San Francisco’s 4th Annual S.F. Medical Cannabis Competition, The Patient’s Choice

It’s always a good sign when you can smell the party from blocks away. The day and the weather could not have been more perfect for San Francisco’s 4^th Annual S.F. Medical Cannabis Competition, The Patient’s Choice. After some rocking delays including moving the cannabis flavor festivities to a new location at the last moment, the Bacchanal of Buds went off without a hitch to the red-stain, blurred-eyed competition goers. Never feeling too crowded, there might have been a couple of thousand of people spread out through the day. Broken up into a few different areas; inside there were vendor booths, a chance to spin the wheel for free stoner gifts like a digital scale or a jeweler’s loupe with tiny flashlight, or the kewpie dolls of swag, a lighter. A huge dance floor catered to live bands playing tastefully great music, not overwhelming, almost like a soundtrack to the party while free food and drink was being served on the sides. Americans for SafeAccess, one of the cosponsors, and students for a sensible drug policy, had booths here also and were answering questions and handing out literature. It was hard not to be impressed with the spirit and enthusiasm of the students talking and educating the revelers about the movement and what’s happening now.

Moving outside to the patio was where the real party was going on. Smoking was only allowed outside, so most people after doing a quick tour of the operations, found their base camps and stayed. Like most parties, there was a VIP section where one could enjoy a free cocktail and slightly better food that the average stoner was getting for their eighteen dollar entrance fee. In the VIP area, film-makers and venture capitalists talked of the future of California post-Prop 19 over multiple joints and large glass smoking devices.  

It could easily be said that there wasn’t a part of the roughly one thousand square feet of fun space that wasn’t overtaken with the promise of WEED and getting high. Green Cross kept the party going by having incredibly hospitable young men bring around balloons of vaped smoke to their guests. Samples of edibles were available and for the most part groups shared their herb with strangers, you really had to be in AA or be wearing a gas mask not to get a whiff of the second-hand fumes or catch a small buzz.

There was food and drink all around. The host, Kevin Reed’s goal was to make sure no one passed out due to hydration and not having a little something-something in the belly besides laced peanut treats. The highlight for the munch-ridden group had to be the chocolate fountain. A three-tier fountain of chocolate with crème-filled éclairs, strawberries, and other fruit to be plunged and dunk like a French king, would have brought a gigantic smile to anyone’s face, whether doped-infused or not.

 But the real crowd pleaser of the day happened at 4:20, of course. A moose of a fellow pulled out the largest joint I’ve ever seen. Mind you I was a roadie for Reggae bands in the Eighties, so I know of what I speak. This rather happy fellow had a monstrous blunt about two-feet long and probably the width of a weight-lifter’s arm. The big guy got it started after a few ceremonious coughs and then passed it out through the crowd. Men and women of all nationalities and backgrounds step up to hit off that Hindenburg of a joint. The amazing thing was that the joint really did hit, it worked. It wasn’t for show. For this story, I made sure it was a working joint.

Good vibes and smiles was the uniform of the day. I spoke to a first-time attendee, Butch, a fifty-one year old real estate agent who drove up for the Competition from San Jose.

“I can’t believe something like this exists,” Butch says grinning over the tops of his glasses smoking a triangular shaped spliff. “Down in San Jose, the cops are busting us. Raiding dispensaries. Legitimate dispensaries who have all their paperwork together and everything. One of the reasons I’m here is because ASA (Americans for SafeAccess) picketed the in front of some dispensaries bringing awareness to what’s happening. They’re good people.”

As darkness came, so did more people. Being a Sunday night, as more entered, more left complaining of work and dragging their feet having to leave.

I was asked by some young dudes who mostly likely came through a tunnel or over a bridge, if I had some WEED for sale. One of them told me he didn’t have his card but wanted to score. I told him it wasn’t that kind of party. No one had WEED for sale here. It was against the rules to sell or buy, and no one did. But if you couldn’t get someone to give you a joint or a hit, it was you.

Just like last year, some growers were down from the North Country with product not only to be shown and displayed, if you knew how to ask correctly, but to celebrate another year of bringing in a harvest. A gentleman behind a green New Orleans-style party mask had the most incredible organic Sour Diesel that I’ve ever tasted. Thank you Masked Man.

Dennis Peron made an appearance to most people’s delight in the early evening. After his busts and sickness, whatever you think of the man, it was nice to see him out and about.

