At 4:20 p.m. Friday, the Craneway Pavillion became a venue for all things pot.
The Pacific Cannabis Expo drew pot enthusiasts to Richmond for a gathering that lasted all weekend. Medical marijuana collectives, pot-paraphernalia sellers, and a variety of pot eaters, smokers and otherwise inhalers—all medical marijuana patients—were in attendance.
For those who were not patients, doctors were on hand to diagnose an ailment or affliction and prescribe medical cannabis to treat it. Other entrepreneurs hoping to make a few bucks from the new medical marijuana boom or plain old-fashioned never-legal stoner culture hawked T-shirts, promoted new technologies for imbibing the plant, and pitched a variety of services like legal-to-toke-in limousine trips.
But it’s not about getting high, said Mary Dias, the event’s lead organizer, – it’s about the patients. “The idea is to get all of the information and all of these different vendors together in one place so people can see what’s available to them,” Dias said.
Raina Thomasson, another expo organizer, said medical marijuana fills a need for patients. “A lot of people want an alternative to pills that have all these side effects and make people sick,” she said.
In addition to venders, the event featured a line-up of speakers and musicians, like the band Los Marijuanos, who rework pop songs into stoner-themed parodies. Speakers hit on topics ranging from personal stories about how medical marijuana helps cancer survivors to workshops on the growing cannabis industry.
The medical cannabis industry is in legal limbo because of conflicting state and federal laws. California passed Proposition 215 in 1996 legalizing the use of medical marijuana. But under federal law, pot is still illegal.
Dias said getting through the red tape to set up the expo was frustrating at times, and she got pushback from Richmond city agencies she worked with to get permitted.
Love the website man! Can’t wait to get me one of those shirts!
Posted on August 25, 2011 at 11:54 am.