Consumer Confidential photos: limited edition Hemp Hoodlamb fabric patterns
Here’s a collection of pot culture essentials for the stoners and midnight tokers you know and love.
Across the board marijuana legalization seems to be right around the corner. Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, has dubbed 2013 the “Best Year Ever in Drug Policy Reform,” and says “we’ve hit the tipping point” when it comes to marijuana legalization.
The latest national Gallup poll found a 10 point jump in support for legalization of marijuana, up from 48% last year to 55% this year, and the legalization victories in Colorado and Washington last year were remarkable. On top of that, the entire nation of Uruguay made weed legal last month.There’s much to celebrate.
What better time to revel in these victories than the holidays, and what better way than with fun and funky pot presents and “cannagifts?”
Maybe you live in Colorado or Washington where legalization has already kept thousands out of jail and saved taxpayers millions of dollars, or maybe you just want to spread the joy, humor and social style of that surrounds this miraculous herb as the end of prohibition spreads across the country and the world.
Whatever your motives, here’s a collection of cannabis culture essentials for the stoners and midnight tokers you know and love this holiday season and beyond.
1. Comics and Books:
- Tales of the World Famous Drive Thru Bud—In this comic book series from Golden Frog Press each tale is laced with cannabis humor. For example in “Sinsemilla Ninjas from Mars” the space ship is hilariously attacked by the Super Spider Mites from Mars. The series is based on characters created by Northern California illustrator Pat Ryan, and the serial characters, Baron Von Bongenheimer, Humboldt Honey and Super Skunk, among others live out their funny high society adventures via brief and hilarious stories.
- The Emperor Wears No Clothes—Every stoner must have a copy of The Emperor Wears No Clothes, by Jack Herer. Herer is the father of the modern cannabis movement and this book, first published in 1985, is like the “Bible” of the cause. It compiles the historical uses of hemp and marijuana and the political and business developments leading up to modern marijuana prohibition.
- G.R.A.S.S.—Herer’s 1973 title, G.R.A.S.S. or Great Revolutionary American Standard System: The Official Guide for Assessing the Quality of Marijuana on the 1 to 10 Scale is another underground classic. G.R.A.S.S details a rating system for marijuana quality and a scale to determine your buzz level in the days when Panama Red and Acapulco Gold were mythical varieties of premium imported marijuana.
2. Vape Pens:, Cloud 2.0 by CloudPenz, Trifecta by White Rhino, DabOTG, by DabOTG
Vaporizer pens are all the rage right now. Originally developed as a harm reduction tool for tobacco smokers, vape pens offer a convenient, odorless and portable way to puff cannabis. High Times Magazine recently tested 32 new vape pen models. With vigorous and repeated testing, the Cloud 2.0 by Cloud Penz won top honors for Best Mini and Trifecta by White Rhino was named Most Versatile. Judges favored DabOTG with Best Overall and Best Hit awards.
Photo: DabOTG vape pen.
Designed specifically for hash wax, High Times testers found the Cloud 2.0 pen easy to use and dependable. It comes in a variety of stealth colors or bold fashion patterns. The Trifecta can vaporize flowers or hash wax and oil, making it the most adaptable vape pen. DabOTG, designed for hash wax, has a glass dome so you can see the vapors and four adjustable heat settings. The ceramic components make the Dab OTG a good choice for air travel.
Photo: Cloud 2.0 vape pen.
3. Hats: Grassroots California and Visual Fiber
- Grassroots California’s flat brim baseball caps—These blasé staples of sun care are crucial to cannabis style today, especially among the younger aficionados. Grassroots California has an extensive online catalog of hats, including artist editions, event and collaboration hats in almost any color or fabric combination. And, most designs have a secret stash pocket hidden within a stylish liner.
Photo: Grassroots California cap.
- Visual Fiber’s custom hats—This millennial-savvy business is located only on Facebook, and will custom-paint your chosen caps with in bold images of pop and pot culture. For elevating otherwise common headwear into unique works of art, Visual Fiber hats were the first, second and third place prizes at the recent Secret Cup, a national hash concentrate competition
Photo: Visual Fiber cap.
4. T-shirts:
- Kill Your Culture Apparel —Kill your Culture Apparel covers its T’s in popular cultural images and icons, with a 420 twist. Darth Vader becomes Darth Vapor as he puffs from a Volcano Vaporizer, while the Good Fellas transform the Dab Fellas. Designs are printed on soft, lightweight combed polyester and cotton blend fabric.
