Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard
A 100-year-old ghost town founded during the California Gold Rush is being modernized for the "green rush" after a cannabis company purchased all the land, buildings and businesses for $5 million.
On Thursday, American Green, a marijuana technology company, announced they purchased a small town in San Bernardino County with the intention of turning it into the "the country's first energy-independent, cannabis-friendly hospitality destination."
"The Cannabis Revolution that's going on here in the US, has the power to completely revitalize communities in the same way gold did during the 19th century," David Gwyther, chairman and president of American Green, said in the announcement.
Located on the border of Nevada and California, the desert town of Nipton has a population of around 20 people, according to the Los Angeles Times. The town also comes with its own water supply, a general store, an RV park, a campground and a five-room hotel from 1904.
Source: https://www.rt.com/usa/398518-american-green-buys-nipton-marijuana/
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 06 2017, @08:59AM
'Puff Puff Pass the Border' or 'Niptindabud' :)
If they take care of the town and manage to successfully revitalize it as a tourist destination, good for them.
(Score: 2) by dltaylor on Sunday August 06 2017, @09:51AM (1 child)
Don't these fools understand that there is still a Gestapo-like organization active in the USofA? The only difference between them is the label attached to those that they persecute.
(Score: 3, Touché) by takyon on Sunday August 06 2017, @10:27AM
So you are saying they should have built a speakeasy instead?
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Pslytely Psycho on Sunday August 06 2017, @11:51AM
Oh, wait, that one's already taken.
Biggest cottage industry in Weed, California seems to be t-shirts and apparel that says "I LOVE WEED" in large type and the word California in small type below it....
Narrow viewpoint from only visiting the truck stops there!
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
(Score: 2) by looorg on Sunday August 06 2017, @12:57PM (2 children)
So they are building a weed-spa in the desert? While you do seem to get a lot I do wonder if the utilities are dimensioned for running a giant spa or resort. Perhaps it's easier to build and increase on what is there then to start fresh from nothing. Perhaps what they did buy is city/town rights and a location close to Arizona.
So is Eslinger going to be some kind of indentured servant or just someone that hangs around and talked about his day as a gold-digger?
All that said it was an interesting article covering a few small townships or places out in the desert.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Sunday August 06 2017, @01:52PM
You get to watch him pick crap out from between his toes while he yells "Get off my desert!" at you.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 06 2017, @05:14PM
Maybe Eslinger is good at fingering plainclothes Feds/narcs? Seems like this pot town should have some kind of early warning system in place, as long as the Federal laws don't match the State laws.
How to "out" a narc? Maybe some variant of pin the tail on the donkey...
(Score: 2) by drussell on Sunday August 06 2017, @02:01PM (2 children)
Doed anyone know just what they got for their 5m dollars? Seems like a pretty good deal being right close to the state line there and not far from Vegas... I don't see anything about the actual amount of land that bought, only that there is about 120 acres developable but I don't see any details about what exactly the 5m included.
(Score: 2) by looorg on Sunday August 06 2017, @05:30PM (1 child)
From the article it seems that for $5M you get a few wells, one hotel with a few rooms, one cafe, two houses of unknown size, one RV park of unknown size, an unknown quantity of solar panels (assume enough to run said buildings), 80 acres of land -- not know if said buildings and constructions already are on said land or if it is extra beyond what those things already occupy -- and finally one human male age 60 named Jim.
Doubtful they bought the land for what is already on the land. I think they bought the land and the location for future development. What is currently on it will probably be bulldozed and replaced by a new and shiny spa - or whatever kind of tourist trap they want to build. I don't think the weed-connoisseurs are going to want to hang out in Jims hardware-store/cafe/hotel or RV-park. They probably want or demand something more or more high class to enjoy their weed.
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Monday August 07 2017, @12:09AM
I think someone got scammed out of $5M. The legalization of pot has started a land rush in rural areas of California. People are coming up with crazy ideas for cashing in on something that's about as easy to grow as tomatoes.
Nevada also recently legalized marijuana. For now the distribution is handled by the liquor distribution industry. There is already a well established tourist destination in Primm, Nevada with large casinos, hotels, RV parks and restaurants. It's all right on HiWay I15.
Just a few miles to the south off HiWay 40 are tourist destinations along the Colorado River, Laugalin and Riviera also with established casinos, hotels etc.
So someone would really have to pour in some big bucks to build and promote something that's harder to get to from the LA area than the locations in Nevada.
Nipton is next to Ivanpah dry lake which is best known for land sailing. I've heard some of those people are into a toke or two between races. But why go to Nipton when you can just carry your own.
http://www.nalsa.org/ [nalsa.org]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_sailing [wikipedia.org]
When life isn't going right, go left.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by maxwell demon on Monday August 07 2017, @08:21AM
So, for a very short time, after which they turn into ghost towns again?
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.