One friend he called me, he told me to come here,
it's like, it's a good business here, you know that drugs,
drug trafficking.
NARRATOR: Lured by the possibility of making big money,
he says he left his construction job in Atlanta after almost
four years to join a friend in Denver.
NICO: And he told me I buy the stuff from Mexico,
I cut it in little pieces and I go to the block and sell
and sell those pieces for like 10 bucks or 20, $20.
NARRATOR: His friend gave him a quick introduction to the
business before sending him out to the park to sell black tar
*** balloons.
NICO: That first day when I come here I just, I just sell $8.
The next day I sell almost $80, so I start like.
I start like that.
One day the first customer I have,
he come and ask me for a phone number and I give him my phone
number.
NARRATOR: After only a few days he moved from street dealing
to page doping.
NICO: At the beginning I have like a five customers so
I don't sell too much, but those guys bring me another one,
another one, so at the end I was selling like, er, like 700,
600/$700 every day.
My, um, ganancia is like at least 100 percent,
at least 100 percent, you know.
So if I sell 900, mine is like $450.
NARRATOR: His easy money making days didn't last long.
Police arrested Nico only a couple of months after
he started out.
The arrest had little effect on the drug trafficking ring
he was part of.
NICO: They need new people all the time.
Many people is arrested every day.
Someone else has my place you know, also,
so it that doesn't matter if you get arrested.
NARRATOR: In a matter of days another dealer had his client
list and number.
And even when dealers like Nico get caught,
the structure of the network keeps the bosses well insulated
from the hands of the law.
While the big players in the drug business are shifting away
from marijuana, a whole new generation of pot entrepreneurs
are moving in.
BOSTON: Came out here to take advantage of a good opportunity
with the flexibility of the weed laws out here.
I see a product that I can exploit ...
... I found a market for and I can explore.
If that makes me an entrepreneur, yeah,
but pot's the only thing I wanna do.
I'd rather consider myself a farmer.
NARRATOR: A third generation of a big crime family from the
north-east, Boston has been a street hustler his entire life
with a résumé that includes selling dope all across
the United State.
BOSTON: Back home weed's 25/$30 a gram on the street.
Out here I can get away with growing it and I can keep my
production around $4 a gram and then quadruple my money
by bringing it back home.
NARRATOR: With quality weed selling on the East Coast for
as much as ***, he packed up and came to Denver earlier
this year, setting up shop in a trailer park in one
of the suburbs.
BOSTON: I put a team out here.
I got people running, working the local area,
plus I have people that I work out of state with,
so everything I grow is usually gone right away and I have
enough work to keep four people employed and happy.
NARRATOR: With Colorado caught between legalizing marijuana
and implementing the regulations around it,
Boston has found the perfect loophole to operate in.
BOSTON: I mean weed's on the cusp of being legal come January
1st, so I'm pretty sure the cops don't wanna come out and waste
their time.
NARRATOR: Until then, Boston is busy growing his profitable
enterprise.
BOSTON: Let's go inside and I'll show you my babies
that I got growing right now.
Behind this curtain is where I make my money.
NARRATOR: Boston grows illegal marijuana far away from
the eyes of the police.
BOSTON: The laws in this state are so lax that I can go get
thousands of dollars' worth of the best pot growing equipment
just by driving over to the store and buying it.
NARRATOR: He takes pride in cultivating his high quality
buds.
BOSTON: Weed might be called weed, but it's a flower,
and it's very very easy to mess up.
This is a pre-1998 superskunk. It's a strong sativa.
It's more of a heady high.
This one right here is a Cinderella 99.
Now this one went into flowering yesterday.
This one is a Fireberry OG kush.
We call 'em ' in the couch' cos that's usually where you end up
when you smoke mine anyway.
Y'all actually showed up at a good time because I gotta trim
these plants today.
NARRATOR: Once harvested, the money making buds are packed
ready to be shipped to his contacts on the East Coast.
BOSTON: This is a small batch of Durban Poison right here.
If I get rid of it between Tennessee,
West Virginia and North Carolina I can get about $300 to $350
an ounce for it.
If I take it up to the north-east like New Hampshire
and Massachusetts I can get between 480 and 560 an ounce.
Take a bunch of coffee.
NARRATOR: He has found a way to exploit every legal means
to support his illegal weed export business.
