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
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 October 31st, Halloween, Bay Area youth, families and other community members gathered around the Northern California Headquarters of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at 630 Sansome in San Francisco to denounce the atrocities committed by ICE against immigrant communities, even in the so called “sanctuary cities.” The demonstration included a lively funeral march, drumming and dancing by Danza Azteca, inciting speeches delivered by three Xicanas, as well as Sleeping dragons set up on two sides of the ICE building, effectively blocking the entry and exit of ICE vehicles for several hours. Demonstrators call for an immediate end to all ICE raids and to shut down all detention centers. 
On August 5th, the first ever WordCamp took place at the Swedish American Hall in San Francisco. Users and developers of WordPress, a fantastic blogging software, were able to meet each other face to face to discuss the State of the Word and envision the future of online publishing.