- Green Man Cannabis—Green Man Cannabis, a Medical Marijuana Center in Denver, designed the coolest yellow tank for women. On it, Wonder Woman saunters through a blue field of stars smoking a jay, her golden lasso at her waist.
Photo:Green Man Cannabis Wonder Woman tank.
5. Lighter Accessory: Kasher
The Kasher is a handy lighter accessory, especially useful to pipe smokers and dabbers. A simple metal sleeve fits snugly onto a BiC lighter, keeping it nearby when needed.
Slide the Kasher down the lighter and use the ingenious tool to stir and empty the pipe. The newest Kashers, made of thicker stainless steel, can be used as a dab tool for concentrates. They’re easy to clean and easy to reuse and attach to a new lighter.
Photo: Kasher ligher accessory.
6. Limited Edition Winter Coats by Street Artists Sam Flores and Jeremy Fish
Amsterdam’s hemp clothing company, Hemp Hoodlamb, released a limited edition run of signature winter coats patterned in fabrics designed by street artists Sam Flores and Jeremy Fish.
Sam Flores design for limited edition Hemp Hoodlab coats.
Hemp Hoodlamb coats showcase authentic hemp in a modern, metropolitan style. From the hemp shell with organic hemp cellulose water proofing treatment, to the soft and warm Satifur liner made from hemp fiber and recycled bottles, Hemp Hoodlamb coats are high quality, and easy on the planet.
Jeremy Fish design for limited edition Hemp Hoodlab coats.
The coats are designed with lifestyle pockets: a microfiber lined sunglass pocket on the chest, Satifur lined hand pockets, inside pockets for rolling papers and a secret pocket for your stash. Hemp Hoodlamb coats can be purchased online, but the Limited Edition Sam Flores and Jeremy Fish coats are only sold at Hoodlab San Francisco and Hoodlab Denver.
7. Glass Pipe: Snodgrass Family Glass and Chubby Glass
- Bob Snodgrass is the inventor of the artistic glass pipe and father of the glass blowing culture in Oregon. Check out his online shop for a hammer, sherlock or sidecar style pipe made with his signature color-changing glass.
Photo: Snodgrass pipe.
- Chubby Glass—a Boulder, Colorado collective since 2001—makes the Celtic Spoon pipe, a shiny or sandblasted matte hand pipe in white swirled with another color. The bold and simple design is visually appealing and the opaque white pipe always looks tidy. The red and white Celtic Spoon is especially festive for the holidays.
8. Nug Jar: Sirens of the Sea by Kemmish Pottery
Keep your stash in a lovely handmade nug jar from Washington potters, Kemmish Pottery. Called Sirens of the Sea, jar depicts two sexy mermaids who perch atop a seaside rock overlooking the ocean and sky. It’s a pleasing handmade vessel with a wide mouth and cork lid. This object d’art is found at the Hempfest Central online store. All purchases from Hempfest Central support the annual production costs of Seattle Hempfest, the largest cannabis event in the world.
Photo: Sirens of the Sea nug jar.
]]>My best styling happened at the VIP Party. CiCi Dunn with Hemp Hoodlamb mandated edgy styling on the runway. I took the directive and put together this special look for the VIP Party. Special thanks to model and industry executive, AC Braddock for doing what I told her to do, it turned out epic!
Photos courtesy Tawnee Lynne Cowan Photography
Hemp Hoodlamb Pea Coat on the runway at VIP Party
Hemp Hoodlamb Pea Coat and House of Hoodlab Favela t-shirt.
Model’s own tights and boots.
Hemp Hoodlamb leaving a lasting impression on the runway.
You may have heard about the speakers, the massive smoke outs and other highlights of 2013′s Seattle Hempfests, but did you know there were daily fashion shows in the Hemposium Tent?
I co-produced the show, Fashion with a Passion for Freedom, with Hemposium Manager Pam Haley, featuring garments from established hemp clothing companies across the country and exciting pieces made by fresh design students at Seattle-based NY Fashion Academy.
Local fashion design students utilized bolts of hemp fabrics to create savvy garments for this first legal hemp fashion show in post I-502 Washington State. All participating clothing companies were founded in the 1990s and the well-constructed garments on the runway reflected the accrued experience in workmanship and clothing design.
The companies featured at the fashion show this year were excellent examples of eco-friendly organizations dedicated to environmental preservation with style.
