Cannabis Culture Awards 2012
During a festive and moving ceremony, the Cannabis Culture Awards 2012 were awarded in Amsterdam.
Two former statesmen, Mr. Thorvald Stoltenberg, former minister of Defense of Norway and Mr. Dries van Agt, former Prime minister of the Netherlands, expressed their hope for a future without cannabis prohibition. ‘Hope is almost as important as life itself’, said Stoltenberg. Mr. Stoltenberg accepted the Cannabis Culture Award on behalf of the Global Commission on Drug Policy. Former CCA winner Dries van Agt handed him the award and complimented Mr. Stoltenberg on his groundbreaking work in this commission as well as in Norway. Mr. Van Agt played a key role in establishing the world famous Dutch tolerance policy on cannabis. He was very outspoken in his criticism of recent policy changes in the Netherlands. ‘This policy change to more repression, or even “zero tolerance”, is devastating nonsense’ van Agt said.
Lester Grinspoon, associate professor emeritus of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, was unable to travel to Amsterdam to receive his award. Thankfully, the Hash Marihuana & Hemp Museum was able to arrange a video conference between the Academic Medical Centre Amsterdam and the library of the Harvard Medical School where Lester Grinspoon first started his research. The third Cannabis Culture Award Winner, Psychiatrist Fredrick Polak, commented on the most recent political developments: “The resignation of the Dutch government will hopefully lead to termination of the new rules for coffeeshops and the so-called ‘weedpass’.”
World’s largest cannabis museum opened in Barcelona
Four festive and magical days marked the opening of the world’s largest cannabis museum in Barcelona, Spain. The Hemp Museum Gallery is a branch of the orginal Hash Marihuana & Hemp Museum in Amsterdam.
The new museum is located in the famous gothic quarter of Barcelona, within walking distance of the beach and the Ramblas boulevard. Ben Dronkers (Sensi Seeds, Hempflax, Hash Museum) purchased the wonderful 16th century Palau or Palace Mornau in 2001 and spared no expense or trouble to turn it into a world class museum.His vast cannabis collection of over 6500 pieces has finally been professionally catalogued and the original Hash Museum in Amsterdam has been thoroughly renovated and upgraded. Hats off to the extended Dronkers family: the results in both cities are spectacular.
The reopening of the Amsterdam museum and the grand opening in Barcelona coincided with the 2012 Cannabis Culture Awards. In Amsterdam, the awards were presented by former Dutch prime minister Dries van Agt, who received the award in 2009. Winners included Norwegian elder statesman Thorvald Stoltenberg, father of the current prime minister and member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy and Dutch psychiatrist and drug policy activist Fredrick Polak. Finally an award was presented to the legendary Lester Grinspoon. Because of his inability to travel a Skype interview with Ben Dronkers was shown at both ceremonies.
The Barcelona ceremony took place on May 9th, two days before the official opening of the museum. The event was dominated by Virgin founder Richard Branson, who accepted an award on behalf of the Global Commission on Drug Policy. The two hours the British super entrepreneur spent in the museum were one big media blitz; a notable difference with the Amsterdam ceremony, attended by only a handful of journalists. Branson promised to urge the Global Commission to issue a strong statement denouncing the repressive course Dutch cannabis policy has taken and stated that legal cannabis could solve Spain’s economic crisis.
The two other winners in Barcelona were Todd McCormick and Fernanda de la Figuera, Spanish grower and cannabis activist since 1973. After the awards ceremony, the party went on for four straight days, with special openings for the press, locals, members of Spanish Cannabis Social Clubs and the general public. The museum is a magical place where even the most knowledgeable cannabis afficionado can learn something. The best places might be the small balconies at the front of the building, where you can sit and smoke cannabis, while looking at passers-by gazing up and taking pictures. Certainly one of those things you have to do at least once in your life…
Hemp Museum Gallery, Carrer Ample 35, Barcelona, Spain
Text © Derrick Bergman (G0NZ0 Media, VOC)
Cannabis Culture Award Winners 2012:
Richard Branson is the founder of the Virgin Group, a conglomerate of more than 400 companies.
He founded ‘Student’ magazine at the age of 16 and would later go on to establish a record label, music stores, a railway company, an airline and even a business offering trips to outer space.
In 2007, Time Magazine included Branson in its list of the world's 100 most influential people.
Branson is a member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy and sits on the Honorary Board of the Drug Policy Alliance. He is one of the most eloquent and famous advocates for the decriminalisation of cannabis. An important cornerstone of Branson’s business success has been to recognise when a strategy is not working and to have the foresight to change direction when the situation requires it.
The war on drugs is a failed enterprise as far as Branson is concerned. This is why he thinks that governments need to learn from the failures of drug policy and have the courage to enact better solutions.
Dr Lester Grinspoon is Associate Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Now one of the most respected and outspoken proponents of cannabis, Dr Grinspoon originally set out to prove it was a harmful drug. In 1967 he began research to scientifically define the dangers of marijuana. His studies led him to a surprising conclusion, the opposite of his hypothesis. Cannabis was not the dangerous drug that he, and the general public, had been led to believe it was. His book ´Marijuana Reconsidered´ (1971) reflected this reversal of opinion and was followed by several more, including ´Marijuana: The Forbidden Medicine´ in 1993.
One of the most dedicated, passionate medical marijuana campaigners in America, Todd McCormick describes himself as an ‘activist/author, traveler, photographer, friend to many’. He has been actively working on initiatives for cannabis and health since 1994 and was instrumental in promoting the implementation of new medical marijuana legislation following Proposition 215 in California. He is the Editor in Chief of Hempire magazine and author of How To Grow Medical Marijuana, an acclaimed step-by-step guidebook (which he offers as a free download). Currently he is working on the upcoming THC Expo in Los Angeles, which last year attracted over 40,000 people.
S
Soft Secrets
