At the dawn of marijuana legalization in Canadian, longtime Toronto marijuana advocate Neev Tapiero saw an opportunity to expand his reach within the industry. Being at the forefront of significant cannabis-related firsts in Toronto (Tapiero is the founder of both the city’s first compassion club Cannabis As Living Medicine (CALM) and the Toronto Global Marijuana March) he could foreshadow that legalization would bring new business opportunities, especially within the tourism sector. And with that, the 23-year cannabis veteran launched Canadian Kush Tours.

As the name suggests, Tapiero’s company offers cannabis tours, currently within the city of Toronto. The business model is built on both recreation and education. According to Tapiero, “we inform visitors about local laws and bring them to the locations where it is legal to purchase marijuana”. Tapiero’s concierge-type service is enjoyed by both men and women, “when I started the business I expected it to be mainly guys or large groups but its mainly half groups and half male/female couples” said Tapiero.

Tapiero’s first clients were a couple from Philadelphia and his most memorable, to date, has to be a bachelor party for 16 that included a cooking and extraction class (fun) and a limousine tour.

One of the most popular packages is the Canadian Kush Tours airport pick-up service. Travelling is stressful so you can see why this would be a popular option. Don’t think for a second that this is a limousine hotbox situation. Yes, Tapiero does provide his passengers with a complimentary doobie. However, the service, like any airport limousine is to allow visitors to Toronto to have a welcoming face greet them and show them the lay of the land on the way to their vacation accommodations. However, Tapiero goes the extra mile by giving a proper tour of the city that includes stops at vapour lounges and dispensaries.

In addition to Canadian Kush Tours Tapiero is the author of CannaBiz: Big Business Opportunities in the New Multibillion Dollar Marijuana Industry and a lecturer in Cannabis Studies at Ryerson University’s Raymond G. Chang School of Continuing Education. When asked if it was always a dream of his to start a cannabis tour company Tapiero quipped, “all my dreams involve cannabis.” Truer words have never been said.