John Garrison, Mountain High Suckers’ co-founder and CEO, sat down with Genifer Murray of CannabisTech.com to talk about Mountain High Suckers’ history in cannabis and the secret to their success and longevity in the industry. Here are some highlights:

Forming partnerships across industries

Mountain High Suckers has formed partnerships both within and outside of the cannabis community over the years. Together with Groundswell and DJ Logic, they created an exclusive strain, Logic Diesel, and infused it into a sucker to create Logic Pops. Mountain High Suckers teamed up with comedian Josh Blue to create a line of suckers called Josh Blue’s Dream. Their most recent partnership with cyclist Floyd Landis brought them from the sweet to savory realm with a line of THC and CBD-infused sauces and spreads.

Why the 3:1 THC to CBD ratio?

“We came up with that ratio just out of trying not to put too much CBD in because no one knew what CBD was when we started doing this. So we came up with this formula, three-to-one, and over the years we have literally maybe a hundred testimonials of people calling up either crying or with an incredible story that his three-to-one ratio made all the difference in their lives, so we stuck with it and we still have it today.”

Which extraction process does Mountain High Suckers use?

“You get a lot more volume of extract [with butane], and it comes out cleaner. It’s more for smoking…where our stuff is not smokeable, it’s more like a Rick Simpson oil. [With ethanol] we leave some chlorophyll in there. We leave a little bit of wax in there. We try to leave as many cannabinoids as possible instead of stripping it down to where you have nothing left, and then you try to add in all the terpenes back in to come up with your beautiful smell to the product. But for medicinal purposes and all-around health benefits, everything about alcohol extraction is just a better product to have for edibles.”

How have John and Chad maintained a successful company and partnership together?

“I think a lot of it has to do with our background in rock climbing together. We were continuously watching out for each other’s lives. So, you know, when it moved into the business setting, which we had a painting company together, it was similar. We always watched out for each other. We could speak for each other.

We’ve known each other for 24 years, and I think communication is everything. We preach communication to all of our business partners. You don’t communicate, and I’m not going to do business with you. You know, it’s key to every single thing there is.

The other thing is we strive for the same things in our lives. We both are committed to recreation, so we don’t let our edibles company rule our lives. We still get out a lot. We cycle, hike, you know everything that we want to do, and we still manage to put a lot of hours into this business.”

I think the other thing that helps our company is that we’re not invested in by anybody else. It’s our own money, so we don’t have a board. It’s Chad and I at the table. If you want to do business, you talk to Chad and I.”

Where can you buy Mountain High Suckers, and what are your plans for future expansion?

“Right now, we’re in Colorado. We’ve been in Puerto Rico for about a year and a half. We’re signing a deal with Oklahoma, and then we have California on the back burner and New Mexico and Oregon.

“We are talking with some Canadians now and have been for quite a while. No deals go through quickly, and if they do, they probably aren’t a good thing.

Chad’s wife is from Thailand, so they were in Thailand last year, and they went to a cannabis convention. So we’re working on some international stuff.

We have a new CBD company that we just started called Mountain High Select. They’re available around the nation. That’s a CBD, CBG infused sucker.

Chad and I have been doing this for eleven years, so I’m not going to lie, I’m getting a little tired. We’re looking for an exit plan down the road. I think everybody is who has been in it this long. We’re still excited every day to come to work. We love our jobs, and we have great employees. We love what we do.”

What advice would you give someone just starting in the industry?

“Make sure that whatever you’re doing is a very wanted product, whether it’s a media product or it’s a live product, kind of cannabis grow, whatever you do, but don’t jump in without knowing. Get lawyers. One-hundred percent you’ve got to have lawyers.

The other thing is if people approach you and they want to invest, you have to vet them. You have to hang out. You have to go to lunch with them. You have to realize that if you do a deal, then you’re going to be working with them for three to five years. That’s a long time, so you want to be able to have them come over to your house for dinner. You have to really like the people that you work with. Even if there are problems. If you communicate, you can get through everything.”

Thanks to Genifer Murray and CannabisTech.com for a great conversation. See the full video here:

Mountain High Suckers is extremely proud to announce that we have joined the latest group of cannabis based businesses to become A+ accredited by working with the Better Business Bureau through their new cannabis program. The Better Business Bureau has been working closely with Colorado’s Marijuana Enforcement Division to properly vet cannabis businesses including verifying licensing info and communicating directly with businesses regarding complaints. The BBB says it decided to move forward in working together with cannabis businesses due to positive input from cannabis business owners and industry leaders.

Speaking on behalf of Mountain High Suckers in the latest press release from the BBB, our Director of Operations Mike Erdman said, “For us it’s about perception. We’ve been in business almost 10 years and never been able to operate as a normal business would. The inability to have the same services under the same day-to-day practices as other businesses is pervasive throughout every aspect of the cannabis industry, and we’ve struggled against it daily just by the nature of who we are and what we do.”

“We’ve always been honest people doing an honest day’s work and providing an honest product and this brief glimpse of normality in BBB offering accreditation provides legitimacy we are desperately trying to achieve. It’s an important step forward.”

Consumers can now visit the Better Business Bureau’s website at www.bbb.org directly to look up other accredited cannabis businesses, their ratings and their reviews. Note that the BBB doesn’t make any judgement related to the products themselves; the reviews will be solely focused on how cannabis businesses interact with other businesses and how they handle complaints. The BBB also only covers cannabis businesses operating within legal states where an accreditation system is in place.

Mountain High Suckers BBB Business Review

About the Better Business Bureau

BBB is a nonprofit, business-supported organization that sets and upholds high standards for fair and honest business behavior. All BBB services to consumers are free of charge. BBB provides objective advice, free BBB Business Profiles on more than 5.3 million businesses, 11,000 Charity Reviews, dispute resolution services, alerts and educational information on topics affecting marketplace trust.  Visit www.bbb.org for more information.

Friday, July 6th at 9:30pm
(after Josh’s 7pm show)

@Comedy Works
(South Landmark location)

21+ free admission – no tickets or RSVP required!

For more than a year we’ve worked with our friend, comedian Josh Blue, who has joined the cannabis community as medical consumer and as an advocate for change. We’re extremely proud of our collaboration: Josh Blue’s Dream Suckers – blueberry, cherry and watermelon suckers infused using our unique process and Josh’s favorite cannabis strain, blue dream.

Come join us for our OFFICIAL LAUNCH PARTY celebrating our work together. We’ll have LIVE MUSIC, SNACKS and DRINKS!

Also come see Josh’s show at Comedy Works!

For tickets, visit:
https://www.comedyworks.com/comedians/josh-blue

(edit: may already be sold out!!)

See you at the party!

Come see Josh Blue and Mountain High Suckers – Friday June 30th from 4pm to 7pm at Colorado Harvest Co. on Broadway!

As part of our celebration of our recently released Josh Blue’s Dream suckers – our  favorite blueberry and watermelon flavored suckers made with Blue Dream strain cannabis extract, Josh Blue’s favorite strain. Josh, who has cerebral palsy, has been using cannabis to help treat his symptoms for years and has recently joined the cannabis community as an advocate for change.

Mountain High Suckers is extremely proud to be working with Josh Blue and Colorado Harvest Co. in this joint effort, so please swing by on Friday, June 30th afternoon to lend your support and to pick up one of these great cannabis infused suckers!

 

 

Come visit Mountain High Suckers and Comedian Josh Blue this Wednesday June 7th from 3pm to 6pm at GroundSwell Cannabis Boutique in Denver!

We’re celebrating our recent release of Josh Blue’s Dream – our  favorite blueberry and watermelon flavored suckers made with Blue Dream strain cannabis extract, Josh Blue’s favorite strain. Josh, who has cerebral palsy, has been using cannabis to help treat his symptoms for years and has recently joined the cannabis community as an advocate for change.

Mountain High Suckers is extremely proud to be working with Josh Blue and GroundSwell in this joint effort, so please swing by on Wednesday afternoon to lend your support and to snag one of these great cannabis infused edibles!

 

 

Hello Mountain High Suckers followers and happy 4/20!

Today we’re extremely excited to share the launch of our brand new collaboration with our friend, Colorado comedian Josh Blue: Josh Blue’s Dream – our  favorite blueberry and watermelon flavored suckers made with Blue Dream strain cannabis extract, Josh’s favorite strain.

Josh, who has cerebral palsy, has been using cannabis to help treat his symptoms for years and has recently joined the cannabis community as an advocate for change.

“We’ve been treating it like it was legal for years anyway, so it didn’t make too much of a difference when they legalized it. It’s really great though, you don’t need a medical card or anything like that. There’s dispensaries everywhere and it’s bringing in a shitload of tax revenue. I think a lot more states will start legalizing it,” he says. Check out more about Josh Blue, his connection to cannabis, and his thoughts on the Denver comedy scene in this recent interview in Rare magazine.

Mountain High Suckers is proud to partner with Josh to help bring awareness to the positive effects of cannabis – drop by your favorite dispensary and ask for Josh Blue’s Dream suckers by name!