At around the Eight-thirty, the ballots were taken from its official perch and brought to an inner sanctum to be tabulated. To be sure of fairness, Mr. Reed had representatives from three of the City’s top dispensaries, besides his own, count the ballots for transparency.  

Just like the drama of the 2004 election, there was a recount because the voting was too damn close. The whole competition thing was taken very serious and when it was announced there would be a recount, most people, except the nervous and pacing growers and collectives who had skin in the game, went back to their packs of industrial smokers.

Around Nine-thirty, vendors started to strike their booths and folks started streaming towards the exits. Being Sunday night, the South of Market club we were in had very little street traffic. That was a blessing for many who forgot to look both ways as they stumbled across the street as the party-goers tried to remember where they’ve parked their cars.    

I fell in with an elite bunch. Many of us had been judges for the competition. We adjourn to another party in the Haight. The talk was about the party and the forty-two strains that were up for the competition.

About an hour into our after-hours bash, we realized we left before knowing the winning strain. As joint after joint was passed throughout the gathering, we laughed about what we saw and hear throughout the night. Actually, by that point, George Bush could have come in and told a joke and we would have cracked up.

Knowing the hoops that Kevin Reed had to jump through to get this legal pot party off the ground, everyone agreed it was a success. There were tales of High Times having lawyers present gather information to sue. People speculated whether there were undercover cops there ready to bust the fool who would sell bud. I thought about the B & T kids who wanted to buy some WEED from me. Was it a set-up?

Some said after 2012, this is how it’s going to be in California, that soon we will be legally able to smoke Pot freely in bars, outside like we did tonight. Then someone asks, “Isn’t legal already?”

We laughed some more.

I don’t know what the future holds for California and Pot. My bet is Colorado gets to Legalization before Cali. But these Pot Competitions and parties are the start. As long as so many people can come together without anyone getting hurt or harmed, maybe those scare tactics that played out the months before the election will fall on deaf ears next time. Maybe we can show the world that we can party and get home safe. While some of us activists and voters couldn’t agree on the language of Proposition 19, last Sunday night, we all came together over our collected passion. And it was nice…

And the Winner is…Boss OG Kush, Indoor Organic Hybrid. Collective/Grower: Boss



The Week and the Strong in Review

It was a pretty good week for WEED, for the most part. The Veteran’s Administration acceptance of Medical Marijuana is still the Big News…This is such a giant step…Whatever happens now, once it’s proven that WEED works, there’s no going back. We know the medicinal properties of WEED, now a huge segment of the population that might have never been exposed to the evil herb will now have a chance to experience life with the possible reduction of pain and anxiety. Just like the Viet Nam War in my time, once war veterans start banging the gong, it gets much easier for the Moms and Dads to understand that what they feared can actually help. This is advertising you can’t pay for…But more importantly, people are finally getting the assistance they need. That is what I call Supporting the Troops.

We’re gonna need all the help we can get…

As we get closer to November’s election, I predict that the opposition side rhetoric is going to explode with frustration and fear. And sadly, all they know is the old ways of scaring us…They’re going to come at us with the standard paranoiac drum-beating like, “What about the children?” and “Are these crazy Potheads going to kill us with their crazy WEED?”

An example of this, last week California State Sen. Lady Di Feinstein did her best at creating fear and hysteria with the introduction of a bill that goes to the heart of what is wrong with America’s druggies, Edibles. That’s right, magic brownies. Because earlier this year, some school kids in about three different schools in Northern Cali had to be sent either home, to the hospital or go tripping in the nurse’s office because of the ingestion of brownies, or the like. Don’t get me wrong, I am not advocating for the kid’s right to get baked, but c’mon…

If your first drink didn’t come from your parent’s medicine, liquor cabinet, you’re not a ‘Merican. Plus, if that first shot wasn’t some unidentifiable, syrupy, green, alcohol, you weren’t doing it right. Not to minimize, but please. In twenty years, the kids today are going to recount their first hits happily just like our first time getting drunk or what we did to score some happy juice. When you replaced the gin with water, who did you really think you were fooling? Same goes with my Weed in the sock drawer kids. I know how much I have.

