Wayne Heilman in the Colorado Springs Gazette reports that a business there has leased time on KHIG (1580-AM), flipping the format from all sports talk programming from Fox Sports and ESPN, to a pro-marijuana format, said to be the first in the nation. Southern Colorado Radio is leasing airtime from Vero Beach, Fla.-based Pilgrim Communications and began the new format on air April 13. "We didn't want to lease the station and continue to lose money, so we said, 'Let's do something different and give voice to the marijuana industry.' Marijuana is socially acceptable, especially in Colorado, and is a big and growing business sector in this state. It made too much sense to pass up," General manager and owner Michael Knar told the paper. KHIG-AM is starting with three local shows: "Wake and Bake" from 7 to 9 a.m., "High Noon" from noon to 1 p.m., and "High Drive" from 5 to 7 p.m. weekdays. The station also broadcasts three one-hour newscasts from the Los Angeles-based National Marijuana News service and includes other transmissions from the Chicago-based RadioMD network, according Len Williams, program director for both KHIG and another local sports radio station. Michael Roberts in Westword reports that in 2012, a Denver radio station at 107.1 FM temporarily changed from an EDM format into Pot 107.1, all marijuana. That was just a publicity stunt. KHIG appears, with marijuana legal in the state and a healthy tourist trade in Colorado Springs, to have a business plan beyond short term publicity. There are other similar radio projects, as Pacifica also carries other pot-themed radio shows or segments, including "4:20 Drug War News," from Dean Becker of KPFT in Houston and "Cannabis Radio News" from KVMR in Nevada City, CA.