As California prepared to legalize marijuana sales, CNN reporter Randi Kaye ended 2017 on a “high” note, covering New Year’s Eve in Colorado, where recreational cannabis has been legal since 2012.
Giving the Golden State a glimpse of its future, the CNN News fixture handled joints at a “paint and puff” party and even lit a gas mask bong for one reveler.
“I just want to point out, that this is all legal in Colorado,” host Anderson Cooper told co-host Andy Cohen.
While Kaye did not appear to partake in any drug use herself, Twitter users provided commentary as she rode a pot bus, which took revelers to various pot-related stops, including a marijuana grow house.
Now we have @randikayeCNN showing off the gas mask bong and dudes ripping it on the Cannibus. I love #CNNNYE, the New Year's special that speaks to America's heart. #NewYearsEve2018 #HappyNewYear pic.twitter.com/g732x6UaH8
— Joshua Sánchez (@jnsanchez) January 1, 2018
But not everyone was loving CNN’s cannabis-friendly coverage. Some people online noted their distaste of the report.
https://twitter.com/MinnPatriot/status/947686869420126213
This could be, in part, because it’s become exceedingly rare to watch people even smoke tobacco on television. A 1971 law barred cigarette advertisements from the small screen, and a 1986 follow-up added smokeless products to the banned ads. Television programming followed suit, with fewer characters sparking their lighters in subsequent years.
But this isn’t the first time that CNN and Kaye teamed up on marijuana coverage. Here’s a 2014 clip about a previous Kaye “joint” investigation: