With the end of the year only a couple of days away, some event organizers are holding the last of what looks to be a diminishing component of the cannabis culture after the calendar changes: local seshes. While 2018 state regulations allow for such gatherings to take place, they will restrict them to fairgrounds and agricultural properties, require approval from the city, and only permit fully-licensed vendors to participate and sell products.
On a cool Thursday, December 8 evening, the Ganja Galaxy sesh rolled into town for its final gathering of the 2017 year. In a second-floor suite in a plaza across from MCAS Miramar, a relaxed, friendly crowd of cannabis-lovers made their way around the venue enjoying live music, taking free dabs, sampling edibles, and picking up deals on some of their favorite cannabis items.
From the stage, various local talents showcased their range of vocal abilities, serenading attendees with a variety of hip-hop and melodic stylings. Throughout the evening, a there were frequent showers of free products that rained into the crowd’s eager hands.
The ring of booths that surrounded the perimeter of the venue and the circle of tables in the center held an assortment of local cannabis flower, edibles, topicals, concentrates, and glass products. She’s So Waxy, and Tasty High Creations served cannabis syrup pour-up (poup) drinks at booths while outside, food vendors grilled up skewers and other non-medicated items. As usual, free bottles of water were available to everyone who attended.
The event ran smoothly for the first few hours but was interrupted when a police car was spotted in the parking lot just after 9:00. Attendees were quickly rushed into the venue, and the doors were locked in hopes of preventing entry by law enforcement.
Fearing a raid, panicked vendors inside packed up their wares with lightning speed while nervous attendees awaited the uncertain outcome of the evening.
Outside, event organizer Beefe engaged the police in conversation to find out the nature of their visit. He told them that it was a private event and the officers explained that they had been called there because of a noise complaint from another tenant who was in the complex working late.
During the conversation, the officers apparently received a more important call and made their way back to their cruiser. As they were walking away, they told Beefe that the event was okay to continue but to lower the volume of the music and inform the attendees that driving high is a DUI.
Beefe returned to the stage inside and informed everyone that the event was still on, but it was apparent that the damage had been done at that point. A small crowd stayed to get some more freebies from the stage and watch the last few vocalists take the microphone, but the majority of the merchants had already packed up their booths and were making their way out the door with other attendees.
A few vendors like Golden State Banana and She’s So Waxy were undeterred by the police visit and set their tables back up, offering a selection of flowers, concentrates, and edibles for the remainder of the evening.
As the new emergency regulations currently stand, it will be very difficult, if not impossible for the majority of these local cannabis events to survive in their current form. But that’s not stopping organizers from having their last few gatherings in 2017, or from persevering and finding a way to have them in 2018 as well.