Earth Creations,based in Bessemer, Alabama, creates casual and fashionable seasonal styles in hemp and organic cotton jersey. Dyed with locally-sourced natural clays, these garments are designed for mixing and matching for a variety of up-to-date looks.
Earth Creations’ runway offerings included a ruffled Lucca shrug in taupe, paired with a flounced Sydney dress and flared Arabesque skirt worn as a strapless dress.
A 3-Dragonfly printed tank, ruffle Capri leggings, and Lucca shrug in aqua blue made a comfortable casual outfit.
The hooded Sadie dress with decorative front button jacket looked good as a tunic with skinny jeans or as a short dress.
Earth Creations clothing is stylish casual wear for earth lovers of all ages.
Amsterdam hemp clothing company, Hemp Hoodlamb, and its North American flagship store, Hoodlab, showed off select women’s garments from HHL’s urban eco-friendly clothing line.
HHL’s outerwear included a signature winter coat from the Sea Shepherd line, a pea coat and summer jacket.
All outerwear is solidly constructed with hemp fabrics, double stitched at stress points, and reinforced with a hemp cellulose water and wind proofing treatment.
The HHL signature winter coats are lined in luxurious Satifur, an exclusive blend of hemp, recycled PET plastic and acrylic fur.
House of Hoodlab custom screen printed hemp and organic cotton t-shirts were paired with stylish herringbone-weave miniskirts and shorts with pleated front pockets. Hemp Hoodlamb’s clothing is perfect for people who appreciate an urban clothing style.
Dress by Earth Creations, bag by Dharma Bags
Photo by Josh Rettie
Dharma Bags from Taos Hemp Company are beautiful and utilitarian travel bags for women and men. The three styles of bags are sewn in Taos, New Mexico with premium woven hemp in gorgeous solid colors.
Practical for everyday use, Dharma Bags can hold a lot of life’s necessities. The wide shoulder strap comfortably distributes the full weight of the bag’s content. However functional, it is the simple and elegant beauty of Dharma Bags that inspires their everyday use.
Conscious Clothing, a green bridal boutique based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, stunned the audience with wedding couture.
The first gown, a corseted feathered top with peacock feathers and full skirt were made from a hemp and silk floral jacquard. A simple and elegant bias cut gown shimmered in hemp silk satin with a sheer chiffon train overlay.
Conscious Clothing green wedding couture. Photo by Susan Squibb.
The “Steam Punk” gown, made of hemp silk satin had an elaborate bottom ruffle around the full skirt. A raw edged organic cotton voile ruffle runs around the neck that draped down the back to create a very becoming dress.
In addition to bridal wear, Conscious Clothing will soon be launching an evening wear collection.
The future of hemp fashion was showcased by the designing talent at NY Fashion Academy. Four designers came up with innovative cannabis lifestyle clothing utilizing hemp fabrics from EnviroTextilesand HempTraders.
Erika Ray crafted unique hand dyed and hand painted hoodies from hemp and organic cotton for cozy cool street looks that heal the planet.
Malia Peoples, constructed an oversized smoking jacket, for local musician Boris Budd, with classic natural hemp fabric and accented cuffs.
Hand-dyed and painted hoodie by Erika Ray. Photo by Josh Rettie
Kiymbah Tytania designed couture men’s and women’s trim aprons with black hemp fabric and red pocket, ruffle and tie accents.
The attractive and practical aprons have handy pockets for holding trimming scissors, cell phones and rolling papers.
A wide pocket in the front of the men’s apron catches loose trim to roll up a doobie for break time!
Marcella Kelly presented the exquisite Seattle Colorfest collection.
Marcella made a dark green hemp and cotton jersey knit dress with black hemp silk yokes, side panels, accents, and a black hemp silk charmeuse corset belt.
The belt contained handy lifestyle stash pockets. A pair of his and hers High Society smoking jackets, made for Seattle Hempfest organizers, Vivian McPeak and Kanti Selig ,were constructed out of plum Hempcel fabric with black hemp silk charmeuse collars, cuffs and pocket welts. Specialty pockets on the inside hold legal cannabis and accouterment.
The most surprising outfit in the Colorfest collection was a bright coral jersey knit t-shirt dress with hemp silk collar paired with a yellow hemp silk pleated asymmetrical skirt with a grommet waistband. This lightweight and festive garment wowed the eco-fashionistas in the crowd.
