09-05-2011, 11:16 AM
So, at Lil Wayne, which I went to on a complete lark, I was informed by our booking person that I was the only one booked for Saturday's event, along with a +1, a kung fu sista (US national wushu team member actually - she's going to Turkey to compete in worlds in a month) who just got her EMT. I took her to the Comedy Jam and I'm proctoring her into RM. The shift was 9:30AM to 8PM, and she could only be there until 1:30. I called in some favors from the JNK (jedi nite krew) and got three other vols - two by 1:45 and the last one right at 4:20.
So the deal was this - it was $20 to get in. There was no buying or selling of anything medicinal, but all the major local clubs were represented, so if you wished, you could just walk a block outside the event and pick up meds. There was a premium $300 VIP ticket which gave you a big box of samples. A 215 card + photo ID got you a bracelet which permitted you to medicate anywhere but on the grass (big sign - no grass on the grass) and the VIP lounge, the most pleasant place for medicating, which was tables and some nice chairs, plus a DJ, was right alongside city hall. There were a ton of booths, mostly clubs, but also a mobile grow room set up (in a cargo truck), hemp oil for wood finishing (a deck sealant), evaluations, resources, a cool booth of antique cann apothecary bottles - even my lawyer was there. He did our trust & will, but he said that market tanked with the economy a few years ago, so now he's defending 215 cases - 'largest growing market in CA,' he said. He went from a small east bay office, to 3 now, one in the heart of downtown Oaksterdam and another at a 420 address. There were live bands, speaker panels (heard some funny stuff about Wilfred), a pounding Jamaican style soundsystem thoring some heavy dub and roots (we were at just the right spot - a block away - where the mix settled; any closer and your eyeball humor vibrated too much to see straight). There were rolling contests - how many js can you roll in 4 min 20 sec? The Js had to meet standard requirements for weight and smokability - there were contests going all day - competitors entered with a donation to a cancer group and I'm not sure what they won - bragging rights maybe. Most of the winners were coming it at a baker's dozen +. It was hilarious to watch.
There wasn't any RM action. Mostly gave out knuckle bandaids (what is it with stoners and busted knuckles?) Also spent a lot of time explaining that we were not medical evaluators or suppliers of medical goods, but the real medical with sunscreen, ibuprofen and knuckle bandaids.
Overall, there was this absurdity to the event, as it was really just a show of the power of 215 in Oaksterdam. An open-air smokefest on the steps of city hall? What other city has that kind of balls? Oakland is a ghetto steeping the a cesspool of poverty and violence. The 215 industry is good business for them and after staging an event like this, they've demonstrated they have it together. But the absurdity was constant - Dm and his crew, who, accept for the new EMT, are all 215 positive, and there were many giggles and shaking of heads with the blatant use - so IRIE!
I was honored to be present for such a historic event.
So the deal was this - it was $20 to get in. There was no buying or selling of anything medicinal, but all the major local clubs were represented, so if you wished, you could just walk a block outside the event and pick up meds. There was a premium $300 VIP ticket which gave you a big box of samples. A 215 card + photo ID got you a bracelet which permitted you to medicate anywhere but on the grass (big sign - no grass on the grass) and the VIP lounge, the most pleasant place for medicating, which was tables and some nice chairs, plus a DJ, was right alongside city hall. There were a ton of booths, mostly clubs, but also a mobile grow room set up (in a cargo truck), hemp oil for wood finishing (a deck sealant), evaluations, resources, a cool booth of antique cann apothecary bottles - even my lawyer was there. He did our trust & will, but he said that market tanked with the economy a few years ago, so now he's defending 215 cases - 'largest growing market in CA,' he said. He went from a small east bay office, to 3 now, one in the heart of downtown Oaksterdam and another at a 420 address. There were live bands, speaker panels (heard some funny stuff about Wilfred), a pounding Jamaican style soundsystem thoring some heavy dub and roots (we were at just the right spot - a block away - where the mix settled; any closer and your eyeball humor vibrated too much to see straight). There were rolling contests - how many js can you roll in 4 min 20 sec? The Js had to meet standard requirements for weight and smokability - there were contests going all day - competitors entered with a donation to a cancer group and I'm not sure what they won - bragging rights maybe. Most of the winners were coming it at a baker's dozen +. It was hilarious to watch.
There wasn't any RM action. Mostly gave out knuckle bandaids (what is it with stoners and busted knuckles?) Also spent a lot of time explaining that we were not medical evaluators or suppliers of medical goods, but the real medical with sunscreen, ibuprofen and knuckle bandaids.
Overall, there was this absurdity to the event, as it was really just a show of the power of 215 in Oaksterdam. An open-air smokefest on the steps of city hall? What other city has that kind of balls? Oakland is a ghetto steeping the a cesspool of poverty and violence. The 215 industry is good business for them and after staging an event like this, they've demonstrated they have it together. But the absurdity was constant - Dm and his crew, who, accept for the new EMT, are all 215 positive, and there were many giggles and shaking of heads with the blatant use - so IRIE!
I was honored to be present for such a historic event.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse