Portland grower sweeps the Oregon Medical Cannabis Awards with ³Lemon Pledge,² ³Train Wreck² and ³Dynamite.²

 Portland grower sweeps the Oregon Medical Cannabis Awards with ³Lemon Pledge,² ³Train Wreck² and ³Dynamite.² 

Rolling To Victory


December 17th, 2008

A very mellow gathering of 100 medical-marijuana users got some delicious
news at the seventh annual Oregon Medical Cannabis Awards on Saturday night.

³Apparently, the weed keeps getting better and better,² announced Russ
Belville, associate director of the National Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws¹ Oregon branch.

Belville based his statement on the scores this year¹s 27 entries received
from a lucky pool of 28 judges who are medical marijuana patients. Each
judge got a gram of each type to sample over six weeks, and rate on
appearance, taste, aroma, potency, smoothness and medicinal effect.

This year¹s top entry received an 80 percent score. Last year¹s winner, 78.8
percent.

The crowd‹many of whom made trips throughout the night to a courtyard set up
outside the Ambridge Events Center in Northeast Portland for
medical-marijuana cardholders to smoke and vaporize their stash‹erupted in
applause.

Paul Stanford, head of a Portland-based national chain of medical-marijuana
clinics called THC Foundation (see ³King Bong,² WW, Dec. 12, 2007),
dominated this year¹s awards. Stanford collected first, second and third
prize for his Lemon Pledge, Train Wreck and Dynamite strains.

Stanford, who in past cannabis contests has never broken into the top three,
chalked the victory up to better tilling in his outer East Portland garden.
³We did a lot better job mixing our dirt this year,² he told WW after
collecting his glass trophies and ribbons.

David Verstoppen, the legendary Eastern Oregon grower who¹s won the past
three years and fell victim to a violent attempted weed heist (see
³High-Jacked,² WW, Nov. 12, 2008), had to settle for an honorable mention in
the ³best aroma² category for his Medicine Woman strain.

³This man is living proof that you can¹t keep a good man down,² Belville
told the crowd as Verstoppen took his ribbon after making the five-hour
drive from Long Creek.

The highlights of the evening were the cake table (chocolate, custard or
organic carrot) and the keynote address by Allen St. Pierre, head of NORML¹s
national office in Washington, D.C. He called for legalization as a matter
of ³cognitive liberty.²

³Of course we want to get high. This is self-evident. But we can get plenty
high under prohibition,² St. Pierre said. ³There¹s no moral reason why you
shouldn¹t have access to this incredible plant.²

St. Pierre bemoaned what he called the ³Balkanization² of the marijuana
movement, with hemp advocates, medical patients, pot decriminalizers and
hard-drug legalizers all staking out territory.

He noted a new phenomenon where retiring baby boomers are returning to their
youthful pastimes, including marijuana use, and contributing more money to
NORML. But he also said the organization needs new ways of reaching out.

³What if we had marijuana dating services?² he asked. ³How many of us are
with our spouse or partner because of the commonality of cannabis?²

FACT: NORML¹s Allen St. Pierre hinted he may move the group¹s office to the
West Coast, on the friendly side of America¹s ³marijuana Maginot Line.² He
said Portland is high on the list of possible homes. One audience member
promised plenty of ³green office space.²

http://wweek.com/editorial/3506/11996