By Paul Piazza

At last Thursday’s Snoop Dogg show at Ace of Spades, the lanky hip-hop legend played some of his most popular songs. However, some of his biggest hits were from the joint he lit up onstage. In fact, between Snoop and his tourmates, the Eastsidaz and LBC Movement, there was enough cannabis smoked that night to put a dent in the Emerald Triangle’s fall harvest.

Snoop, who recently became the first A-list artist to market his own brand of commercial cannabis in Colorado (it’s called “Leafs by Snoop”), may have been enjoying his product on stage, but he didn’t really say anything about it. Instead, he let his actions and his songs do the talking. His fast-paced set was filled with big hits like “Who Am I (What’s My Name),” “Nuthin’ But a G Thang” and “Drop It Like It’s Hot.” He did take a couple of breaks to push his Long Beach-themed clothing, though, which was available at the show.

The 44-year-old artist has a fanbase that crosses all demographics. There were teens and seniors in the house as well as teachers and bikers. Both young and old seemed to know the words to every song. Marijuana leaf leis hung around many necks. It’s pretty hard to deny Snoop’s influence on popular culture when a 70 year-old lady is standing next to you mouthing every word of “Gin and Juice.”

Earlier in the day, Snoop had held a meet and greet at a local medical pot dispensary called 1814 El Camino. Much has changed since the rapper’s early days, when it was considered brazen to smoke in public or onstage.

The shrewd businessman, who has jokingly justified his smoking over the years to a case of glaucoma, recently invested in an app called “Eaze” that delivers medical marijuana to patients in San Francisco. The service claims to have made 30,000 deliveries thus far. It’ll be interesting to see what other products will be endorsed by one of the world’s most famous stoners if next year’s recreational marijuana law passes.