The pot pioneer

Adam+Barry

Tom O'Leary

Adam Barry

Hidden among the suburbs in the outskirts of Denver, Colorado stands a former Raytheon missile construction facility, complete with missile silos and underground passageways. Instead of weapons of mass destruction, the larger than 10,000 square foot structure is now home to thousands of marijuana plants worth millions of dollars.

To many most people, this scene may sound like it is straight out of the popular fictional stoner flick, “Pineapple Express.” But in reality, it is one of several legal grow operations owned by Green Tree Medicinals, and heaven on Earth to longtime pot aficionado, Adam Barry.

In July of 2012, Barry, who was born and raised in Waterville, Vermont, realized it was time for a drastic life change. “At that time, I just wasn’t happy with what I had done with my life,” said Barry. “A couple of my friends had recently moved out to Lafayette, Colorado, and were looking for roommates and asked my brother and I if we were interested.”

Within two weeks, they decided to pack up all of their valuable possessions into Barry’s Subaru Outback and make the 2,000 mile drive to the land of legal weed. Barry left the only home he had ever known with one goal in mind: to find his calling in the medical marijuana industry.

As soon as he had moved into his new home, Barry embarked on the first step of his cannabis career, a doctor referral to legally purchase and grow the plant he is so passionate about. “I’ve had insomnia issues my whole life and my back is messed up, so it was pretty easy to get the approval from a doctor,” said Barry.

Once he had obtained the referral, Barry then went through the tedious process of obtaining his support badge, which allowed him to work in the marijuana industry. “You essentially have to fill out a booklet that is nearly half an inch thick,” he said. “The Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division (MMED), uses all of the information you provide to build a profile on you. You are required to disclose all of your legal history, including traffic tickets. They even ask you to describe and take a picture of any tattoos you have for identifying marks.”

After the MMED receives your packet, they then take additional steps to assure that you are not a felon. “Next they scan your hands for your fingerprints and run them through the FBI and Interpol databases to make sure you aren’t a criminal anywhere on Earth that is an extradition treaty country,” Barry said.

This process, while time consuming, did not serve as an obstacle for Barry. With his legal documents in hand, he started to try to find work in the weed industry anywhere he could. “I did some freelance work for New Options Wellness at first. Some trimming for cash and basic stuff in the grow room like watering and giving nutrients,” he said. “It helped me get a feel of the vibe and industry.”

Barry spent the next four weeks working for New Options Wellness until he found a Craigslist ad for an opening as a marijuana trimmer in Boulder, Colorado, at Green Tree Medicinals. He began with a trial period to showcase his skills, which is standard for the business.

“I was hired after that first day, which I was ecstatic about,” said Barry. “I later found out that that was pretty rare. They are very stringent and most people either don’t get hired or spend one to two weeks on trial.”

For the next few months, Barry dedicated himself to his new occupation of trimmer, the entry-level position in the marijuana business. His days consisted of sitting at a table with rubber gloves on and scissors in hand, cutting off the leaves and stems of copious amounts of cannabis. “Green Tree pays trimmers by the hour because they want the highest quality possible,” he said. “Most places pay a rate per pound, which gets them a lot of weight, but lower quality because the trimmers go so quickly.”

Barry quickly realized how strict and serious the weed business is. The entire premises of every building is covered by video cameras, which are directly linked to the offices of the Marijuana Inventory Tracking System (MITS). MITS also requires that all parts of the pot plants are weighed and reported to within a hundredth of a gram.

“At any given time, [MITS] can tell you the exact number of plants, the plants’ stages of growth, and the amount of bud and trimmings at any location,” said Barry.

Barry also discovered an unexpected perk of handling so much marijuana, a substance called finger hash. “When you are trimming, the trichomes on the weed burst and get resin all over your gloves,” he said. “Over the course of the day, it accumulates and generates what we call finger hash. It is very potent and produces a good high when smoked, and Green Tree let us keep it.”

Eventually, thanks to his work ethic and scissors skill, Barry was promoted to trim manager of the Boulder location. His job transitioned into cutting down the plants that were ready to be trimmed, and being responsible for the quality and quantity of the weed they trimmed.

The increase in responsibility for Barry led to a shift in dynamic between him and his fellow trimmers, and he noticed people taking advantage of the benefit of finger hash. “Some workers molest every bud and ruin them in order to get as much finger hash as possible,” he said. “When I became manager of the trim table, it was one of the things I cracked down on, and a couple of people lost their jobs because of it.”

