Cannabis Radio Adds Another Level to Colorado’s Green Legacy

[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]W[/dropcap]henever a new media outlet takes on the world of cannabis, generalizations are made about stoner stereotypes and clichés, sometimes even by insiders of the cannabis industry. The original cannabis magazines were just silly rags for “stoners,” until they eventually paved the way for generations of growers, enthusiasts and activists, changing the face of cannabis forever, and eventually led to the birth of more relevant publications like the one you hold in your hand, or are reading on your screen. Smokin’ 94.1, a radio station based out of Denver, but with a national listener base, is the first of its kind, and is doing for cannabis radio what cannabis publications have done for nationwide acceptance and cannabis culture.

From speaking with Gary Ganja, the radio station’s founder and head DJ, it is clear that the station stands strong because of two main factors—they are essentially just an independently owned classic rock station that can play reggae, grunge and some outliers in the world of rock, making them appealing to music fans who don’t even smoke, and they are  an outlet for cannabis news, making them  major players on the front of removing the stigma from the world of cannabis. This simultaneously dispels the notion that they are relevant only to stoners and smokers, and that they aren’t offering anything valid to the cause of larger cannabis reform.

“I worked in radio back in the ‘60s and early ‘70s and I used to be a DJ a long time ago,” founder Ganja told CULTURE. “I got out of it and went into real estate for many years. I was thinking about retiring, but then I wanted to do something fun, and I thought it would always be fun to own a ration station. I saw a station for sale in Denver when I was living in San Diego, put an offer in on it, and bought the station. No one has really done a station like this dedicated to marijuana, and I thought this would be an interesting thing to do, to attach the idea of cannabis to the radio station. We are very unique for a couple reasons—we are the only FM station in Denver that plays stuff that isn’t corporate. We are the only mom-and-pop type station. We are also local. All the other stations have music programmed out of other cities and have to get approval from their home office, but we do all things local and in-house.”

Smokin 94.1 is in its infancy still, but gaining a powerful foothold in Denver and everywhere people listen online, due to its wide appeal and unique approach. “The station went on the air June 1, so it’s very new,” Ganja told us. “We not only feel we have a big audience in Denver, but we also stream from our website and people can download our app. We see we have listeners all of over the country, so their audience is not just local, but nation-wide.”

The station is making a name for itself with its eclectic brand of classic rock, and its innovative cannabis radio news. “Every day we have the 420 news, which is at 4:20 in the afternoon, and at twelve noon,” Ganja stated. “It’s a news cast that has all things to do with Denver marijuana. We have various taglines, what we call imaging, that have to do with marijuana, which are all plays on smoking. We have a “Rocky Mountain High” jingle, etc. We have a thing called the comedy buzz, where several times a day we have cuts from comedy albums that are all about marijuana. The station also has guests on that talk about marijuana and answer interviews about current events.” This is all handled by only four DJs who balance everything, and while being this DIY has its challenges, Ganja is happy to be doing things his way and playing only what he wants.

However, not everybody is this happy about the success of Smokin’ 94.1. The station has already had to battle one major lawsuit after not even two months of being on the air. “iHeartRadio, who are one of the big companies that own a lot of stations, made a complaint on the FCC to shut down the radio station,” Ganja admitted. “We had to respond to the complaint. They don’t want competition. It’s not really about marijuana; they feel like we are taking away out audience. They can be very ruthless, and that’s why they’d like us to shut down. We have to respond to these complaints. It’s like David and Golliath—we are the little guy fighting against the big corporate company. There’s been a battle going on and the FCC has us under scrutiny so we have to watch ourselves, but we aren’t breaking any rules and we have a good station.”

Despite this major hurdle, and the inevitable burden of being the first of its kind and ahead of its time, Ganja feels the station is necessary and needed at the present time. “We think it’s important and necessary because of the fact that it gives people the freedom of speech to talk about things,” he told us. “If you want to talk and call in and make comments about being for or against marijuana use, that’s fine. DJs
never say ‘go out and smoke marijuana’ or ‘don’t smoke.’ We just encourage freedom of speech. If you want to call up and say whatever is on your mind that’s OK, and other stations would not allow that. Many of our callers just like the radio station and don’t even smoke. We get a lot of response from people saying they smoked in college 25 years ago but still like the station, because of what we play and what we have to offer.”

If you haven’t already, dial in to 94.1 on your radio of you are a Denver local, or check out smokin941.com to see what all the fuss is about. Even if classic rock isn’t your thing, take advantage of this platform and call in to speak your mind about cannabis and legalization. Then, 10 years from now when there are dozens of cannabis-themed radio stations on the air, you can say that you remember the first one.

www.smokin941.com