]]>“From my experience working with volunteers at Seattle Hempfest for 13 years, Susan Squibb is in the top ten workers of the hundreds we encounter every year. I highly recommend her professionalism, follow-through, responsibility, organization, ideas and charms.”
The whole letter from Ms.Haley is below. It feels great to be recognized for something I enjoy doing. Event production is exciting. I love the thrill of preparing and executing an event plan.
To Whom it May Concern,
As a coordinator of the Hemposium at Seattle Hempfest one of several projects I created was a fashion show featuring local designers using at least 75% hemp in their garments. One of the Hemposium stages emcees; Don Wirtshafter is an internationally acclaimed hemp ambassador. He introduced me to the textile importers of good repute to work on this all volunteer project.
Understanding I had created a project that needed help Don introduced me to Susan. He knew she had the experience that would be a perfect fit to help make the project successful. Through emails we coordinated our roles and responsibilities so that when we arrived in Seattle the magic took off.
Susan made contacts with four companies negotiating sponsorships for their garments to be displayed in the fashion show. The companies sent the perfect number of outfits and accessories to fill in with the local designers. One company, Hemp HoodLamb has a local following that was ecstatic to see the warm furry coats arrive to Seattle. Another company, Conscious Creations makes beautiful hemp/charmeuse silk wedding, steam punk gowns that fit our lucky model like a second glamorous hempy skin.
Susan took the fashion show director role and managed the stage hands, models and designers fluidly with charms. Together we developed the Emcee’s descriptions of the garments, flow of designers and their models. Keeping all those people organized and having extreme fun takes a very special person. She orchestrated a fun fashion show for all involved. I encourage viewing of the photos to see the beauty of the weekend captured.
From my experience working with volunteers at Seattle Hempfest for 13 years, Susan Squibb is in the top ten workers of the hundreds we encounter every year. I highly recommend her professionalism, follow-through, responsibility, organization, ideas and charms.
Sincerely,
Pam Haley
Seattle Hempfest
Hemposium Coordinator, Speakers Crew,
Hemp Couture Fashion Show Producer
]]>This version includes a Best of Vendors coverage with unpublished event photos.I Lo
Seattle Hempfest is the largest cannabis event in the world. This year’s Hempfest was the first since the passage of I-502, Washington’s marijuana legalization law, and a quarter of a million people came to celebrate. During the third weekend of August, with hot and sunny weather, Hempfest occupied a mile and a half of Myrtle Edwards Park in downtown Seattle. Within the safety of Hempfest, people smoked, vaporized and consumed cannabis in public. Occasional cooling sea breezes wafted along the beautiful waterfront, joining the hovering cloud of freshly smoked marijuana. With a hundred bands and a hundred speakers entertaining and informing from six stages, and four hundred booths of vendors and nonprofits to visit, there was plenty to see and do at Seattle Hempfest this year.
Sit on the grass and smoke some grass.
The grass in Myrtle Edwards Park is a comfortable spot for a smoking sesh with friends. Hempfest’s crowd was reveling in public pot smoking as people with 4, 6 and 12 foot bongs sat toking up with a little help from their friends. Others were walking around flashing their newly purchased pieces. Stony and relatively subdued, the crowd enjoyed the surreal and liberating experience of not having to publicly hide their appreciation of cannabis.
Marijuana tshirt at Hempfest.
The waves of people walking were decked out in fancy and casual hemp and pot leaf fashions. Wearing a pot leaf or cannabis message T shirts, or pot leaf accessories, is practically ubiquitous in this scene (my personal favorite T shirt message was “This veteran is medicated for your protection.”) Other cannabis enthusiasts were decked out in bright necklaces, hats, sunglasses, scarves, socks, everything in their wardrobe adorned with pot leaves. Occasionally, someone was dressed in formal wear or fantasy fairy and animal costumes. Topless women sported pot leaf pasties and young families walked through the festival site with strollers.
Everlast jams onstage at Seattle Hempfest.
Boris and the Waterboarders protest with vicious humor at the Hemposium stage.
Samba music from Seeley Stage.
Listen to Music.
