HaCKeRz Kr0nlcKLeZ 1/HaCKeRz Kr0nlcKLeZ.iso/drugs/cannabis.cup.review

Internet Message Format | 1996-05-06 | 16.6 KB

From: [e-mail] (Marc Emery)
Newsgroups: alt.drugs
Subject: Cannabis Cup Review- EXPANDED (Just when it was safe...)
Date: Sat, 10 Dec 94 14:22:26 -0800
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

The Cannabis Cup REview

Amsterdam is a lovely, old-world European city without, it would seem, any
buildings taller than about 5 stories (or no higher than the Rijks Museum)
and its heart is ringed with canals.

My room was on Keizersgracht, over looking a canal and operated by the
Lucky Mothers Coffeeshop, a few doors down the Keizersgracht. It has large
windows and overlooks the tram stop, the canal, and old world splendor you
just don't find in NOrth America.

It is fiercely expensive. A pear from the fruit stand next door cost $2.25
U.S., apples were $1.00 U.S. each,  a cab ride for 2 miles costs $10.00
U.S., my room, pleasant, shared bathroom, shared shower (this is
interesting! love those European customs! I had all female
room-neighbours), costs $65 U.S., (lovely view though).

Marijuana is the same price in Amsterdam as in British Columbia, about $8
U.S.  a gram, which, when it is legal in Amsterdam (de facto, I saw no
interference in the sale & distribution of large (kilos of the stuff!)
quantities of marijuana & hashish), is surprisingly high priced, but demand
is great.  I think the price is controlled by an agreement amongst the
sellers and growers, because the price was uniform everywhere.

THe Cannabis Cup itself was run ineptly -but everyone had fun nontheless.
However, the actual organizing was rife with poor thought.

Among my criticisms, which are offered in the hopes that next year, when
this thing gets really big, a total disaster is avoided.

1. Registration: People lining up at 10 in the morning waiting for one hour
or longer to just sign in. I rolled 15 joints and gave 'em out along the
line-up and entertained people and introduced myself (my card... my card...
my card...) as there was two hours before the hemp expo opened. This hour
long plus wait was in addition to waiting outside from 9.00 to 10.00 a.m.
while the High Times volunteers (or whatever) got it together.

2. Hemp Expo was great, and it should be expanded massively for next year.
BUT... there was no photocopier on the premises. All these business people
networking and yet not a fax machine, photocopier or fax-phone anywhere in
the PAX PARTY HOUSE where the event was held. Very frustrating for some of
the participants.

3. No First Aid Unit on the premises! Here you have hundreds (like 600+
Americans ) who have possibly limited experience with potent hash &
marijuana (also you can buy all magic mushrooms, MDMA and lots of other
things) and yet there was no first aid crew in PAX PARTY HOUSE. Since High
Times basically invited these people and took their money, they have an
obligation to be proper tour operators and organizers and that means having
a first aid crew around to handle possible health emergencies.
Well, Larry Duprey, a great guy from Montreal who runs the hemp clothes
company AUBOUT, on Saturday night, had what appeared to be a stroke, half
his body went paralyzed, he was having tight pains in chest, shaking, etc.,
and went to hospital... but in fact he is diabetic, 50 years old, had been
going to bed at 3 in the morning, and like most people there, had been
eating poorly. Now I agree its each individual's responsibility to monitor
their own behaviour, but Larry seriously overtoked and had a reaction from
the heavy pot, poor sleep, diet, diabetic complications, and he's 50, so a
crew should be on hand to deal with this and other potential problems.
Instead he languished there while people dithered over what to do.

And there are a fair number of attendees between 40 and 55 years of age,
and next year there will be many more.

The largest fiasco was the V.I.P. dinner which High Times charged ordinary
mortals $100 U.S. for (since I was a speaker representing Canada, mine was
a freebie).

Food was ordinary and a shocking disappointment, worth NO MORE than $20
U.S. (tops!), and there was absolutely NO PROGRAM! Nothing was planned or
prepared! And, this really infuriated everyone, no pot smoking was
permitted! A V.I.P. dinner for a marijuana convention and no pot smoking
was allowed. Wow, someone at High Times was asleep when they booked this
hotel (Akura Hotel, whiile other events were held at PAX PARTY HOUSE).

