Melts in your mouth

I recently had the chance to attend a party in the lovely little California hill town of Murphys, which is on Highway 4 in the Angels Camp area. At this party, a cool cat dropped by with some of the products he was taking up to the medical marijuana dispensary in the town of Arnold. One of these products was a tasty bar of chocolate (think of a good old Hershey bar) that was, of course, liberally dosed. After sampling this stuff (under the clinical supervision of a local bass player), it's obvious that a renaissance of reefer is well underway.

These were Kiva bars of blackberry dark chocolate, and they were scrumptious. The people making these confections know what the heck they're doing. The packaging was informative and hip. Kiva touts itself as a “higher chocolate experience.” Yes, yo, and yeah, baby! Right on the box, you see clearly this stuff is medical cannabis, the flavor is dark chocolate, the net weight is 50 grams (1.7 oz), it's not a food or a snack and keep it away from the kiddies. Which is a real concern. Youngsters have been known to enjoy chocolate bars, so you gotta hide your Kivas! Or else Kippy's gonna have a bad brownout!

So how was it? Real good, I'd say. The bar costs 20 bucks and it consists of four squares. The recommended dose, according to our man, was one third of ONE square. He was right on. I gobbled up my chunk and had a very pleasant afternoon. Yes, I was indeed high, but mildly and subtly so. I was feelin' it, yes, but I wasn't incapacitated or useless. IMHO, anyway. I'm hopeful my comrades would concur. I can report that I told a couple jokes that stone cold KILLED. And dig the value of a Kiva. One $20 bar has 12 doses, a very thrifty $1.66 per dose. Dayam. Sign me up!

Big picture overview—these candy bars are just the tip of the potberg. There's literally a revolution in marijuana consumption going on now, a revolution that will lead to an amazing range of pot-laced cookies, candies, pastries, oils, snacks, butters, etc., goodies that will be battling it out for economic survival in the dispensaries of Colorado, California, and eventually—us! Yay for us. About goddamn time. With the Sandoval signature on Senate Bill 374 in June, we pulled our heads out, took a look at the writing on the wall, and finally got into this game. I mean, us voters gave the green light years ago (2000, fercrissake) and the legislature has been half-assing it ever since, hoping the issue would go away. It didn't.

With SB 374 on the books, the path is cleared for up to 66 dispensaries in the state, which will break down thusly: Vegas 63. Reno 2. Carson 1. Fine. Whatever. I'll take it. But wherever our dispensaries actually end up, they're gonna be loaded with a dazzling range of products that will herald a whole new era in attitude adjustment. Again—yes, yo, and yeah, baby.