It wasn't the highest old time you could imagine at the inaugural THC Expo held at the Los Angeles Convention Center this weekend.
But even though actual consumption of marijuana was strictly forbidden at the two-day trade show, the capacity crowd seemed to enjoy the contact high of checking out booths full of everything from hemp-oil massage lotions to Marley Brand Jamaican coffee to brochures from groups like Law Enforcement Against Prohibition - active and retired cops who want to, well, legalize everything.
"We're gonna do this constantly," said West Hills-based Expo co-producer Todd McCormick, a legalization advocate who says marijuana helped him survive a cancer-ridden childhood of severe chemotherapy side effects.
"It took 11 months of work and a lot of money and organization, but I'm really happy with how all this is working out. We're real pleased with the phenomenal turnout."
Bail bondsmen, hawkers of very scary-looking hydroponic growth accelerator devices and women in gold bikinis packed the convention hall floor. An over-18-only area had seed packets, many representatives of Amsterdam-based businesses and a whole alley of bongs and other smoking paraphernalia that, at retail stores throughout California if not at this particular venue, must legally be sold "for tobacco use only."
Even at a place like Daddy's Pipe and Collective, a Sherman Oaks smoke shop that recently added a medical marijuana dispensary.
"We carry everything from small little glass pipes to 24-inch bongs and percolator chambers," said Daddy's manager Adam Powers. "We also give free doctor referrals and have free deals when you sign up as a new patient."
Delta 9 is the Sun Valley-based glass company that makes many of the elaborate pipes sold at Daddy's; a smoked gray water job with a detailed etching of Jimi Hendrix was a particularly impressive work.
"We specialize, pretty much, in glass water tubes," explained Dennis Belloso, a Delta 9 sales rep. "We do our own sand-blasting, our own frosting, and we like to make our designs a little more deep-etched than anybody else, so you can not only see it, you can feel it."
Chatsworth resident Ashley Gold, 22, was visiting the Expo with a bunch of her girlfriends and enjoying its general good vibes.
"I'm very much interested in the subject matter," she said. "We're just here to check out what everybody has to offer. It is a great turnout. There are a lot of people and a lot of nice people too, surprisingly. We're about to go over to the other convention; it might be a little bit different there."
The "other convention" was the EroticaLA porn show held at the same time in the hall right next door. It's no coincidence that McCormick and his co-producer, Brian Roberts, scheduled their show on the same weekend.
But not everybody was mellow about a pro-hemp convention taking place at a city-run facility.
"Our biggest issue with the THC Expo is that their Web site encouraged kids of all ages to attend," said Paul Howarth, CEO of A Better Tomorrow Treatment Center, a Murrieta rehab facility. "I'm embarrassed for the city of Los Angeles, that our city is hosting such a show."
Howarth asked City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo to shut down the convention for that reason. The City Attorney's Office declined to do so.
News Hawk- Ganjarden 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: LA Daily News
Author: Bob Strauss
Contact: LA Daily News
Copyright: 2009 Los Angeles Newspaper Group
Website: Center Goes Green As Grass
But even though actual consumption of marijuana was strictly forbidden at the two-day trade show, the capacity crowd seemed to enjoy the contact high of checking out booths full of everything from hemp-oil massage lotions to Marley Brand Jamaican coffee to brochures from groups like Law Enforcement Against Prohibition - active and retired cops who want to, well, legalize everything.
"We're gonna do this constantly," said West Hills-based Expo co-producer Todd McCormick, a legalization advocate who says marijuana helped him survive a cancer-ridden childhood of severe chemotherapy side effects.
"It took 11 months of work and a lot of money and organization, but I'm really happy with how all this is working out. We're real pleased with the phenomenal turnout."
Bail bondsmen, hawkers of very scary-looking hydroponic growth accelerator devices and women in gold bikinis packed the convention hall floor. An over-18-only area had seed packets, many representatives of Amsterdam-based businesses and a whole alley of bongs and other smoking paraphernalia that, at retail stores throughout California if not at this particular venue, must legally be sold "for tobacco use only."
Even at a place like Daddy's Pipe and Collective, a Sherman Oaks smoke shop that recently added a medical marijuana dispensary.
"We carry everything from small little glass pipes to 24-inch bongs and percolator chambers," said Daddy's manager Adam Powers. "We also give free doctor referrals and have free deals when you sign up as a new patient."
Delta 9 is the Sun Valley-based glass company that makes many of the elaborate pipes sold at Daddy's; a smoked gray water job with a detailed etching of Jimi Hendrix was a particularly impressive work.
"We specialize, pretty much, in glass water tubes," explained Dennis Belloso, a Delta 9 sales rep. "We do our own sand-blasting, our own frosting, and we like to make our designs a little more deep-etched than anybody else, so you can not only see it, you can feel it."
Chatsworth resident Ashley Gold, 22, was visiting the Expo with a bunch of her girlfriends and enjoying its general good vibes.
"I'm very much interested in the subject matter," she said. "We're just here to check out what everybody has to offer. It is a great turnout. There are a lot of people and a lot of nice people too, surprisingly. We're about to go over to the other convention; it might be a little bit different there."
The "other convention" was the EroticaLA porn show held at the same time in the hall right next door. It's no coincidence that McCormick and his co-producer, Brian Roberts, scheduled their show on the same weekend.
But not everybody was mellow about a pro-hemp convention taking place at a city-run facility.
"Our biggest issue with the THC Expo is that their Web site encouraged kids of all ages to attend," said Paul Howarth, CEO of A Better Tomorrow Treatment Center, a Murrieta rehab facility. "I'm embarrassed for the city of Los Angeles, that our city is hosting such a show."
Howarth asked City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo to shut down the convention for that reason. The City Attorney's Office declined to do so.
News Hawk- Ganjarden 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: LA Daily News
Author: Bob Strauss
Contact: LA Daily News
Copyright: 2009 Los Angeles Newspaper Group
Website: Center Goes Green As Grass
