This Colorado town might change its name to ‘Kush’ to celebrate its growing cannabis industry

By Zoe Sottile, CNN

The cannabis industry has had a major impact on the tiny town of Moffat, Colorado — so much that the town is now considering changing its name to “Kush.”

Cassandra Foxx, the mayor of Moffat, tells CNN that the town is home to around 120 residents.

Still, “Moffat feels like it’s on the verge of massive growth right now,” she said. “We might be super tiny, but we’re trying to do big things here.”

The name change proposal came from Mike Biggio, the owner and founder of Area 420, which licenses land for cannabis cultivation in Moffat. “Kush” is a popular slang term for cannabis, which was legalized for recreational use in Colorado in 2012.

Foxx says that Biggio’s business has had a major impact on the town economy.

“They kind of gave us life, like a rebirth,” she said. “They provided an industry for Moffat.”

“We’ve got a lot of open space, a lot of good resources, beautiful elevation, good climate that lends itself to marijuana cultivation,” Foxx said.

Licenses for cannabis cultivation in Moffat, according to Foxx, have shot up from just two to over 70 in the past six years, in large part thanks to Area 420.

After Biggio suggested the name change during the public comment period at a meeting, they put it on the agenda for a town hall on June 7.

“It felt like almost the whole town came out to share their side,” Foxx said.

Foxx says that not everyone in the town was enthusiastic about the possible name change. Some residents wanted to keep the town’s “history, heritage, and identity” embodied in its name. The town was originally named after David H. Moffat, an industrialist who contributed heavily to the development of railroads and mines in Colorado.

The next step in transforming Moffat to Kush would be for a resident to start a petition, Foxx says.

“Currently it’s just a discussion, we haven’t done anything,” she said.

Foxx thinks the possibility of changing the town’s name is “exciting.”

“A little silly, but that’s good,” she said. “It’s the right kind of silly. But it’s also accurate, like it is a good representation of this region, of the industry that we’re trying to promote, and the lifeblood of our town.”

“Change is always good,” she added.

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