The Couch
How lucky must you guys and girls feel…. The around the corner Dutch coffee shop in an average city sells maximum 10 different strains (0.035 ounce Amnesia $12.00) and 3 types of hasj (0.035 ounce Temple $15.00). THC is considered a hard drug so no oil, wax or scatter. The Amnesia Bong is the top. Free Cannabis, a lot of free dabs and yummie edibles. Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa CA, chill and peaceful atmosphere, top sunny weather, hundreds of exhibitors and over 10,000 visitors, my best guess. I was there for two days. The High Times Cup partners, management, staff and volunteers. Thank you all for a top experience. At the entrance to get in, nobody is in a hurry, the line in front of the Taco stand, everybody shows mutual respect and friendly dab-jockeys keep you stoned for as long as you want with what you want. The first of January 2018 is a great day for California. Recreational use will accelerate the Cannabis market, coming from from 1,8 Billion US$ in 2016 to 3,0 Billion by 2020. Just predictions, but 25% annual growth is for sure. Edibles will do 50% of the market. Tomorrow I will be at the Lobby Day in Sacramento to hear the legislators and meet more stakeholders of California. The first day I just walked around to feel the atmosphere but did not start real conversations, the second day I wanted to know what people had to say and I listened. Everybody has a reason to be in this industry, from the day they started and passionate. Life changing stories varying from a parent that died from an overdose, the loss of life threatening overweight and two veterans who explained me that the use of cannabis is conditional to deal with the stress of daily life, as it was in times of war. Your next best friend to face every day stress was a joint. Before the legalization, veterans smoking pot were criminals by law. The Cannabis industry is an industry with a heart. Next time I will introduce a couple of smart and interesting people I gladly met in person, visionaries of the industry. Michelle Kelley from PLHSLife LA, Brian Austin from PTSD Farm4Vets, Robert Lopez and Sofia from Phoenix AZ and Kharla Vezzetti coming from the California NORML based in San Francisco. Real people to take into consideration. They are lobbying for us! California Citizen Lobby Day June 5th 2017. From left to right on the picture the organizers and speakers, Don Duncan (ASA California), Dale Gieringer (California NORML), deputy director Ellen Komp (California NORML) and the honored guest speaker Assembly Member Reginald Jones-Sawyer, the author of bill AB 1578 to prevent state law enforcement from cooperating with federal authorities to interfere in activities that are lawful under California cannabis laws, all posing for my picture. The California Citizen Lobby Day of premier sponsor Armstrong Family Trust is organized to facilitate the general public to comment on the proposed regulations. The period is maximized at 45 days. The required changes and adaptations only concern medical cannabis regulations. The adult use regulations are on the agenda by the end of the year. The protection of the rights and privacy of the medical cannabis user, the rights of the industry employees and the free provisions to specific groups of users like the handicapped veterans or children in a terminal stage of cancer. After lunch the participants went to their meetings with the Assembly Members and Senators. A short ABCDE course in lobbying by Don Duncan was very appreciated. The E stands of course for Ellen. The Cannabuddies Michael Koehn and David C. Goldman of the Brownie Mary Democratic Club San Francisco, my neighbors at the table on the 7th floor of the Citizen Hotel on J street Sacramento. We had joy and we had fun, hope to meet again guys. A local political party allied with the Cannabis industry, we do not have that in the Netherlands. But we should. At my table charming Arya Campbell of Tierra Divina Vineyards as Instagram publisher who takes and places pictures of different leader personalities. I met with Mark S. Wagner MD, who uses Cannabis treatment to cure patients from heroin addiction and to treat his chronicle pain patients. He could not do his work without legal Cannabis. Lanny Swerdlow, founder and chairperson of the Brownie Mary Democrats, he wants to secure free Cannabis for people who need it but cannot afford Cannabis. Forrest Hurd of Caladrius Network, interested in the possibilities of micro business licenses. Sam Sabzehzar of Medical Marijuana 411 who wants to meet, Marie Roth of SLOCCBA who loves Amsterdam and last but not least our photographer of Operative Campaigns Sean Donahoe. All very special people who we will meet again on www.medicaledibles.com and in our printed XL table top magazine at our Late New Year Gala February 2018. For sure you will meet them on our events. Every year we will publish only two different magazines and we will organize only two different Cannabis Events per Cannabis State or Country in the World. Quality and International Presence is more important than quantity. We keep our products and services exclusive and that way always interesting. 
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