The first annual High Times Medical Cannabis Cup was held on the weekend of June 19th and 20th at Terra in San Francisco. The two-day event featured a presentation by internationally renowned, best-selling author Jorge Cervantes. It was his first U.S. appearance, and he went without his signature cap, shades and dreads.
In his presentation, Cervantes focused on growing cannabis outdoors and organically. He used Switzerland as a case in point, showing photographs of healthy plants freely growing in fields in the most conservative region of the country. “You can really grow some good medicine in greenhouses and outdoors,” said Cervantes. He also stressed that, “You can grow outdoor in many climates. You don’t think of Switzerland as a place for growing outdoors, but as you can see it works, and it works well.” Read More and View Photos

On June 14th, hundreds of people demonstrated outside the Los Angeles Superior Court at 210 W. Temple to demand justice for Oscar Grant. Angelenos made it very clear that the significance of the trial of Johannes Mehserle is bigger than just Oscar Grant’s case, and that police brutality is part of systematic oppression. Connections were drawn between police killings in Los Angeles and the Bay Area, as well as in New York.
The International Cannabis and Hemp Exposition took place at the Cow Palace in Daly City on April 17th and 18th. The expo, which had the first permitted area for the use of medical marijuana, was the largest event of its kind to hit Northern California.
On Sunday, December 20th, Santa was hanging out at the corner of Pacific and Soquel in downtown Santa Cruz offering hugs, hot cocoa, cookies, conversation and warm clothing to passers-by. Many people were receptive and appreciative of Santa’s kind spirit and the elf giving out cocoa and cookies.
On July 3rd, a busy pre-holiday afternoon in downtown Santa Cruz, numerous stores were displaying a declaration printed by local homeless rights advocates. The pledge reads, “This business does not discriminate. We support Human Rights for the homeless community, including the right to sleep at night–not anywhere and everywhere–but somewhere.”