Area bands and musicians made up most of the musical entertainment at Seattle Hempfest. Bands played short sets and the genres were ever changing, going from reggae, to salsa, rock, punk, country rock, hip hop and electronica. Bellingham rockers Boris and the Waterboarders played songs of political protest and personal despair to the amused delight of the carefree crowd. Friday’s main stage afternoon acts were the Seattle Hempfest favorites, The Toyes, originators of song “Smoke Two Joints” and reggae groove house band, The Herbivores. Hempfest’s main stage featured nationally known acts Everlast and DJ Muggs of Cypress Hill. Hiphop rock fusion artist Everlast played to a crowd of “the most stoners I’ve ever seen in one place”. The mellow crowd pumped their fists and sang along with notable songs, I Get By”, “What Its Like” and a record scratching version of Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues”.
Soft serve hemp ice cream served at Munchie Market
Corn on the cob dipped in hemp butter for Hempfest
Get the munchies and eat hemp food.
There were plenty of food options to satisfy the munchies of everyone at Hempfest. Make it hempy by sprinkling on a tablespoon of Hemp Hearts, or order hemp protein powder added to a fresh fruit smoothie. Food booths offered typical festival food hotdogs, bratwurst, burritos, and French fries and meals with a hemp twist with hemp burgers, corn on the cob dipped in hemp butter or hemp coffee.
For dessert, fresh mini donuts, or scoops of Ben & Jerry’s and Baskin Robbins were tasty dessert options. Make it hempy with a waffle cone of soft serve hemp ice cream from Munchie Market.
Another snack option was provided by the Seattle Police Foundation. Seattle Police were giving away snack bags of Nacho Cheese Doritos with an attached informational sticker at Hempfest. The stickers humorously explained the new regulations under I-502 with funny reminders of “Don’t give, sell or shotgun weed to anyone under 21” and encouraged the crowd to enjoy Hempfest and “listen to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon at a reasonable volume”. Warning, The chips are as delicious as they appear!
Seattle Hempfest attendees excited to get bags of Nacho Cheese Doritos from Seattle Police Department
The sticker attached to the Nacho Cheese Dorito given out by Seattle Police Department during Hempfest
Hemp fashion show
The daily fashion show was a Hemposium highlight. I co-produced Fashion with a Passion for Freedom featuring garments from established hemp clothing companies across the country and exciting pieces made by fresh design students at the Seattle based NY Fashion Academy., featuring stylish, well designed clothes from experienced hemp clothing companies. Hemp Hoodlamb, Earth Creations, Taos Hemp Company and Conscious Clothing shared the runway with innovative cannabis lifestyle garments created from four Seattle based NY Fashion Academy clothing designers. Premium hemp fabrics were shaped into trim aprons and high society smoking jackets with inside pockets for carrying a now legal stash. Other innovative outfits, like hand painted hoodies and boldly colored and delicate hemp silk garments are redefining hemp in eco-fashion.
The bustling marketplace at Seattle Hempfest featured 400 vendors selling the gear and equipment required to consume, grow and live a cannabis life. These are the best hemp and cannabis lifestyle clothing options currently available.
HempMania, a fair trade and eco-friendly company since 1997, makes durable hemp bags and wallets for men and women. The wide variety of back packs, purses, market totes, wallets and accessory bags are available in pleasing earth tone colors and black.
Hemp bags for all at Hemp Mania!
Seedless Clothing was set up with a bright green booth and stacks of street art savvy t-shirts, shoes, hats, hoodies, jackets, belts, jeans and stickers. Seedless, a California based cannabis lifestyle clothing company, with its sprouting leaf logo is worn by the cool kids.
Love Seedless design zippered jacket by Seedless Clothing Company
I love Pot Lifestyle Clothing makes bold signature “I love pot” screen-printed T shirts and other fresh designs. They also carry green teddy bears with hidden stash pockets.
Popular teddy bears from I Love Pot Lifestyle
Urb Age Designs, is owned by Urb Thrasher, hard rocking DJ on 420Radio.org. Urb Age Designs has a variety of Rasta inspired screen-printed T shirts, barware, a Frisbee and disc golf line, and other lifestyle products to show off your love of the herb.
Urbage Design, an activist run business.
Kill Your Culture has clever pop culture brandalism images on soft fabric t-shirts, hats, bong pads, pipe coasters, ipad cases, and stickers. The irreverent images are stony and dabbed out version of characters we know and love like Darth Vader, Captain Crunch, Urkle, Frankenstein, and Keebler Elves.
Pop culture brandalism from Kill Your Culture
Good Life Roots is a Los Angeles based artist collective. Artists create original screen-printed T shirts and decoupage art on wallets, flasks and purses. The Good Life Roots crew then heads out on its summer vending tour going to a medley of festivals and markets throughout the season.
