Colonel Mulligan’s face turned grim when he saw the enemy advancing from behind heavy bales of hemp. This battle, he knew, could be his last. Summoned just days earlier, Mulligan was tasked with fortifying the Union Army’s position at Lexington, Missouri in the third week of September, 1861. It was a seemingly impossible mission from the start; the Colonel’s men were outnumbered by more than 3 to 1. Read Full Story Here
Police in Barcelona may be conducting a renewed crackdown on the city’s many marijuana enthusiasts. While cannabis in Spain and particularly in Catalonia is legal to varying degrees, possession or consumption of any amount of weed in public is grounds for searches, seizures, fines, harassment and even arrest. In the last week this author has received numerous reports of Barcelona’s police or “Mossos d’Esquadra” targeting people for petty marijuana possession charges. This article discusses two of those cases where details were available, and in both instances the amount of cannabis in question was less than 2 grams. Additionally, in each case the marijuana was acquired legally in a professional private cannabis club. Read Full Story Here
Progressive European marijuana policy is likely being hindered by the vast majority of EU citizen cannabis users who mix tobacco with their marijuana. In fact, this practice is so common that Americans such as myself seem out of place in Europe when we smoke joints, pipes or bongs consisting of pure marijuana. But more importantly, the European practice of mixing tobacco with marijuana also means that it’s no wonder Europe isn’t advancing the medical marijuana agenda like in North America. Read Full Story Here
Catalonia’s parliament took a symbolic step this fall by making regulations for cannabis clubs in the form of recommendations; but with no specific plan for implementation or enforcement. The initial proposal was laid out in June, but session talks stalled repeatedly and the resolution was not passed until early November. Meanwhile, police spent the summer investigating, raiding and ultimately closing more than 60 cannabis clubs in Barcelona. Read Full Story Here
An undercover policeman sat in the hallway of the Dragon cannabis club in Barcelona recently, posing as a tourist. When a legitimate member of the club, who for the sake of this article we’ll call “Mr. Dean,” entered the hallway and pressed the intercom button for admittance to the interior of the club, the “tourist” suddenly stood up, identified himself as a police officer and proceeded to question, badger and threaten Mr. Dean, eventually telling him that Dragon was being shut down and that he would need to go to a different club. This is just part of the continued crackdown on cannabis clubs in Barcelona. Read Full Story Here
“Give us your weed.” Those were the firm words of Barcelona police officers directed at two men who had just left one of the city’s now-infamous cannabis clubs this week. The men, one of whom is a Spanish resident and legitimate member of a local club, had just acquired a small amount of marijuana from a cannabis club near Las Ramblas. As they turned the corner and headed home, two plain-clothes police detectives flashed their badges and ordered the men to…Read Full Story Here
The now-famous Barcelona cannabis club is being bludgeoned to death by the city’s council and lawmakers. In the last few days at least 49 cannabis clubs in Barcelona have been closed, and some have been shuttered forcefully by police after authorities encountered resistance from club owners. Armed with the political and practical upper hand, the latest round of attacks by authorities appears to be the beginning of the end for Barcelona’s cannabis clubs. Read Full Story Here
Barcelona’s cannabis clubs have been under intense scrutiny and pressure by city administrators and police during the month of June, 2014. Clubs have been raided, staff and board members arrested and imprisoned and members have been harassed and ticketed in some cases. Several clubs have been closed permanently by Spanish police. Fortunately, many cannabis clubs in Barcelona have survived this onslaught, but according to some, this will only be a temporary reprieve. Next year, if some administrators have their way, the clubs will be shuttered. Read Full Story Here
The 2014 High Times Cannabis Cup in Denver fell on the fabled stoner’s holiday, 4/20. Tens of thousands of cannabis enthusiasts flocked to the Mile High City that week, and if you tried to buy some weed at a Denver dispensary you’d know they were there; long lines snaked out the door and down the sidewalk at many retail weed shops in the days before the Cup. Many shops were unprepared for the influx, although ultimately it seemed to me that there was more than enough weed for everyone.
I attended both days of the event and had an awesome time – there was so much to do that I missed out on quite a lot. However, I did manage to get a little more than 100 good photographs of the people, businesses and organizations behind the 2014 High Times Cannabis Cup, and I’m happy to share them with you here.