Short & Stoned Has Big Aspirations in the Cannabis World

Kelly Graffin is a microwave of marijuana gusto.

Compact and ready to cook at the drop of a dime, the edibles maker and self-described hippie child is full of energy as she outlines her cannabis dreams. The Pennsylvania native moved to Colorado in 2022 to launch her own pot business, even though she didn't know what that business would be. But she was sure about one thing: the name.

Graffin, who says she's "4' 8" on a good day," has differently shaped bones and joints. Her condition causes daily pain and put her in the hospital throughout her childhood. Now her legs are bionic, and she's had to relearn how to walk twice. The physical pain and surgeries led to an opioid addiction "at a young age," she adds, because doctors were recommending a dosage for a normal-sized child.

"The name had to be Short & Stoned," Graffin explains. "I wanted to be the representation I never saw as a little kid. I didn't see little people often. But you can be a little person, you can be a stoner, and you can be successful."

Graffin has started her own small businesses since she turned eighteen, beginning with a nonprofit that funded child educational resources in Kenya. Her mother owns and runs a financial analysis firm and has provided help and inspiration during her journey through entrepreneurship. She studied marketing in college, and realized that her short stature could be turned into a big advantage.

After graduating from a four-year university, she enrolled in programs at cannabis-centric schools Oaksterdam University and the Trichome Institute and launched the Short & Stoned brand on Instagram as an educational page for medical marijuana patients in Pennsylvania.

Graffin decided to move to Colorado to put her edible-making skills to the test. Her best homemade creations were THC gummies, but that's the most competitive and crowded category of dispensary edibles. "Dispensaries said if I have gummies, then they won't even talk to me," she recalls. "I was getting cannabis degrees and looking at [edibles facilities] while not knowing what I was going to make. That's just more fuel to my fire."

Then Graffin toured a facility owned by Athelas, a now-closed edibles company that made THC-infused mixes and seasonings for dips and cooking. The thought of producing cannabis-derived dry goods and powders sounded appealing, she says, given the product's versatility, shelf life and small competition pool. So Graffin and her chief financial officer (her mother) got to work.

Short & Stoned, Graffin's new line of edible THC powder and pre-rolled joints, launched late last year. Since Graffin decided to ditch the seasonings and go flavorless, Short & Stoned can be mixed into just about any meal or drink. The brand is now sold in over a dozen dispensaries in metro Denver, including popular stores such as Cookies and Eclipse Cannabis Company.

The longtime edibles maker recommends going the food route for a better-tasting and properly infused experience. Her favorite dishes at home are macaroni and cheese and homemade peanut butter cups, but she frequently makes other dinners and desserts with a dash of her THC powder here and there.

"I've always been addicted to Reese's. You can make your own in under twenty minutes," she notes.

The powder is currently derived from flower, which makes the product solventless. Still, Graffin recognizes that shoppers could think they're buying edibles made with bubble hash or rosin. In fact, Short & Stoned recently partnered with award-winning Denver extractor Egozi to make a rosin-based powder in the near future; Graffin says it was a natural next step for the company, since the vast majority of THC powders and drink mixes are made with distillate, a stripped-down and refined form of THC.

Colorado is one of the most rosin-heavy states in the country, according to dispensary market reports. The solventless concentrate is now a popular addition to edibles in place of distillate and should give Short & Stoned higher standing in dispensaries, Graffin says.

The impact of her edibles and Instagram page is already being felt.  Other little people have reached out to her with questions, admiration and motivation, she adds, and more dispensaries and extractors are taking her calls.

"Being a minority, being queer, being a woman — I feel a responsibility to represent and give back to my community," Graffin concludes. "These are things I can't help but be. I'm short and I like to get stoned."