"Let's have a weed-themed event, but make sure there's no weed there."
Correct us if we're wrong but, presumably, one would go to a marijuana event like High Times' Cannabis Cup in Denver because there'd be marijuana there, Right? Right. Just like someone would go to the bank because there's money there, or to the airport because that's where the planes are.
However, you could say this year's Cannabis Cup people are experimenting a bit with that tried-and-true tradition. That's because — are you sitting down? — it's been decided that this year, there will be no cannabis at the Cannabis Cup.
Yep; the free sampling of local businesses’ marijuana, edibles and concentrates that has always been the centerpiece of the Cup will no longer be in place at this year's event.
Pretty sure either Satan or the Joker is the event organizer …
In case you didn't know, the Cannabis Cup in Denver is High Times' largest and most popular event. It's also one of the largest ticketed marijuana parties in the world, with the trade show, expo and festival taking over the Denver Mart in Adams Country annually on 4/20.
But when the Cup begins this Saturday at noon, it's going to be more like a place where people who paid $45 per ticket go to … mill about like souls caught between the realms of life and death.
“Licensed cannabis businesses are not allowed to participate in the transaction of sampling or giving marijuana away at events like the Cup,” said Rhett Jordan, founding partner at the Native Roots chain of pot shops, interpreting an April 3 bulletin from Colorado’s Marijuana Enforcement Division. “It’s going to be a little tricky … In the past, (businesses giving away cannabis) were definitely the main reason people came to the Cup, to experience the cannabis community in one place at one time and to try all your favorite companies and favorite strains for free under one roof.”
That's funny, because since its inception, the Cup has been nothing but a mega-bounty of skunky samples and for-sale products. As The Cannabist's Ricardo Baca puts it,
A stroll through last year’s Cup at the same venue felt like another country altogether. Rows and rows of vendors were peddling glass pipes, T-shirts and vape pens in an outdoor parking lot that was permanently hot-boxed with pot smoke. Lines formed at all the sampling booths for cannabis flower, high-percentage concentrates, glass and dab rigs. A food truck gave away hundreds of pot-infused sandwiches, and the Incredibles booth hosted a surreal fountain of melted, infused chocolate that served more than 30,000 fans’ skewered marshmallows and pound cake.
This year … not so much. It'll be a lot more like the Superbowl with no football. … But there will be bathrooms there! And water! What fun!
However, there is a small glimmer of hope: attendees can still bring their own weed (up to anounce) and legally share it. But, again, for the $45 ticket price you could just save your money and smoke your own weed with your own friends at your own house.
What's more, is that the new Cup set-up is so bizarre that some local businesses have already decided not to participate in it at all.
“We’ve got a lot of members who decided not to participate this year because they want to make sure that they’re doing everything right, and they are also worried about how the Cannabis Cup affects the image of the industry,” said Mike Elliott of the Marijuana Industry Group. “These events have not had a lot of controls in place in the past, and the MED is making it clear that these events are not the exception to the rules that all licensees have to comply with.”
Damn … Isn't it strange that the more legal weed gets, the more illegal it gets?
Well, while they're figuring out the logistics of having a weed-free 4/20, we'll just be over here drinking H2O-free water and getting drunk on virgin beers. Figure your shit out, Colorado!
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