BOSTON: The coffee hides the smell fantastically well.
Nobody's gonna smell this, because it is coffee.
It's America, right.
It's whatever the hell I say it is.
Capitalism, baby, love you.
Now ... just gonna put some tape right around the top, I mail it.
Never get caught. And you go to FedEx. It works.
It's cheaper out here, trust me.
NARRATOR: He's even keeping the receipts.
BOSTON: And this one right here was for $400 bag of coffee.
I tell you, I make the best coffee on the planet,
wake you right up, or put you to sleep,
depending on which kind you want.
NARRATOR: Boston, and his partner Vegas,
are determined to make a profit on every part of the plant.
BOSTON: This is literally every bit of trim that I cut off them
plants.
NARRATOR: His line of products includes high quality hash.
BOSTON: Gonna make some bubble hash for y'all.
Put your ice in here, your water in here and we're about
to turn this into money.
Nothing can go to waste, absolutely not.
That's all money and we don't waste money around here.
NARRATOR: The sieving system ensures the purity of the hash.
BOSTON: You can see the oil floating around in the water.
The oil is all the THC that was squeezed out.
NARRATOR: To meet the high demand for his exports,
Boston supplements his home grown weed by buying some of
the excess that comes from the medical marijuana suppliers.
BOSTON: I know a few people that work out the back door of some
dispensary.
I can get my hand on some, some good quality stuff just to keep
me afloat until my next harvest comes in.
Is that a customer? VEGAS: Yeah.
NARRATOR: He is racing against time.
Once the new laws go into effect his Denver sales will be facing
some serious competition.
BOSTON: I truly don't want marijuana to become legal like
alcohol.
I like where it is right now in the medical state,
because all you guys that can't get it medically have to buy it
from me and I want all of your money.
NARRATOR: For the pot tourists who are here to explore Denver
as the US capital of weed, the idea of a legal grow house
is hard to imagine.
But in Denver it's an industry worth over $100 million.
MATT: We are on our way to the cultivation facility. Oh yeah!
You are going to get to see some plants in a Colorado licensed
medical marijuana facility.
NARRATOR: It's a marijuana lover's dream come true.
TABBY: This is beautiful.
This is nature at its finest straight here.
Like you can't get any better than this right here.
This is something that not everybody gets to see.
NARRATOR: Denver is already famous for producing some of the
stoniest cannabis in the world.
Now with pot going legit, veterans of the medical
marijuana industry are first to jump in to the new Green Rush.
Tripp Keber is the face of weed going corporate.
He is a business man, not a pot connoisseur.
This extremely concentrated cannabis oil could turn him
into a very rich man.
TRIPP KEBER: I've been referred to as a Ganjapreneur;
I've been referred to as the King of Cannabis.
I've been referred to as the Willy Wonka of weed.
NARRATOR: Tripp Keber is making a big bet on the legalization
of marijuana.
His company produces cannabis infused edibles.
TRIPP KEBER: I have PhD food scientists; I have biochemists;
professionally trained chefs.
I have mechanical engineers.
NARRATOR: The investors behind him are pouring their money
into weed.
TRIPP KEBER: This is a very very heavily concentrated,
likely between 75 and 85 percent THC.
This represents probably in excess of 100 plus thousand
dollars in value in finished product.
NARRATOR: Tripp's business plan is to take home made edibles
into mass production.
TRIPP KEBER: Anybody can make a pot brownie.
We manufacture thousands of widgets each and every day
that have to have the same consistency and the same
strength.
We're currently producing some medicated Dixie rolls.
It's basically a chocolate confection that is infused
with cannabis oil.
NARRATOR: Tripp protects his THC treasure like gold.
TRIPP KEBER: We have a vault that would rival most banks
here in the state of Colorado.
We have in excess of $50,000 in audio and video surveillance
along with alarm systems.
NARRATOR: Behind tight security he is preparing to showcase
his products in the upcoming Cannabis Cup,
what many consider to be the Pot Olympics.
TRIPP KEBER: We have here a 75 milligram sparking redcurrant.
NARRATOR: The safe looking sodas pack a punch.
TRIPP KEBER: I had never experienced any of our products
first hand and I tried to consume a 22 milligram.
The first 15 to 20 minutes, um, was pleasant and certainly
followed by some giggles and euphoria.
