(Ted and Gayle’s first Halloween together)
Updates, Warnings and Suggestions – Issue 46
By Ted Smith
It has been an exciting fall for the Cannabis Digest and the International Hempology 101 Society. In Sept we celebrated 20 years of Hempology 101 in Victoria with our annual march from City Hall to the legislature. For highlights please read my article at the back of the paper, see my recent video series or check out the video we made of the march, and the speech made by Cheryl Thomas, the federal Liberal candidate for Victoria.
Of course Sept is also the kick-off for the school year. The 420 gatherings have started up again at the University of Victoria, in the center of campus, with no sign of the campus police for the first time in years. The club at UBC also seems to be going strong, with about 70 students attending the AGM in September. It will be interesting to see how the UBC Hempology 101 club grows, as it is quite independent of the non-profit society, and there is great potential on that campus for the club to become involved in all sorts of research.
Around the same time, the newspaper confirmed a number of advertisers, helping it grow from 32 to 44 pages in one big jump! This will help the paper grow into the future, and should ensure that I can actually start getting $500 a month, pay our bookkeeper a small amount, and hire someone to improve our webpages to increase our revenue streams even more. As the paper is finally making enough money to pay for itself, we are excited about our future possibilities. We would especially like a Team 420 vapor lounge in Victoria.
Speaking of Team 420, we sure had an awesome dodgeball tournament this summer. It was so much fun playing dodgeball on the back lawn of the courthouse for the afternoon. And huge kudos goes out to the Beard Brothers, not only for sponsoring the event, but for bringing a tent and a dab bar!! Everyone enjoyed doing dabs while waiting for another game. Of course my team won because I kick ass! If you want to watch, the videos are on our Youtube page. Congratulations to Kelsey for winning the Most Valuable Player award, and Adam for winning the Most Kind, aka sportsperson-like award. Also thanks to Sacred Herb, Crop King Seeds, BC Smoke Shop, Jupiter, and the Beard Bros, for sponsoring this awesome event. Next year we plan on hosting tournaments in Nanaimo, Vancouver, and Victoria, and we will only grow from there.
Our next event will be the annual Halloweed costume contest that we host on the front steps of the courthouse. For years we have held a large, very entertaining costume contest; the winners usually get a nice bong. The contest is followed by hot-boxing the front stairs of the court. There have been some very entertaining contestants willing to do all sorts of things to win this, and since it is too dark to film you really have to be there. Thanks again to our sponsors the Beard Bros, Crop King Seeds, Sacred Herb, Jupiter, and the BC Smoke Shop. The event starts at 7pm on Halloweed.
At the Victoria Cannabis Buyers Club everyone is excited about the city preparing to license dispensaries. It might not all be good news, though, as we may have to fight to keep our smoking room. We will try to keep members up-to-date regarding all possible opportunities to educate the city councilors and staff about the need for a safe smoking room for patients. We are also concerned that rules regarding edibles may be restrictive, like the regulations being introduced in Vancouver. Vancouver is allowing capsule and oils, but no cookies or candies. While there may be some problems with the new regulations, it is amazing to think that the VCBC is going to become a licensed establishment in the near future, regardless of who wins the federal election.
Speaking of the election, Satan sure loves those who do not vote, leaving his minions in charge to rape and pillage the planet in the name of profit. If you care enough to have read this, though, you will likely care enough to vote. But it is still important to pressure others into voting too, as the 1% cannot maintain control forever in the face of mass participation in the democratic system.
Finally, a word about my love, Gayle Quin. As I write this she is in terrible pain. While through the spring and summer she seemed to be slowly recovering, this August the pain in her back suddenly shot through the roof, followed a few weeks later by pain in her hip. We are so very lucky she has lived this long, but it is very distressing to see her suffering so much for so long. She is tired of fighting for her life, but continues to make the most of every moment with me. A huge thanks goes out to everyone who has helped us with cannabis medicines, money, food, gifts, flowers, hugs, love and visits. The love we feel on a daily basis keeps us going.