Kayvan Khalatbari is a hustler. Spend even a few minutes with the man and you’ll realize this fact immediately. Riding a casual interest into an obsession into a calling, Kayvan left behind a safe but boring job and plunged feet first into the medical marijuana movement. Navigating the ever-changing waters of medical legalization and decriminalization in the state of Colorado, Kayvan now helms a mini-empire called Denver Relief, in addition to the numerous consulting positions he occupies for those eager to get into the marijuana game, or as Kayvan tells me, the “flower” game. That’s the preferred lingo, gang, so pay attention. Oh and somewhere in the midst of his ascension in the flower game Kayvan managed to found Sexy Pizza, a fast-growing chain that slings Denver’s best pies.
Kayvan is also a big comedy fan who sponsors all kinds of comedy goings-ons around town and who has started hosting very cool shows at his South Pearl Sexy Pizza location. I met Kayvan through comedy circles but more and more I find his world fascinating. I don’t even smoke flower – anymore, high school, college, smoked with the goddamn best of them, the sticky-icky, ooh-y! – but the marijuana movement in Colorado is undeniable. In my travels as a comedian, everywhere I go people want to know what’s going on with pot flower in Colorado and by and large I never know what to tell them. So I figured I’d have Kayvan on the podcast to answer those queries. Of course, things are changing – flower will be straight-up legal in Denver come January and Kayvan is on the forefront of that change as well, poised to take Denver Relief in that new direction and navigate the choppy waters ahead as Denver turns into North America’s Amsterdam.
He’s the man for the job.
And as if you didn’t think Kayvan was cool enough, his favorite music video from back in they day? The Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage.” Boom.
Check out the podcast on iTunes here.
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