Also, I know the Dutch folks were annoyed at the method of judging the
Cannabis Cup Awards. Me, I am not qualified to be a "judge".
To me, pot or hash gets you high. I smoke it until I get high. Usually, I
can't tell the difference between strains, and I get dozens of free samples
of killer bud every month from a grateful B.C. Green Growers Society, and I
can't distinguish things like "taste" (all tastes the same to me),
"characteristics" (like, you're stoned, how can you believe the perception
of "quality" when you're trying to distort time, space, sensation?). So for
me, its all a popularity contest, which Steve Hager at High Times readily
admitted to, but this means a few select coffeeshops get a High Times
sponsored PR boost, but whether a Cannabis Cup really measures quality of
pot or whatever, well, the jury is out on that one.

There really wasn't enough activist workshops, in fact, really, there
weren't any, except some seminars where guest speakers, including myself
gave very brief synopses of situations in various nations. Actual workshops
and structured stuff to do was in short supply, and, in Amsterdam, there is
no shortage of great things to do, but while you've got growers, activists,
writers , etc. from all over the world, have some programs! Also a movie
room running pot movies, documentaries, etc. 24 hours a daY would be great
and easy to arrange. An on-line computer would have been a good idea to
access the internet and show all those assembled how they can get zillions
of items of information of the net. 99% of the people there have no idea of
the resources available on the net.

Highlights:

There is now a seed seller who will mail seeds to Canada and the USA, and
he doesn't care about the DEA, he just wants your money and he'll worry
about the DEA in his own sweet time.
Contact: Paradise Seeds, P.o> Box 377, 1000 AJ Amsterdam, Holland.
His introductory special price is 12 Skunk #1 seeds for $30 U.S. He'll send
a seed variety catalog if you send a couple of bucks, or write to him with
your interests.

There are over 60 different seeds varieties available from Sensi Seed,
POSITRONICS, Paradise, and various other grower-coffeeshops-seed stores.

Positronics is this fabulous huge salon of grow equipment, smoking room
(free pot!), seed bank, hydroponic labs, and much more. You must go here
when you are in Amsterdam. Peculiarily, their catalog neglects to include
their address, but here it is in the Cannabis Cup program,
POSITRONICS, Cornelius Troostraat 33, 1072 JB Amsterdam, Netherlands

Nice folks were at CANNABIS IN AMSTERSDAM (CIA!), who do not ship seeds but
have a great shop too. Their e-mail: [e-mail]

My favorite coffeeshop (where marijuana & hash is sold) was LUCKY MOTHERS,
at 665 Keizersgracht, a small, intimate place run by an intense and busy
Alan (the proprietor), Sabina & Sheila (two sexy women, Sabina from Quebec,
Canada, Sheila is this lovely black woman with that posh English accent
that makes you want to cream every time she speaks).

My verdict on the best pot? I had it when I returned to British Columbia
Monday night. No it wasn't from Amsterdam, it was grown and cured right
here in B.C., it was close to hallucinogenic, and more transplendent than
any pot I had there (although the pot is uniformly good in Amsterdam,  the
range of "good" is limited). What impressed me most in Amsterdam was the
hashish, which is very scarce in British Columbia. I met someone who wanted
to know if British Columbians would be interested in receiving 2,000 pounds
of hashish, and I said, "uh, yes, I'm sure they would, but personally, I
don't know how you'd do that..." and I was offered the job of brokering
that amount "uh, I'll just go over here now, and really, I can't help
out..."

Robert Connell Clarke (Marijuana Botany) jumped when I told him that 3 of
the 6 days I spent in Amsterdam were spent buying marijuana seeds and
sending them to people all over Canada, and said, "I'm as cool as you can
get, so you're safe telling me, but I wouldn't tell anyone else", and I
told him I had already told this to everybody and he added, "oh you're
already done for" and then I told him I didn't even screen the requests so
for all I know a cop had already ordered some seeds from me and Robert just
looked at me and sighed.