Good Life Roots, an artist collective with a seasonal vending calendar across the country
Seattle Hempfest merchandise booth In addition to being a general store, event merchandise sales is a fundraiser for Seattle Hempfest to cover the event production costs. This year’s event image, to celebrate I-502, was Uncle Sam passing a blazing joint. This iconic image is available on cotton or hemp shirts, posters and magnets.
The Hemp History Roadshow for college campuses had its informational hemp tutorial, open for education, showing the many applications for hemp in foods, building materials, fashion, body care, home goods and sporting goods. Visitors could see hemp in raw fiber materials, plastic composites, hemp food, and hemp clothing. A small store of T shirt and hats and educational DVDs was on display in the hemp hut.
The Hemp Hut housed the Hemp History Roadshow display outside the Hemposium
Cannabis Culture
Seattle Hempfest had some notable cannabis culture on display. The cross country adventures of the painted psychedelic Further (original spelling “FURTHUR,”) bus driven by Neal Cassady, captained by Ken Kesey and boarded by psychedelic pioneers the Merry Pranksters was parked near Hempfest’s main stage. This hand painted magic bus is part of the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.
Furthur, at night Seattle Hempfest.
A fleet of Fishy Foods/ Label GMO foods/ art cars from Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps
Other art cars onsite was the Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps sponsored fleet of cars topped with giant fishy GMO frankenfoods. These fishy food cars came from WashingtonDC to Seattle for Hempfest to raise coast to coast awareness for labeling GMO foods and to educate voters on an upcoming GMO ballot issue in Washington.
Speakers, encourage, engage and inform the crowds in between band setups.
Here’s a list of the notable hemp speakers at this year’s Hempfest:
Hemp educator David Piller of Hemp History Roadshow
Authors Chris Conrad (Hemp: Lifeline of the Future), and Todd Dalloto (The Hemp Cookbook: From Seed to Shining Seed)
Hemp legislative advocates Steve Levine Director of Hemp Industries Association and Vote Hemp and Paul Stanford, Director of the Campaign for the Restoration and Regulation of Hemp.
Business owners David Bronner of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps and Adam Eidenger of Capitol Hemp.
Crowd favorites included legendary growers Jorge Cervantes and Ed Rosenthal and cannabis comedian Ngaio Bealum.
This year’s Seattle Hempfest was a liberating and fun experience, but beyond that, it was educational. For one magical weekend Seattle’s Myrtle Edwards park was alight with music, food, vendors, speakers, and endless opportunities to learn and appreciate the cannabis plant.
Seattle Hempfest 2013
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http://dailydoobie.com/hempfest-seattle/
In its 22nd year, Seattle Hempfest is the largest cannabis event in the world, with a quarter million happy and blissed out people attending the protestival, one part festival and one part protest. Seattle Hempfest, which is free and open to the public. It is one of the most inspiring experiences a cannabis activist and enthusiast can experience. It’s a mile and a half long celebration of cannabis culture and a festival where people can safely consume marijuana publicly and enjoy a beautiful day in the park, with entertainment, a vibrant marketplace, food and food for thought.
The recent passage of Washington’s marijuana legalization law, I-502, had voters and cannabis enthusiasts ready for a public celebratory toke at Seattle Hempfest this year. Although it is still illegal to publicly smoke marijuana in Washington, within the safety of Seattle Hempfest, people smoked, vaporized and consumed cannabis. With great enthusiasm, people took hits from four and six foot bongs, and socialized with circles of friends or friendly strangers while passing around enormous joints. The overall effect was a peaceful and happy crowd. Seattle Hempfest is an event where people can safely consume marijuana publicly without fear of arrest and prosecution. As trivializing as this act may be perceived, public marijuana smoking is a form of protest.
The nonviolent protest is the heart of Seattle Hempfest. The roots of Seattle Hempfest began in 1991 as the Washington Hemp Expo. Five hundred people turned out to the event organized by the Seattle Peace Heathens Community Action Group. The Seattle Peace Heathens were a voluntary group of alternative cultural advocates who produced and promoted peace and social justice community projects. The Washington Hemp Expo touched a nerve in the community and the event grew exponentially every year.
