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Beyond the Buzz: Anthony Franciosi keeping it honest

Anthony Franciosi
Matt Stensland

OAK CREEK — At Honest Marijuana, Anthony Franciosi has put the emphasis on quality over quantity.

The company harvests completely organic marijuana out of a former home in Oak Creek and has no problem being one of the smallest grow operations in the state.

“We do things all organic here,” Franciosi said. “We just try to find other like-minded people that care about this stuff.”

Franciosi moved to Steamboat Springs when he was 18 years old during the season of 2007-08 when Steamboat Ski Area received a record 489 inches of snow.

“That was a fun winter,” Franciosi said.

He got a medical card and grew his own marijuana to help with the pain from sports injuries.

“I found that I liked to use cannabis as pain relief more than any of the store-bought remedies,” Franciosi said.

Franciosi is now 28 years old, and he first developed his green thumb working landscaping in Steamboat.

“I’ve planted flower beds and have run thousands of feet of irrigation all over, and that’s basically what we do here,” Franciosi said.

After recreational cannabis use was legalized, Franciosi found a partner that wanted to help finance a business, and they went through a lengthy process and successfully got the town’s blessing to open Honest Marijuana.

“Eventually we just ran into the right people who wanted to help finance the efforts,” Franciosi said.

Honest Marijuana was intended to be a small operation, and they have not strayed from their mission.

“Like any plant, marijuana has complex requirements in order for it to grow optimally,” the business states on its website. “When your focus is mass production, you’re tampering with nature’s complicated methods by adding chemicals.”

Honest Marijuana does not have a storefront. Instead, its buds, concentrates and hemp-rolled blunts are distributed to about a dozen retailers in the state.

Franciosi said blunts are popular in his home state of New Jersey, and it is appropriate that they are one of Honest Marijuana’s signature products.

The machine used to roll the blunts came from the Dominican Republic.

“No one else is doing that with a cigar machine right now, which is pretty cool,” Franciosi said. “The wholesale price for marijuana has dropped, so it’s all about doing unique things.”

To reach Matt Stensland, call 970-871-4247, email mstensland@SteamboatToday.com or follow him on Twitter @SBTStensland.


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