I'll let you know if people get the seeds OK. After all this, I was sure I
would get inspected thoroughly at customs, although this never happens, but
when you've visited Amsterdam for a marijuana convention, and when your
business card says "THe Marijuana & Hemp Centre for Greater Vancouver", ya'
gotta figure that its reasonable you're going to get inspected. So I had
nothing, of course, as usual, and... No inspection! -Sigh- Although I know
if I did bring anything back, that'd be the time they do the anal search.

Addition made: DEc. 9. 20% to 30% of the seeds arrived crushed, 75% arrived
OK. Since we weren't making money off these mailings, we don't cover
crushed seeds, although being in retail, we've replaced any crushed seeds
with some nice BC seeds, simply cuz we hate disappointing folks.

However, the seeds were wrapped tightly in paper (to deter rattling sounds)
then wrapped in tissue paper till padded, then two postcards placed around
it, and still some Canadian postal machines managed to smush some.

One American sent me money to but seeds, but I did not do so, admittedly,
I'm nervbous amount sending seeds to the U.S., hell, they went to Australia
to get Neville for sending seeds to New Orleans, but I guess I wussed out.
I owe a certain American $120 for the Northern Lights x Haze I didn't send.
I'll send that back to YOU on Monday.

For Canadians, our store: HEMP BC - THE Marijuana & HEmp Centre for Greater
Vancouver, we sell a small selection of 10 seeds to a pack, for $15 to $25.
Varieties this week included, one indoor sativa (Kelowna), a Hawaiian
indica , a Pine indica (phototron bred), two other indica-sativa crosses.

We do not mail seeds. It is illegal to sell seeds in Canada, of course, but
we are employing what we here in Canada call the Jaques Parizeau method:
Try it and see if anyone stops us. Surprisingly, our little display of
seeds up by the front counter where anyone can see them has aroused no real
comments and we don't sell live marijuana seeds in any greater volume than
we sell hemp soaps and hemp care products. (mOst folks out here at clone
artists)

Jack Herer was there at the Cannabis Cup and I spoke at some length with
him about his new edition (still not out yet), about his dislike of Ed
Rosenthal's book HEMP TODAY (I still like the book, but Jack feels hurt by
the book's veiled attempt to possibly discredit his work). Tommy Chong was
the famous guest who didn't show, following upon the heels of HUnter S.
Thompson, who failed to show up last year. Meanwhile, both Mel Frank & Ed
Rosenthal were somewhat insulted that High Times asked them to come to the
Cannabis Cup but were unwilling to pay the flight over there, so neither
went. Ed Rosenthal is at the Dutch Growers Cannabis Cup sponsored by the
very sophisticated Dutch magazine HIGHLIFE, a magazine for marijuana
growers and consumers, the event is this week.

HEMP BC left the 1994 Cannabis Cup vaporizer at the LUCKY MOTHERS
COFFEESHOP  so when you're there check it out.

A German psychiatrist, Green Party parliamentarian, author and otherwise
neato guy Hans-Jorg Behr brought a beautiful collection  of antique
cannabis smoking pipes to show that pot was smoked in the 18th & 19th
century. He, I, Mari Kane, Ben Dronkers (sensi Seed), Mari Kane, and all
the other international speakers posed for official High Times photographs,
and during this, Hans broke out singing "The Cover of the Rolling Stone" in
this hilarious German accented rendition. Funny, incredibly well informed
fellow.

Michka from France is a very sexy woman, with that worldly and elegant
French presence that I found bewitching. She is author of Le Cannabis
Est-il Une Drugue? Petite histoire du Chanvre, and was in High Times June
issue. Oddly enough, she's a dual Canadian and French citizen, and she
actually lived in British Columbia here until some years ago.

The HEMP FASHION SHOW was possibly the most illuminating event outside of
the HEMP EXPO itself which was really a good thing. The new hemp fashion
out there, especially the lingerie by Josephine, is really fantastic stuff.
The hemp industry is definitely exploding.

