The Amsterdam version of the Cannabis Cup is dedicated to so-called recreational marijuana use, and is renowned for your ability to get samples of marijuana from participating marijuana coffee shops, as well as the highly-ranked musical acts and pervasive stoner vibe that the Cannabis Cup provides.
In San Francisco and Denver, the High Times Medical Cannabis Cup events are open to anyone over 18 who can afford the ticket price, and there are special areas at each event where bona fide medical marijuana patients and cultivators can interact with reps from licensed medical marijuana dispensaries…and consume as much marijuana as they can inhale.
“There were more than two dozen medical marijuana dispensaries in the medical marijuana area of the [Denver] High Times Medical Cannabis Cup,” explained Kenny, a Colorado medical marijuana patient who attended the April, 2011 High Times event in Denver.
“Compared to the days of prohibition when we hid in our closets furtively toking on weed, the Medical Cannabis Cup was like Nirvana, and I’m not talking about the band,” Kenny said. “The air was so thick with medical herb that all you really had to do was inhale deeply and you are going to get super-medicated. This was a great coming-together for our medical marijuana community.”
In Denver and San Francisco High Times Medical Cannabis Cup events, participants have a range of activities to choose from, including marijuana hydroponics growing seminars, medical marijuana use seminars, hemp fashion shows, and special parties with bands and other entertainment.
The April, 2011 Medical Cannabis Cup drew large numbers of medical marijuana patients, growers and dispensaries, but it also drew thieves who hooked up a truck to a $50,000, 28-foot long, 7,000 pound automated, professional hydroponics growing facility that sits on a trailer bed so it’s portable.
The trailer was too easily portable for the hooded thieves- who spent only a few minutes hooking the “GrowBot” portable grow room to their truck. Then they drove off with it, and it hasn’t been seen by the GrowBot manufacturers since.
The next High Times Medical Marijuana Cannabis Cup is in San Francisco in June, 2011. If you attend, and if you hold a valid medical marijuana card, you are likely to get plenty of free samples of medical marijuana from participating dispensaries, although High Times does not guarantee free marijuana and it isn’t part of the official event perks.
Unlike the Amsterdam High Times Cannabis Cup, North American High Times event attendees do not get samples of marijuana so that they can vote for their favorites in Medical Cannabis Cup competitions for top Sativa, Indica, cannabis food, hashish and other categories. That voting is done by a select panel of judges.
But if you’re looking for a High Times Cannabis Cup event and you don’t want to go all the way to Amsterdam, check out the High Times Medical Cannabis Cup. It isn’t going to give you the opportunity to inhale marijuana in one of Europe’s most dynamic cities, but you will get to hang out with High Times cultivation experts, hemp activists, and lots of other people who are sure to fill the air with medical marijuana smoke.
Find out more about the High Times Medical Cannabis Cup, check this out!
