Pubdate: Wed, 29 Jan 2014
Source: Columbus Dispatch (OH)
Copyright: 2014 Associated Press
Contact:  http://www.dispatch.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/93
Author: Gene Johnson, Associated Press

FINALLY, A 'SUPER BOWL' FOR STONERS

SEATTLE (AP) - The way Bryan Weinman sees it, he and his friends 
already won their Super Bowl bet.

Two weeks ago, the nightclub DJ and a few buddies were sitting at a 
sports bar in Denver, joking about how funny it would be if the 
Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos - the NFL teams from the two 
states that have legalized marijuana - made it to the big game.

They decided to plunk down a $44 wager - the fee for registering the 
Internet domain www.stonerbowl.org - just before the Seahawks and 
Broncos won their conference championships.

It paid off. They're now using the site to hawk T-shirts and hats 
celebrating the coincidence. One shirt features the Vince Lombardi 
Trophy, reserved for the game's victors, refashioned into a bong. 
Another features a spoof of the league's logo, with the letters "THC" 
- - for marijuana's active compound - replacing "NFL."

 From weed-themed Super Bowl parties to a Denver company's "Stoner 
Bowl" tours of recreational pot shops, this year's Super Bowl offers 
a twist on a sporting event better known for its beer commercials. 
Thanks to the recreational marijuana laws passed by voters in 2012, 
sales of taxed pot to adults older than 21 began at Colorado pot 
shops on Jan. 1 and are due to begin in Washington later this year.

There have been a slew of predictable, ready-made puns, most of which 
have to do with bowl being the part of the pipe where pot goes. Some 
fans have issued not-quite-serious calls for a cannabis-friendly 
musician - say, Willie Nelson or Snoop Dogg - to sing the national anthem.

"I'm staying home and will be watching the Super Bowl while I light 
up my own Super Bowl," well-known stoner Tommy Chong, of the comedy 
duo Cheech and Chong, wrote on its Facebook page. The pair released a 
publicity photo doctored to show Chong in a Seahawks headband and 
Cheech Marin in a knit Broncos hat.

The Washington chapter of NORML, National Organization for the Reform 
of Marijuana Laws, made a friendly bet with Colorado NORML for what 
they're calling "Bud Bowl XLVIII."

In Georgetown, Colo., the Sergeant Green Leaf Wellness Center's 
manager - who gave only his first name, Angelo - said glass pipes and 
bongs with the Broncos' colors of blue and orange will go on sale, as 
will at least one variety of pot, likely named "Orange Crush."

The Marijuana Policy Project, one of the groups behind the push to 
legalize pot possession in Colorado, has rented several pro-pot 
billboards in New Jersey, all within easy driving distance of MetLife Stadium.

Derek Franklin, president of the Washington Association for Substance 
Abuse and Violence Prevention, said all the attention about the "Weed 
Bowl or the Bong Bowl, what have you, it drives home the wrong 
public-health message."

Information from Reuters and The New York Times was included in this story.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom