Cannabis Grower Buys Entire Old West Town And Transforming It Into A Pot Paradise



On February 9, 1905, the town of Nipton (which is very familiar to “Fallout” fans) was founded in California right on the southern border with Nevada. The Old West town became popular thanks to the discovery of gold in the area that spurred miners to flock to the desert town. The gold rush ended and so did the population of Nipton, which now has a population of about 20. However, this mining town may have a resurgence thanks to a green rush. American Green, a cannabis grower and marijuana-focused tech company based in Phoenix, Arizona, purchased the small town and plans to transform it into a pot paradise.

On Thursday, American Green, which is the largest and second oldest publicly traded cannabis company in the U.S., announced that it had purchased all 120 acres of Nipton. The purchase includes its Old West-style hotel, a school building, mineral baths, a few houses, an RV park, and a coffee shop for close to $5 million. The weed company plans to turn the sleepy little town into “an energy-independent, cannabis-friendly hospitality destination.” The company will invest as much as $2.5 million over the next 18 months to update Nipton so people will want to come visit. Odd, because Caesar’s Legion really discourages against drug use.

Thanks to the legalization of marijuana in California, American Green believes that can make the gold rush ghost town into a popular pot-tourism destination. Nipton sits near a railway between major cities. The upcoming marijuana mecca is near the Mojave National Preserve, about three hours by car from Los Angeles and an hour from Las Vegas. It could be a place where city folk can get away and enjoy small-town life with good bud. So it’s kinda like “Westworld” with weed, but no robot prostitutes or rampant murder.

Project manager Stephen Shearin said, “We thought that showing that there was a viable means of having a cannabis-friendly municipality and further making it energy independent could be a way of really inspiring folks to say, ‘Why can’t we do that here?’”

Shearin said that the company hopes to “create a community that is accepting and understanding” of the use of marijuana. “The [idea] here isn’t to create ‘Woodstock 2017,'” Shearin said. “It’s about creating an environment where people come to work and share in a community.” Riiiiiight, “work.”

No word on if they will keep the same name, but they are tossing around the idea of calling it “The Apothecary,” probably because there is already a Weed, California. Now excuse me while I go open a Taco Bell in Nipton and become a gazillionaire.

[RT/Bloomberg]