Marijuana bragging rights are a funny thing. Stoners don’t care what a strain is called, as long as it does the trick. However, give some premium Colorado kind to someone whose idea of good shit is that Mexican dirt weed we all grew up on, and watch the magic happen. Bottom line, we have amazing stuff here in our fair state.

And now the rest of the world knows it too.

Colorado companies dominated the 24th Annual High Times Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam last week, sweeping first place honors in the categories of Seed Company Indica and Hybrid strains, both first and second place in Seed Company Sativa strain, and also taking a third place trophy in the Hash Cup.

Yes, you really did read that correctly. Colorado marijuana was voted tops, besting the locals in the all-hallowed hash and weed capitol of the world.

The winners list is below, and we’ll be running follow-up stories soon on the Colorado victorious (many of whom are still traveling and thus unreachable…) But this pot coup d’etat brings to light a greater issue: why Colorado, and why now?

The answer is simple, explained Ry Prichard of cannabis ubersite Kind Reviews, who I serendipitously ran into in a mid-west U.S. airport Friday evening on his way home from Amsterdam.

“In Colorado, our legal system makes for a better product,” explained Prichard. “We have access to all their genetics, and have for years, but they (Amsterdam growers) don’t have access to our stuff. And, because we have a solid legal framework, all the good breeders are starting to come here because they can work out in the open.”

While the medical marijuana framework established here in our state makes news on an almost-daily basis – sometimes not favorable – that framework has also allowed our industry to flourish in ways that Amsterdam’s has not. Although coffeeshops in the Netherlands can sell cannabis, the cultivation of the herb has remained primarily a black market operation, while here in CO, our grows operate under state constitutional protection. Our established legal structure and open market has wooed breeders such as Reserva Privada, DNA Genetics and THSeeds to relocate our state from their founding locations. And, this perfect blend of legal protection, access to state-of-the-art technology and premium genetics, simply put, makes Colorado the place to be.

This year has long been rumored to be the last Cannabis Cup to be held in Amsterdam, primarily due to changes in The Netherlands’ drug policies. (Dutch police actually showed up at this year’s event, causing a bit of drama in an otherwise flawless celebration.) This begs the question: with the legal system we have set up here, could the 25th Annual Cannabis Cup possibly find its way to Colorado? One could only hope … although, with this year’s results, it seems home field advantage isn’t needed.

Congratulations to all the winners!

Full winners list, courtesy of High Times. (*indicates Colorado company)

Coffeeshop (Cannabis Cup):
1) Barney’s Coffeeshop – Liberty Haze
2) Green House United – Hawaiian Snow
3) Green Place – Buddha Tahoe

Seed Company Indicas (Indica Cup)
1) (tie) Reserva Privada and Reserva Privada Colorado – Kosher Kush*
2) Hortilab – Star Bud
3) Cali Connection – Tahoe OG

Seed Company Sativas (Sativa Cup)
1} Rare Dankness Seed Co – Moonshine Haze*
2) THSeeds – Electric Lemon G*
3) Karma Genetics – Dominator

Seed Company Hybrids (Hybrid Cup)
1) (tie) DNA Genetics/Reserva Privada Colorado – Holy Grail Kush *
2) Cali Connetion – Dead Head OG
3) Serious Seeds – AK-74

Seed Company Hash Cup
1) Cali Connection – Tahoe OG Kush Wax
2) Hogg Seeds – Hydrahash
3) Reserva Privada Colorado – Rascal OG Nelson *

Import Hash Cup
1) Green House Coffeeshop – Exodus Cream Cheese
2) Barney’s Coffeeshop – Caramella Cream
3) Green Place – Twizla

Nederhash Cup
1) Barney’s Coffeeshop – Liberty Melt
2) Green House – Hawaiian Ice
3) Grey Area – Grey Crystal

Best Product
1) Greenhouse’s custom VSyndicate Grinder Card
2) Vaporfection – Vaporfection
3) Big Buddha Seeds – Big Buddha’s Goodie Bag

Best Booth
1) Barney’s Farm
2) Green House Seed Company
3) Big Buddha Seeds

Best Glass
1) Roor – Ray Machine 1
2) Herborizer – Icetube Vaporizer
3) Hitman Glass – The Darby Torch Tube

Freedom Fighter of the Year: Debby Goldsberry of California.

The Dutch Master Award: Henk van Dalen

History of the Cannabis Cup