More good news…

Super pollster, Nate Silver has ingeniously figured out that the polls showing that the support for Legalization that say is fading with Cali voters are wrong. Nate has the data to show that there is a difference on the outcome depending how the poll is taken. If there is a human voice asking if you are for or against the Legalization of Marijuana, people are more apt to lie or give the answer, ‘No.’ If the poll is taken by a robo-call or a non-human interface, the answer to Legalization question is more likely to be ‘Yes.’ People still care what their neighbors think until they get into the privacy of the voting booth. Nate has given the appropriate name to this phenomenon, ‘The Broadus Effect,’ as a shout-out to Snoop Dogg. In the same way that when the African-American Tom Bradley ran for mayor of Los Angeles, the polls showed the voters were against him, until they were in the privacy of the booth. Now when polls show that the average voter is too chicken-shit to express their real opinions to a stranger and the vote differently when alone, this is the Bradley Effect. How cool is Snoop Dogg. Gets his own ‘Effect.’

Jane Hamsher, PolyBabe of Firedog Lake was on the Dylan Ratigan show last week arguing that the real immigrant problem is drugs, Marijuana in particular. That the vast majority of the traffic coming across our southern borders has to do with the Marijuana smuggling, not people hauling as we’re told. The point was later sent home by a huge bust here in Cali. Something like 1.7 billion in plants and other stuff was confiscated. It all belonged to the Mexican Mafia.

The FBI says that there is a presence of Mexican gangs in over 230 American cities. Some 450 agents were part of this recent state-wide bust. We are letting go of firemen, police and teachers in this state due to lacking of funding and bad governmental management. Tell me we don’t have our priorities wrong.

I just wish there was a way this problem could go away. Oh yeah, Legalization.

It has been stated that 60 percent of the profits that the Mexican gangs make, is from Marijuana. Legalization would dramatically decrease the volume of foreign WEED that enters our country. Remember every pound that these criminals bring in, take away jobs from some American grower or dealer.

While our prisons continue to increase, they’re up almost 300%, let see Hilton or Days Inn beat those occupancy rates. Did you know that Legalization studies show that drug usage goes DOWN with Legalization. That right, MOM. If you don’t want your grandkid not to smoke WEED, Legalize it. If you want them to smoke, just keep it out of arm’s reach and tell them it’s bad for them. Then see who your kids believe for the truth.

In response to my last column about buying outdoor Organic Pot, I want to be perfectly clear…

I have painstakingly removed the husks from around seeds to try to get high. I’ve smoked pipe resin repeatedly, knowing full well I’m only getting brain burns and not getting high. I’ve smoked swag, bad Mexican. Stuff from the backs of magazines that you’ve ordered that claims to get you high. I’ve drove all night for an eighth. I’ve walked, trucked through the snow, mud, rain, hail, earthquakes and possible tsunamis, to try to score WEED.

I have done what I had to for my search of the eternal buzz. I grew up in the Middle West and would have had a grow room today with indoor lights and whatever water source I could get if I didn’t live in the greatest city ever.

I am not going to tell someone they shouldn’t grow indoors if that’s the only game in town. I’ve spoke of my elderly friend who grew his own because of price and he just didn’t want to play the game anymore. He became self-sufficient at seventy years old, when he put in his small grow room. Now I tend his garden for him because of the arthritic paws can’t do the day-to-day tending that is needed by an indoor grow.

My only point is that when you multiply the numbers of indoor grow rooms, we may need to love us some foreign oil for a long time. We’re pushing our power grid and infrastructure to the limits. I want to be responsible before someone tells me I need to be…

But I would never say to another stoner, its okay for me to get high, but not you.

More Later.

I’m Green But My Dope Isn’t

 

Okay, I could be a real prick and ask if you love your country. Start poking you in the chest with, is it about Compassion or Greed? Maybe head for third with, “Really, so you recycle, huh?” And for the big wind-up, making my way home, “Do you try to eat organic?” I could really start guilt-tripping you with facts, but I think too much of you to do that.

But if you’re really serious about eating and buying locally, worried about what you put into your body, why don’t you care about what you smoke?

Total Blue Smoke Transparency: I favor Outdoor WEED.

There are many advantages and disadvantages that could be pointed out with both techniques of growing, but in terms of health and sustainability, the debate could be made quite clear. Let’s look at only two components of what both methods require…Electricity and Chemicals.

Electricity:

The California power company, Pacific Gas and Electricity, did a study of the power usage before and after the year 1997 (the year Medical Marijuana was passed.) There was a major increase after that legislation was passed, almost a forty percent increase. Most analysts believe this was because of the start of the indoor grow room.

