DON'T STEP ON THE GRASS

The Cannabis Cup is the Academy Awards, the Grammys, the Golden Globes, and the Olympics of marijuana all rolled into one. Rolled and smoked, you might say. The annual event is held in Amsterdam, and every year pot farmers and hopheads from around the world converge on the Dutch city as new strains of cannabis are unveiled, and judges award the Cannabis Cup, as well as the best new product, best booth, best glass, best hash and best Nederhash--whatever that is.

This irreverent history of the event is amusing (and probably even funnier if you're stoned). Don't get me wrong. I don't advocate smoking pot, but I advocate the freedom to do so as an adult in a (relatively) free society.


With California going broke, some people are advocating the legalization--or at least the decriminalization--of cannabis, which is the state's biggest cash crop. Marijuana, that's right, pot, grass, weed, bud. Forget arguments about freedom, and forget arguments about the relative dangers of pot and booze, and forget arguments about victimless crime--what may turn the tide of marijuana prohibition is money. Pure and simple, cash on the barrelhead, something Americans know more about than weed.


Save the economy with pot? This ad has been running on TV in California

Medical marijuana is already legal in California for its pain-alleviating and relaxant effects. In the Netherlands, while pot is officially illegal, the government has a policy of non-enforcement and sensibly separates "soft" drugs from "hard" drugs like heroin and cocaine. Over there you can visit a "cafe" and pick up pot as easily as a cup of coffee. Of course, you wouldn't want to drive after a visit to the coffeehouse any more than you would after a couple vodka martinis. Call a cab!


After eight years of government by the dunderheads, for the dunderheads, perhaps we're due for some enlightenment on the subject of marijuana--or at the very least some non-biased investigation and intelligent dialog. And who knows? Maybe California, the state that elected an Austrian action figure for governor, will get the job done and pay their bills. Then, instead of swinging by the liquor store for gin you could pick up a carton of Acapulco Gold--or better yet, British Columbia Bud (hard or soft pack)--and listen to those Beatles remixes with the headphones on.

Holy smokes!

I don't claim to be unbiased. If you've followed this blog at all, you know I err on the side of personal liberties and generally rank myself with dissident non-conformists. Believe what you want, I always say, but do your homework. Dig deep and question the dominant paradigm--even if you come back around--because healthy skepticism if its own reward. After all, in the safety of your own cranium you need not fear the thought police.



Ever wonder what it's like in an Amsterdam cafe? High Times foreign correspondent Bobby Black filed this report from a couple of the coolest cannabis cafes, the Amnesia and Barney's. If you think these are just Dutch Starbucks take a closer look at this menu.

The Cafe Menu: Click to enlarge image

This irreverent history of the Cannabis Cup deserves to be seen by thinking adults for educational purposes. If you agree or not, take a look and keep an open mind.

It's a freedom thing.


There are two sides to every argument, so we present "The Terrible Truth" from 1951, a sensational documentary for teenagers about the dangers of Maryjane.

Visit the official website of the Cannabis Cup here.

FRONTIER PSYCHIATRIST

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), physiologist, medical doctor, psychologist and father of psychoanalysis, pictured here with phallic symbol. Freud articulated the concepts of the unconscious, of infantile sexuality, of repression, and proposed a tri-partite model of the mind's structure, all as part of a radically new conceptual and therapeutic frame of reference for the understanding of human psychological development, based on a limited sample of unhappy Viennese housewives.



Eventually a frequent cocaine user, Freud started with the purchase of a gram for fatigue. After all, he reasoned, the German army used it to fight off exhaustion so maybe it would help some of his patients. First, he took a dose himself. And then another. Before long, he was tooting on a regular basis. He even sent some to friends, including his fiancee, Martha Bernays, accompanied with this note on June 2, 1884:

"I will kiss you quite red and feed you till you are plump. And if you are forward you shall see who is the stronger, a little girl who doesn't eat enough or a big strong man with cocaine in his body. In my last serious depression I took cocaine again and a small dose lifted me to the heights in a wonderful fashion. I am just now collecting the literature for a song of praise to this magical substance."

Clearly, Freud was coked out of his gourd.


John Styth Pemberton, plucky entreprenuer and dope pusher

Along came Pemberton. Back then, one could buy cocaine lozenges and pastilles, elixirs and pills. Cocaine wine, first sold in Europe under the name of Vin Mariani, was a raging success. There were many imitations. In the United States, John Styth Pemberton brought out his own version in 1881. He hit the jackpot when Atlanta banned the sale of alcohol in 1885, and he tweaked the recipe, removing the alcohol but keeping the cocaine, and sold his drink under the name Coca-Cola.

This was the true "Classic Coke." Of course, the coke was eventually removed from the Coke (in 1913) but the company has remained successful. It turned out it was even cheaper to sell colored sugar water without the cocaine!


In the spirit of psychiatry, we present a wonderful expressionistic portrait of madness by The Avalanches, entitled "Frontier Psychiatrist:"

MARY ANN AND THE MARY JANE

Dawn Wells, who played Mary Ann on "Gilligan's Island," was sentenced to five days in jail and six months' probation after allegedly being caught with marijuana in her car in Driggs, Idaho. On October 18th, Dawn was stopped by the police on her way home from her own surprise birthday party, and allegedly the policeman found the grass. The cop said he found a couple half-smoked joints, and a container "used to store marijuana."

The stoners, in better days.

In 1998, Bob Denver, the actor who played Gilligan, was arrested after receiving a marijuana delivery. At the time, numerous reports suggested that Wells had sent the package, but she was never charged.

Now it makes sense why the castaways could make a radio out of coconuts but couldn't build a raft.

Song dedication: To Mary Ann. "Grazing in the Grass," by Hugh Masekela. Click button.