28 FEBRUARY 16-22, 2023 westword.com WESTWORD | REAL ESTATE | RENTALS | HEALTH WELLNESS | SERVICES | EMPLOYMENT | ADULT | MUSIC | CLASSIFIED | FIND MORE MARIJUANA COVERAGE AT WESTWORD.COM/MARIJUANA Neighborly Advice BY THOMAS MITC HELL Missouri didn’t have to worry about a hang- over from the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl win last weekend. It has legal weed now. In a quick advancement compared to the action of most states, Missouri went from being a legal cannabis wasteland to the latest state with retail pot in under fi ve years. After starting medical marijuana sales in 2020, the burgeoning market just opened for recreational customers on Feb- ruary 3, and one Colorado-based cannabis company is excited to pounce for more than fi nancial reasons. Robhots, a cannabis gummies brand based in Pueblo West, was founded by Kansas City native Zach Romey, who moved to Colorado in 2013 to pursue his dream in legal cannabis. Today Robhots is a mainstay in Colorado stores, has expanded into multiple states, and is currently one of Missouri’s three largest brands of gummies, he says. Although Colorado will remain the headquarters for Robhots, Missouri’s le- galization has created quite a homecoming for Romey. We chatted with the cannabis- industry veteran to learn more about the state’s legal pot scene, how it compares to Colorado’s, and the newfound freedom he has on business trips. Westword: When you moved to Colorado in 2013, did you ever think Missouri would legalize recreational cannabis? Zach Romey: Never in a million years. When I left there after high school, people were selling weed on the side of the local gro- cery store, all worried about getting caught. It’s been crazy how quick it has come along and to see where it is now, especially over the last two years. The recreational push was really quick, and when that all passed, it had to be implemented within ninety days based on the way it was written. So that was a really fast push on the business end, to be ready after all this got going. What was that like as a business owner — watching to see if legalization will pass, and then having to get to work under such a short deadline? We facilitate all of our other markets from our facility in Colorado, so we had to buy more packaging containers and ramp up production batch kits to make more gum- mies. But the production has been through the roof, and we’re just trying to do what we can to keep up with demand out there in other markets. How does it feel to be such a big part of the recreational cannabis rollout in your home state? It’s awesome. The whole last week, we were just out canvassing the state, so it’s been cool to go back home. Every time I go back, it’s incredible to see the growth of the industry, and it’s been fun keeping up with it. The whole market reminds me of where I was a few years ago. People are still fi guring it out, and you have all of these people super excited to be budtenders. To see that and then go back and see our edibles be successful out there [motivates] us to keep that success rolling and release more products out there. Do you feel a bigger sense of freedom when you go home now? Are you more open about your cannabis use or what you do for a living? Maybe I was just scarred from high school and college out there, but, man, if you had an eighth of weed in the car, you were puckered up while driving, just hoping you got to your destination safely. But when we were back there last week, it was all legal. We had a couple of joints, some vape carts and edibles with no worries in the world of a cop pulling us over and getting arrested. It took a while for that realization to set in. What level of public acceptance does recre- ational cannabis have in Missouri? There are still some people who are against it out there or stuck in their ways. That’s more of the older crowd, though, because a lot of the places we went to had a ton of people who were happy to see it, even in rural farm towns. I hope the rec program goes great out there, because it’s creating a lot of jobs. I think the lowest amount of new employees a store had hired that I came across was, like, nineteen employees, and some stores are hiring sixty to seventy work- ers. I think public opinion is starting to sway a little bit, because medical marijuana has been on the shelves for a while now and crime hasn’t shot up. Still, I think it’s a little more conservative in Missouri than it was here. But even at a couple of farm towns we’d go to, there would be parties, food trucks and entire communities out there for dis- pensary openings. The opinions aren’t as lax and liberal as they were in Colorado, but the laws and regulations in Missouri sort of say otherwise. Recreational users out there can buy 3 ounces per transaction, and there’s no way to really track it. People are already looping out there, hitting three or four stores to head back with a half-pound of weed. It’s going to take time to settle in, and there will probably be some adjust- ments, but it’s been interesting. How would you compare Missouri’s can- nabis culture to Colorado’s? They’re a little behind. When I fi rst went out there after medical marijuana had been implemented in 2020, people just wanted anything with THC in it. They were tired of hemp fl owers and gas-station edibles, and were excited for anything. But in the past six months or so, we’ve seen a shift toward more targeted effects, different cannabinoids and other things like that. The market is starting to fi gure things out, and now people are asking for live resin and rosin edibles. That will be coming down the pipe next, and you’ll start seeing more di- versifi cation of edibles and other products. How is business going in Colorado? As good as it can be. The market is in a bad place, but we’re still moving a lot of units. We’re about to add new product SKUs, including smaller gummies that are infused with 5 milligrams of THC, with twenty per pack. Those will be infused with live rosin and made in indica, sativa and hybrid varieties. Is rosin still the trendy move for edibles companies? Oh, yeah, it’s crazy. I don’t know how, but rosin manufacturers are really competitive right now. They’re calling me with live rosin for sale at $8 or $9 grams. It’s wild right now. Is rosin that cheap any good? Yeah, you’d be surprised. We’ve got some batches for our new rec product SKUs, like Durban Poison and Lemon Mints, that were pretty incredible. Great terp profi les and consistency. If I could just walk out from my kitchen with some of it...[laughs]. Suggest future interview subjects at [email protected]. Robhots founder and Missouri native Zach Romey. COURTESY OF ROBHOTS MARIJUANA T O K E O F T H E T O W N
