Amsterdam Authorities Thwart the Start of the Cannabis Cup

If all had gone according to plan Amsterdam would have been, as of yesterday and until the 27th, the world cannabis capital. The Dutch city hosts, like every year, one of the marijuana world's oldest and most prestigious events: the Cannabis Cup, held in the city since 1988.

On the morning of Sunday, 23 November, however, event organizers were notified by the authorities that if anyone entered the Cannabis Cup Expo, the fair would be shut down and the participants arrested. In this way the sector's most important fair was cancelled - at least on its opening day.

The magazine High Times, which organises the event, reports that in the fair’s 26 years of history there has never been a problem related to health or security, nor have any illegal actions been perpetrated, and there is no reason to believe that anything of the sort would happen now. Thus, they do not understand the authorities' action. 

With a sizeable team of lawyers working so that everything would unfold without incident, the organizers state that they had reached an agreement with the City of Amsterdam to proceed in compliance with local regulations, “and we have endeavoured to respect the regulations in every way.” After this development the event's organizers sought to get the word out that they never would have attempted to open the Expo's doors without the organizers’ prior support.

At this time the seminars planned for Monday and Tuesday in Melkweg - one of Amsterdam's most famous cultural centres- should take place as scheduled, as should the concerts and Cannabis Cup. The activities scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday will be relocated, and High Times promises to provide additional details in this regard in the next few hours.

What has been made public is the new schedule for Monday, 24 November, with seminars that will address subjects related to medicinal marijuana, growing, and cooking. In addition, attendees will be able to meet Marc Emery, Canada's prince of marijuana, who has been calling for the legalization of cannabis in Canada, a cause for which he has been arrested 28 times.

High Times trusts that all these events will take place without incident and participants will enjoy these days free of any problems. To this end all attendees will have to comply with new rules: among other things, nobody will be able to distribute cannabis during the event. Attendees may carry it on them, but in no case may quantities exceed 5 grams. 

Cannabis Cup organizers also wish to clarify that cannabis extracts featuring solvent bases are not legal under Dutch law. 

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[Source: High Times]