 

Mountain High Suckers is pleased to announce a collaboration with our friends at Groundswell Cannabis!

We’ve infused 4 of our classic Mountain High Suckers flavors with Groundswell’s exclusive strain Logic Diesel – their DJ Logic special, a euphoric and exciting yet relaxing sativa strain, to create Logic Pops.

You can get this exclusive Logic Diesel sucker in:

These suckers are for sale now (recreational only) in 10mg THC doses.

Swing by Groundswell at 3121 E. Colfax Ave, Denver, CO 80206 or visit www.groundswelldenver.com and pick some Logic Pops up today!

Earlier in April, Mountain High Suckers had the privilege of being reviewed and featured in Culture Magazine!

Check out the reviews below from Culture and download a special sample of the April edition.

Butterscotch Toffee Sucker

“Mountain High Suckers is known for their array of creative suckers, like this Butterscotch Toffee Sucker. The butterscotch sucker head is a translucent light-brown color with a green hue. There are tiny toffee chunks embedded in the sucker. This medical sucker is packed with 38.49mg of active cannabinoids consisting of CBD,CBC and CBN along with just the right amount of THC. The butterscotch lollipop is sweet and syrupy and the toffee chunks help hide the cannabis flavor. Note that the small sucker has nearly four times the recreational dosage, so it’s important to make sure you don’t overdo it. The high-quality wrapping is great for sliding the sucker back into its packaging so you can enjoy the rest another time.”

Tangerine Sucker

Edibles manufacturers have been going through a lot in Colorado lately— to put it lightly—in dealing with new regulations from the state. In some cases, though, it’s ultimately been for the better. Case in point: Mountain High Suckers, who have been making a great product for years. Their new packaging, however, is as stunning as it is functional. Our THC/CBD Tangerine Sucker was a blast, and at 10mg, we were totally functional when we ate the whole thing. Those who wanted to wait could simply toss it back in the convenient new holder that comes with. The effect was exceptionally balanced yet quick acting, as most were feeling the effects within the first half hour. Reviewers with stomach issues noted how quickly it relieved symptoms while also stimulating hunger. Usually, hunger that involved more suckers.

Mountain High Sucker Lozenges

For years, the only time you heard about lozenges were from a strange man in the Alps. Fast forward to 2015 and Mountain High Suckers are making them the coolest—and not in a mentholated way. Our pack had three flavors, our favorite being the mouthwatering tangerine that didn’t leave a noticeable weedy aftertaste. Now offered for recreational users, the 10mg packs even boast a little CBD, although you’re predominantly feeling a nice head effect and body relaxation. We had two reviewers split a pack, both noting that it made them feel much better—and different—than the Ricolas they tried earlier.

Honey Dew Melon Sucker

Just about everything is better when you have a sucker, part of the reason they give them to you at the bank as they take all your money. Instead of waiting until payday, we’d recommend heading to just about any dispensary to pick up the affordable, brand new and refreshing Honey Dew Melon Sucker. While other lozenges on the market can make you feel like you’ve been sucking on hash oil for an hour, we loved its clean taste with barely any “green” flavor. With little psychoactive effect, these are perfect for someone who is looking for the healing benefits of cannabis but might be nervous trying an edible.

Cherry Sucker

No one wants to be referred to as a sucker. Not even octopii. The only good scenario is if you’re Mountain High Suckers, purveyors of fine candy treats for years, or you picked up their 10mg Cherry Sucker. Providing both THC and CBD, the cherry flavor is on point and tastes like a fresh bing cherry, masking cannabis flavor so the first lick is as great as the last. We found that one was our magic number, as the dose was a huge mood booster that had reviewers giggling half an hour later. Those with colitis and intestinal issues also heaped praise on the quick relief they felt.

 

Check out a special preview of our reviews in Culture:

[icon type=”file-pdf-o”] Download PDF

 

And visit Culture Magazine at: www.ireadculture.com.

bbc-mhs-productsRecently, Mountain High Suckers products were featured in a BBC News article focused on explaining the legal cannabis market in Colorado to a British audience. The author begins at a Colorado based, cannabis friendly bed and breakfast and is surprised to see the scale of the amount and diversity of cannabis based products.

Other than CLEAR, a UK based cannabis advocacy group looking to legalize cannabis and modernize how its viewed in Europe, cannabis is widely unused and clearly illegal in England and the rest of the United Kingdom. Our local residents may have to forgive the sometimes amazed tone the article takes, but it can also remind us of how much our Colorado legal cannabis industry has accomplished!

Check out the full article on BBC.com here:

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35999549