The next four hours was actually a very very long afternoon.
4-20 RADIO DJ: On 4-20 Radio.org,
I'm Radical Russ bringing you live coverage here.
This is the first US Cannabis Cup where everyone can enjoy,
you don't even have to be sick.
NARRATOR: This year's Cannabis Cup in Denver is Tripp's big
chance to introduce his products to a new market recreational
pot users.
TRIPP KEBER: We've a mint line.
So very, very socially acceptable.
Obviously you could carry this in your purse.
Our award winning last year, High Times Medicated Chocolate
Truffle. You would have a ID card
NARRATOR: The latest edition in his marketing arsenal ...
TRIPP KEBER: to track your biometrics is a double layer
of security.
NARRATOR: ... a marijuana vending machine.
TRIPP KEBER: And then it will automatically select
the appropriate bay.
It is absolutely slick technology.
I just did a demo of it. MAN: It's fantastic.
TRIPP KEBER: But I envision will be involved somehow
in the distribution of it.
NARRATOR: It looks like any other trade show,
but this event is dedicated to celebrating a new business era
of legal weed.
Ten thousand marijuana enthusiasts each pay $150
for the opportunity to see the latest technology and innovation
in the field.
But for old school stoners like Tabby Rodriguez and Angel Ocasio
it's a bit too much.
ANGEL: It ain't like to good old days when you just plant a seed
and let it grow and just break it, like pick it ...
TABBY: It's pretty scientific ...
ANGEL: and then just smoke it. TABBY: It's really scientific
... Doctor Green Thumb stuff going on, you know.
ANGEL: I'm like: what the hell?
Does it smoke good? Yes. Okay, thank you. Resolved.
TABBY: Does the high last long? Yes. All right.
NARRATOR: But no-one knows if Denver's era of legal highs
is here to last.
MAN: Okay. Does it go too quick
NARRATOR: Because according to Federal law, cannabis
entrepreneurs are still drug dealers.
TRIPP KEBER: Today we have 20 states that offer some form
of medical cannabis.
We have another 11 states that are considering some form of
valid initiative.
Where's the tipping point, you know?
Eventually it's gonna come and I think the Federal Government
is gonna have to make a stance.
NARRATOR: On the other side of town in Civic Center Park,
thousands are making a stand.
Matt's pot tourists are on their way to join them for
the highlight of their weekend.
MAN ON STAGE: I say four, you say 20 four.
NARRATOR: They are here for Denver's annual smoke up.
At 4.20 in the afternoon marijuana fans around the world
light up to celebrate April 20th as International Weed Day.
It's pot history in the making.
TABBY: This is one of those once in a lifetime things.
And to be, you know, doing what we're doing, there are no words.
Happy 4-20.
NARRATOR: For some, it's an opportunity to get high.
And for others to cash in on high demand.
MAN: Three thousand. Don't get my face in there.
TABBY: The atmosphere is awesome. The vibe is amazing.
It's definitely majorly crowded.
I thought it was gonna be really cool but I didn't think it would
be this, this magnitude. This is insane.
NARRATOR: Forty minutes later the park is a very different
scene.
MAN ON STAGE: Oh no, BLEEP are shooting. Right now I say.
NARRATOR: A fight between gang members escalates and gunfire
interrupts the celebrations.
The 4-20 rally turns into a massive stampede.
Police units that kept away are now pursuing the shooter
and paramedics rush in to help the three injured.
MATT: There was one batch of gunshots whether it was six
or eight, I don't know,
but they emptied the clip, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop.
NARRATOR: Matt Brown, the new Pot Tour entrepreneur,
is seeing his business hopes crashing in front of his eyes.
MATT: All day long all we were saying was:
How incredible this has been. We didn't need this.
Now look at this, look at this, we're coming down the street
... there's 12 SWAT team guys hanging out on the outside
of an SUV.
They were there just to sit around and celebrate
the fact that they could sit around.
This is now 4-20, 2013 in Denver.
NARRATOR: The mile high city is the new United States capital
of weed. As it experiments with legalization,
putting it in direct conflict with Federal law there will be
winners and losers.
Denver's new relaxed marijuana policies are changing
the illicit drug business and opening up a world
of opportunities for those willing to risk exploiting them.