Very expensive and sophisticated hemp clothing is coming out of a company
with a gorgeous brochure, called HEMP TRIBE, from Rotterdam. I've
missplaced their catalog, but I'll get it and include it next post.

Hanf House, Waldemarstraat 33, 10999 Berlin, Germany,
has hemp rolling papers at very reasonable prices. Ask for their price on a
carton of Canuma Hanfblattchen, and they also have a great poster on
cannabis, printed on cannabis. They are selling fabulous hemp paper and
hemp card stock.
Their phone number is 30-614-9884.

One thing that is a High Times peculiarity is this kind of new agey,
spiritual(ly bogus?), rainbow-gathering atmosphere that High Times tries to
conjure up at this event, with the "Council" stuff, and this retro-60's
approach that you don't have to be organized or disciplined as long as the
vibes are right.

I disagree. I'd feel better at a completely slick 90's high tech,
capitalist, libertarian, convention of the 21st century, where we have lots
of seminars, video (all the video on legalization, Chreech & Chong
classics,  cool interviews with Herer, Rosenthals, and even really
appalling pseudo-toker films like (ugh!) Dazed & Confused) rooms,
cyber-toking (the net, obviously), smuggling techniques & seed delivery,
Cloning technique seminars, etc.

Actually, this 7 days of non-stop toking at coffeeshops is pretty lame by
comparison to what a good world-wide convention in a jurisdiction that
allows cultivation, could be.

Unfortunately, I feel High Times Magazine is torn by trying to cover all
these areas of its "mandate". The magazine on one hand features an
"indiginous tribe under the gun" each issue, sometimes spilling on to the
cover (August '94, Mexican Zapatista guy, the worst selling cover of the
year), then cybertech (October) then every second cover has some High Times
rock pal on the front cover (Fishbone (July), Some rockers I forget
(October), Mila Janovich (Nov.), Some rapper babes on February & March, I
mean that's 5 covers in 1994 that feature vaguely associated rockers with
pot. Meanwhile, buds or tokers, which sell the magazine in much greater
quantities (I mean, let's face it theres 500 music magazines out there and
one cannabis magazine, so what should you put on the cover, I ask?) were on
May (leaf), JUne (beautiful bud), Sept (rasta toker), DEcember & January
(though lame colour for January cover), and a leaf is coming on February
cover (originally used in Marijuana & HEmp Newsletter #4).

How about some famous advocates (like Herer, Rosenthal, etc.) pulling on a
hookah in front of a cool coffesshop in Amsterdam, or at some big ganja
farm? This putting usually brainless rock sluts on the front of the cover
(and spending so much ink on their rather redundant pro-pot blather)is
pandering to a culture that is, in my opinion, not truly related to
cannabis. The problem is that these rock & rap record companies are buying
ads in the magazine, and this is influencing the editorial direction.

High Times being centred on the east coast, in Manhatten, shows up in their
magazine. I believe the magazine would do better if headquartered in
Oregon, Washington, or even British Columbia, where 90% of the
cannabis-hemp legalization activism is happening anyway. California is just
too strange anymore.

By the way, for you North Americans, Britain has some very attractivwe
cannabis magazines, and they are indicated below:
Bush Telegraph, c.o. 21 Cave Street, Oxford, 0X4 1BA, send $4 U.S.
Weed World, box 79, Rugby, Warwickshire, CV32 8GR, send $5 U.S.
World of Drugs 2 (Cannabis), same address as above, send $5 U.S.
Hookah, Legalize Cannabis Campaign, BM Box 2455, London WC1N 3XX, England,
Send $3 U.S.,

If you have any comments, questions, brickabats, send them.

Our WWW site at: http:/www.cyberstore.ca

Marc
--
This message from HEMP BC, The Marijuana & Hemp Centre for Greater Vancouver,
324 West Hastings, Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6B 1K6. Ph. 604-681-4620, fax
[phone]. Marc Emery - Proprietor. Devoted associates: Ian Hunter,
Danna Rozek. "One cultivates Marijuana, and by marijuana, one is cultivated.
"