This weekend, for the first time in Southern California, adults will be able to buy and smoke marijuana at a music festival legally.
“Legally” is, of course, the key word. Though its never been legal for Californians to smoke weed in public, its also never been tough to catch a whiff of marijuana being smoked, in public, at local concerts. And for many years the state has had a thriving, unregulated cannabis festival scene.
But High Times Dope Cup High Desert landed the first state license for a legal cannabis event in the southern half of the state, with some 12,000 people expected to attend the free show thats coming Saturday and Sunday (March 23 – 24) to the grounds of a small professional baseball stadium in the high desert town of Adelanto.
Along with music performances by Waka Flocka Flame, Soulja Boy and others, the festival will include dozens of vendors legally selling marijuana to anyone 21 and older, with no forced doctors recommendation required. Attendees also will be able to smoke cannabis in a designated area without worrying about security tapping them on the shoulder or law enforcement giving them a ticket.
That legitimacy comes with some trade-offs — as the entire cannabis industry has come to understand all too well since Californians voted to legalize and regulate marijuana in 2016.
High Times magazine launched its famed Cannabis Cup circuit 30 years ago in its counterculture heyday. The festivals thrived in Californias gray medical marijuana market, with thousands of people flooding National Orange Show Events Center in San Bernardino and other venues a few times a year to listen to music and smoke weed.
In this April 23, 2017 file photo, vendors offer marijuana for sale at the High Times Cannabis Cup in San Bernardino. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel,File)
Both medicated and non-medicated food is available at High Times SoCal Cannabis Cup in San Bernardino on Friday, April 21, 2017. (Photo by Matt Masin, Orange County Register, SCNG)
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Honey Pot offers medicated topical massages inside the citrus building at the High Times SoCal Cannabis Cup in San Bernardino on Friday, April 21, 2017. (Photo by Matt Masin, Orange County Register, SCNG)
Honey Pot infused products on display at High Times SoCal Cannabis Cup in San Bernardino on Friday, April 21, 2017. (Photo by Matt Masin, Orange County Register, SCNG)
Flowers on display at the demonstration grow room at High Times SoCal Cannabis Cup in San Bernardino on Friday, April 21, 2017. (Photo by Matt Masin, Orange County Register, SCNG)
A Cannabis Cup attendee has her photo taken in front of the High Times flower sign at High Times SoCal Cannabis Cup in San Bernardino on Friday, April 21, 2017. (Photo by Matt Masin, Orange County Register, SCNG)
People clammor for free goodies thrown out during the cannabis cooking competition at High Times SoCal Cannabis Cup in San Bernardino on Friday, April 21, 2017. (Photo by Matt Masin, Orange County Register, SCNG)
People wait in line for food near the food trucks at High Times SoCal Cannabis Cup in San Bernardino on Friday, April 21, 2017. (Photo by Matt Masin, Orange County Register, SCNG)
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Today, High Times is a multimillion-dollar, publicly traded corporation. And its now filing detailed site plans, paying thousands of dollars in licensing fees and agreeing to submit to strict state and local regulations so it can host events like High Times Dope Cup High Desert this weekend.
That means visitors shouldnt expect free hits of weed from vendors or to chase their joints with beers, which were both common sights at Cannabis Cup events of Read More
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