While thousands took to the streets this weekend to celebrate SF Pride, over in the East Bay an event was taking place that celebrated a freedom of a different sort.
The third annual Bay Area High Times Cannabis Cup brought together marijuana connoisseurs from across the state to Richmond’s Craneway Pavilion. Although the main event was the judging of some of the kindest buds in the country, the exposition also featured a variety of glass water pipes, portable vaporizers, ice-cold cannabis beverages and miscellaneous cannabis accessories. Outside in the parking lot, a chain-link fence surrounded the Prop 215 area where vendors offered card-carrying cannabis patients tastes of an assortment of potent edibles, dabs of concentrate, and tokes of some of the best medical cannabis strains of sativa and indica the state has to offer.
As the sun lowered over the harbor on Sunday night, a soft amber light shining through the many windows of the pavilion, people gathered around the stage for the start of the awards ceremony. High Times staffers announced awards for best product, booth, glass, concentrate, edibles, hybrid, sativa and indica. After a long afternoon of ingesting cannabis products galore, the winners wound their way up to the stage to accept their honors from Miss High Times Emily Aryn (more on her majesty here). San Jose Patients Group took home first place among indicas for its Cordero Kush Platinum. Playbud Delivery Service received first place for best sativa, an honor claimed by its Premium Jack Herer.
During the ceremony, a special lifetime achievement award was given to Oaksterdam University founder, Richard Lee. Considered the father of Prop 19, his cannabis university and his dispensary were raided by federal agents last April. For an update on where Lee and Oaksterdam are at now, read our interview with Lee and new Oaksterdam head Dale Sky Jones here.
[from the High Times website]
BEST INDICA
1st Place – Cordero Kush Platinum, San Jose Patients Group
2nd Place – Master Yoda Kush, Kush connection
3rd Place – Cherry Cola, Sonoma County Collective
BEST SATIVA
1st Place – Premium Jack Herer, Playbud Delivery Service
2nd Place – Yogi Diesel, Elemental Wellness
3rd Place – XJ-13 Cracker Jack, Santa Cruz Mountain Natural
BEST HYBRID
1st Place – Larry OG Kush, The Cali Connection Seed Company
2nd Place – Ken’s Phantom, Granddaddy Purple Collective
3rd Place – OG Sky, Buddy’s Cannabis
CBD AWARDS
1st Place – MCU ATF Bubble, Hill Farms presents Master Control Unit
2nd Place – Lemon Remedy, Harborside Health Center of SJ
3rd Place – Harlequin, Buds and Roses Collective
BEST CONCENTRATE
1st Place – Hardcore OG Budder, Superior Extracts for West Coast Cures
2nd Place – OG Super Sexy Budder, LA Confidential Caregivers
3rd Place – Unfuckwitable OG Wax, Venice Medical Wax Centers
BEST NON-SOLVENT HASH
1st Place – Solvent-less BAMF Mix Hash, BAMF Extractions for Buds and Roses Collective
BEST EDIBLE
1st Place – Eleve Gourmet Veganic Medicated Truffles, Hills Farmacy
2nd Place – CannaChocolate 44/8mg THC/CBD, Tea House Collective
3rd Place – Spice Orange Drops, Greenway Compassionate Relief Inc.
BEST BOOTH
1st Place – Mamma P’s
2nd Place – Elemental Wellness
3rd Place – Cali Connection
BEST PRODUCT
1st Place – Mama P’s Grinder
2nd Place – KO Nail from KO Domeless Nail
3rd Place – The Grinder Card from V-Syndicate
BEST GLASS
1st Place – Hitman Glass
2nd Place – Pulse Glass
3rd Place – Dopeass Glass