By 1994, the growth of the event, now called Seattle Hempfest, was raising the attention and concern of local government and law enforcement, which had been turning a blind eye to the unpatrolled event. With the help of the ACLU, Seattle Hempfest was identified as a legitimate political rally, and not a “pot party” as detractors wanted to categorize it. Seattle Hempfest had a counter- cultural flamboyance, but was professionally savvy in negotiations with local agencies.
Seattle Hempfest has expanded from a one day event to three days. The crowd attendance has grown from 15,000 people to 250,000 people. All of this growth would not be possible without the planning and consistent effort of dedicated volunteers who have met the increasing logistical demands and more complex permit requirements with the city government. Over the weekend of Seattle Hempfest, the number of volunteers swells to over a thousand as all event activities are coordinated to keep everything running smooth and safe 24 hours a day.
Volunteer Powered Seattle Hempfest.
“There is no nation like donation”
This year, Seattle Police Department received praise and chuckles for handing out Nacho Cheese Doritos to people attending Hempfest. Affixed to the snack bags were informational and joke riddled stickers advising the festivalgoers some of the new marijuana regulations with I-502. Among the text was “This sticker is not a lawyer and cannot provide you with legal advice.” And “The contents of this package are as delicious as they appear”.
One key part of visualizing the annual political protest message of Seattle Hempfest is the event poster. Past images evoke and depict messages of peace, hemp agriculture, and awareness of nonviolent prisoners, public education, and idyllic scenes of future possibility. Poster images have captured the fundamental messages of political protest at Seattle Hempfest. This year’s poster uses a popular image for the federal government: the iconic Uncle Sam is passing a lighted joint in front of a glowing Emerald City. “I want YOU at the Seattle Hempfest” is what the headline reads.
Marijuana legalization has not been the only political destination for Seattle Hempfest. Previous years, a single protest message was crafted and presented to bring attention to different issues related to marijuana prohibition. To demonstrate marijuana reform has made a significant progressive step but has not reached its destination three protest messages were emphasized this year.
The first Seattle Hempfest protest platform is “eliminate marijuana from the Federal Schedule.” As you may know, the Federal Schedule is the federal drug policy that lists marijuana as a controlled substance and having no current medical use in treatment. Schedule 1 substances are legally defined as highly addictive and have the most restrictive laws regarding use, possession and distribution. Seattle Hempfest recommends going beyond moving marijuana from its current schedule status, and moving it completely out of the Federal Schedule. The reasoning for this is the two most widely consumed drugs, recreational alcohol and tobacco are both exempt from Federal Scheduling. Marijuana with its relative history of safety should also be exempt.
The second protest platform is “harm reduction.” Harm reduction measures usually includes efforts to change the impact in society of mass incarceration for nonviolent drug offenders and related injustices. Seattle Hempfest is shifting harm reduction to a personal level with a series of health pamphlets called, Cannabis Gut Checks. These pamphlets share information on recent scientific studies relating to topics of health and safety of cannabis use and depression, driving, health, lungs, memory, mental health, pregnancy and teens. The pamphlets candidly discuss the risks of cannabis use and provide the reader with additional resources for information.
The third protest platform is “voter power.” To harness the right in our representative democracy, Seattle Hempfest encourages voter registration. The Hempfest Voter Registration team members walk the festival with clipboards and knowledgably answer questions and help register Washington state voters. They assist voters with changes of address, register newly eligible voters who are turning eighteen, and field questions regarding the eligibility of convicted felons, who have recently been restored the right to vote in Washington.
Voter Registration at Seattle Hempfest
Political protest happens all day from the stages, the shouts of call and response engage the crowd as HEMP is repeatedly spelled out with a “give me an H, give me an E” In between band sets, notable luminaries from Washington, Oregon, California and Vancouver give encouraging, engaging and informative speeches.
Speakers include Seattle and Washington elected officials, activists, legislative advocates, lawyers, doctors, patients, writers, growers, and directors of national drug reform organizations. A longtime Seattle Hempfest favorite is Elvy Musikka, a medical marijuana patient, who since 1988 has received 300 joints a month from the Federal IND program.
Seattle Hempfest is an amazing and inspiring event for cannabis activists and enthusiasts. It is a focused cannabis reform rally, a gigantic celebration of culture and music, and a weekend where people are free to consume marijuana safely in public and enjoy a beautiful day on a waterfront park with a lot of smiling people. Seattle Hempfest is the largest cannabis event in the world and at its heart is the belief nonviolent protest can create positive change. You’ve got to see it to believe it.
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