Not long after advancing to trim manager, the growers that worked in proximity to Barry at the Boulder location started asking him to help out in the grow room. In order to do this, he had to go through the application process with the MMED all over again so he could get a key badge, which is required for those in a management position. “I had to refill out the same booklet, but this time, I had to list any debt I had accrued, including student loans, restitution, child support, and even tax information,” said Barry. “They know the industry is one of the most highly scrutinized in the world, so they leave no room for error with their employees.”

Once he was approved for his key badge, Barry transferred to the North Boulder location of Green Tree Medicinal’s grow operation and began working as the flower grower, which is the stage of the plant before it hits the trim table. He was more than ready, as he had legally been growing weed at his home since he arrived in Colorado. “It is very cutthroat out there because so many people want to be growers, so I used my personal grow to practice and stay sharp,” he said.

Barry’s side grow also helped his financial situation. “My landlord was a partial owner of Green Tree, so in exchange for rent, I maintained a grow for him. As long as I produced weed, he would take care of everything,” he said. “Weed is borderline currency out there. You can literally trade it for anything.”

As the flower grower, Barry was in charge of thousands of plants, including 70-80 different strains of marijuana. “Knowing how to mix nutrients accurately and effectively is a big part of being a grower,” he said. “So is diagnosing specific problems like nutrient deficiencies and pest problems.”

Often, Barry’s job as a grower went beyond the former Raytheon missile facility. “A lot of it is intellectual work,” he said. “I found myself constantly on the internet researching during my time off to stay ahead of the curve.”

But despite spending all of his time doing essentially the same thing, between managing his work plants and home plants, Barry thoroughly enjoyed what he did. “It was a lot of fun being a grower,” he said. “I would just go in the grow rooms and get lost in there. It was awesome to get paid a salary to grow weed.”

As much as Barry loved his new life, it was not without its difficulties. He had been working for Green Tree Medicinals for about a year when North Boulder changed some zoning regulations and the owners of the company didn’t submit the new permits in time.

“I showed up for what should have been a normal day’s work at the best job in the world, getting paid to grow beautiful marijuana plants,” he said. “But instead, when I got to work, there were state officials cutting down all the plants and putting them through a mulcher. They confiscated everything we had, which was between one and two million dollars worth of product. It was one of the top ten worst days of my life.”

Barry also encountered issues with his living arrangement. He and his brother wanted to get their own place when their one-year lease ended, but they didn’t have enough money for a security deposit.

“Without enough money to get a place when our lease ran out, my brother and I opted to camp in a National Park called Dream Canyon for almost a month until we saved enough money,” said Barry. “We camped on a rock peninsula that jutted out over the edge of the canyon which had to be about 150 feet deep, and moved our campsite every two weeks to not mess up the environment. It honestly ended up being one of the best living times of my life.”

Despite the stretch of homelessness, Barry maintained his job as flower grower and even found a way to make his permanent mark in the Colorado marijuana world. “The head grower, Chris, was trying to find new strains and we decided to have a competition,” he said. “Each management-level employee got to pick a seedling that they thought would grow the best and the winner would get the strain named after them.”

Barry chose a seedling that was a hybrid of Tangerine Dream and Afgooey that eventually grew to be 12 feet tall. “When the competition was over, we had a taste testing and mine was chosen as the best,” he said. “I named it Adam’s Taffy, and it is still a best seller at the Green Tree dispensaries to this day.”

In January of 2014, Barry had become very homesick and flew back to Waterville for a vacation. He was hoping to have a quiet and relaxing stay to reconnect with his family and friends, but unfortunately, a series of tragedies occurred that would change his outlook on life.

“When I went home to Vermont, one of my best friends killed himself before I got to see him,” said Barry. “Then, exactly a week later, my grandfather passed away. Later, after I had returned to Colorado, another one of my best friends was diagnosed with cancer. The combination was absolutely devastating.”

From that point on, Barry’s life in Colorado was never the same. “Being so far away from everything really put things in perspective and made me realize that the people I love aren’t going to be around forever and I need to be close to them,” he said.

Within the next year, Barry saved up as much money as he could and moved back to Waterville in April of 2015. Despite no longer being able to work in the business he is so passionate about, he doesn’t have any regrets. “Looking back on it, I achieved my dream,” he said. “I got to grow weed legally and got paid a salary to do it. I feel like I accomplished my goals.” He also added, “One of my favorite parts about the whole experience is knowing I was a part of something that is going to be referenced in history books.”

Now that he is firmly entrenched back in his home state, Barry keeps a close eye on the potential for marijuana to be legalized in Vermont. “One of the things that was always in my mind when I was out there was the prospect of marijuana one day becoming legal in Vermont, and taking the knowledge, experience, and connections I had gained back home with me,” he said. “Several people have talked to me, saying very seriously that when weed becomes legal they want to start a company and want me to be a very large part of it. I am anxiously awaiting that period of time in my life.”