I don’t know how many people now are growing indoors, but the power is coming from somewhere. It’s been my experience that most of the grow rooms housing over 10 plants, are drawing the juice illegally. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against getting free cable or power, but it all comes from someplace. Not just the outlet on the wall.

Now multiply the grow rooms by say, oh, 90,000. That’s a lot of hamsters in the wheels.

In Oakland where they’ve been okay’d to grow on say the ‘We are the World’ kind of level, I don’t believe they have a sunlight for natural rays. Even though I love WEED, it doesn’t make the power coming into a grow house any more righteous.

Commerce versus Compassion.

What happens if PG&E is making so much money from illegal growers, that they make a concerted effort to shoot down Legalization because there’s more money in it for them that way?

Btw, if you’re for ‘Drill, Baby Drill,’ or the exploration of the Arctic for more oil or the rise of nuclear energy oppose to alternative sources, keep buying indoor.

This is not to say outdoor growers are any more honest. The Californian streams and river are being polluted by Mexican gangs and local growers too. Generators and diesel fuel are ruining a once pristine environment. I can’t speak about the Mexican gangs, but I know the local outdoor grower is finding out that growing Organic maybe the only defense an outdoor grower has against the Rise of the Machines.

I met one outdoor grower who only uses rainwater. This person is just growing their “25” but with almost no carbon or water foot-print. This person uses solar powered fans and lights.

Plus, if you want to know why some of the outdoor Organic is oh so good, take a moment and Google ‘Hum Tea.’ Hum Tea gives a kick to plants like I’ve never seen.

In the same way hackers understand the Internet better than most, a large number of the outdoor growers I’ve met, have been doing it for more twenty-five years, on the average. They’ve invested in and tested most technologies and have growing down to astute science now. They know what they’re doing and care about the accumulative effect they’re having on the environment and this Earth.

Right now in my humble opinion, Dispensaries run the Marijuana market. They dictate supply and demand. Because of that, outdoor growers cannot compete with indoor growers, for the short-term.

What I am looking at is the Big Picture.

Do we want Dope to bring this nation down in our gluttony for more WEED, at whatever the cost? And I’m not talking dollars here.

Indoor growers can get as many harvests as they want. Outdoor growers get one big one. But I think the smart money gonna be on the mellow, laid-back Hare in this Dope race. Slow and steady will win this.  

I could go and on about the differences between indoor and outdoor. Also, there’s usually a difference in the growers too. An outdoor grower does think about sustainable living and work practices. The outdoor grower usually stays within the same area, so there’s a need to keep the environment safe and useable.

Indoor growers are nomads and opportunists. I mean that in the best way. If there is a hassle, they just move on to a new local or even city. Indoor growers are the source for fires because of improperly wired houses or just being stupid.

But at the same time I realize there is a place for indoor growing. Indoor Pot is somewhat stronger, usually because the best of the outdoor is never seen by mere mortals like us. Indoor Pot can be grown to specifics and can be controlled to the point of overkill. If you’re in the mood for Blue Cheese, it can be requested and a scant ten to twelve weeks later, Bam-O, you got Cheese. I have friends that grow indoor, I’m not going to be a hypocrite and say I don’t buy indoor. I still get indoor, sometimes you have to. But I’m trying to change that.

Maybe after Legalization, they’ll be able to tighten up the operations, and the amount of gypsy grow houses will fade. Yeah, right.

Chemicals:

Here’s the deal on this. If you look at labels to see what the ingredients are in what you’re eating, or if ‘Food Inc.’ is required viewing at your casa, then you are killing yourself with indoor POT. Sorry. I eat meat. I like candy and sweets. I’m not perfect, but when it comes to POT, I’m asking more and more for outdoor.

My belief-there isn’t such a thing as Organic indoor POT. I don’t care if the plastic bottle swears that the fertilizer, the grow juice, the bud enhancer, that you’re utilizing says Organic, it’s not. There is some unnatural chemical swirling around in it, oppose to a natural ones like bat or chicken shit. And when those chemicals are heated, say by, I dunno… a Bic lighter or a match, they have a different carcinogenic value than when tested at room temperature. In other words, that shit is bad for you over the long run.

That’s it.

If you want to have a healthy, organic lifestyle, it starts with what you put into your body.

When you hear the chants for more coal, oil or nuclear energy, think what you’re doing as a consumer.

I love Dope. Let’s not make it into a bad thing. What we do today, is how we live tomorrow. Nature always wins.

For once, let’s go in and out as winners.

More Later.