High-end high times Local cannabis retailer lone Manitoba outlet for art bongs
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/11/2019 (1759 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Looking for something extra special for your pot-smoking partner this Christmas? Delta 9 may have what you’ve been looking for — if you have more than weed to burn.
The Winnipeg-based company, which sells cannabis products through both its wholesale division, as well as two retail stores in the city (and one apiece in Brandon and Thompson), has three high-end — and high-priced — glass bongs for sale at its Dakota Street outlet.
The Clear Faberge Egg goes for $4,650.99; the Clear Exosphere is listed at $8,040.99; and the Clear Straight Fab Torus is priced at an eye-popping $10,908.99.
That’s a lot of munchies.
These aren’t the ubiquitous $30 machine-made glass bongs sold most everywhere, store manager Scott Strizic said Wednesday.
“These are elaborate pieces of art that can be used for cannabis consumption,” he said, as he stood by the locked case containing the three bongs.
“They are all hand-blown. They call them ‘first quality’ glass — there are no flaws. No defects… functional glass is made by artists executing their skills at an astonishing degree of craftsmanship.”
The bongs are made by Bellingham, Wash.,-based Mothership Glass.
Since 2012, the company has been producing what its website says are “the most exclusive pieces of borosilicate glass in the water-pipe industry. Together, we make beautiful artistic glass that offers a smooth, sophisticated smoking experience.”
And consumers have been paying high prices for its products. An auction in 2016 resulted in one of the company’s Fab Egg bongs selling for more than US$100,000.
(An article published on counterculture website dangerousminds.net says: “Mothership isn’t just producing glass bongs, they are making investment-worthy high art that can also get you stoned.”)
Strizic said the only reason the three bongs have been sitting in the Winnipeg outlet for a few months is because of provincial laws on promoting cannabis use.
“No one knows about it, because we can’t advertise,” he said.
“If we could advertise, they wouldn’t be sitting here. In Bellingham, when one of these comes out, there are lineups outside… It’s like a rare wine or spirit.”
Only four other retail outlets across the country have been picked by Mothership to sell its products, and Dakota Street is the lone one in Manitoba, Strizic said.
“This is an investment in a functional piece of art. We have known a lot of people in the States saving to buy a house will (instead) use the savings to buy one of these,” he said.
“For these, you’re looking at collectors, serious cannabis connoisseurs, or possibly a group gift for a cannabis enthusiast who has everything.”
kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
Kevin Rollason
Reporter
Kevin Rollason is one of the more versatile reporters at the Winnipeg Free Press. Whether it is covering city hall, the law courts, or general reporting, Rollason can be counted on to not only answer the 5 Ws — Who, What, When, Where and Why — but to do it in an interesting and accessible way for readers.
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