Yes We Cannabis – Stimulus That Makes "Sense"

Let me begin by giving a shout out and saying "HIGH!" to all my new "Buckeye Budz" in the Columbus area! This "Old Southern Boy" has never felt more welcome nor have I ever experienced more gracious hosts and where I come from folks, "That's Sayin' Sumpm".

Leonora and I, along with our sons David and Frank, arrived in Columbus after a long eight hours on the road on Friday the 29th. We had originally booked rooms at the Executive Inn, then changed to the Days Inn on campus. Just before we left home we checked the web for the address to the motel so I could program it into the Garmin GPS system (GREAT system folks!). I was a bit annoyed that Leonora had not asked for the information when she made the reservation but it was easy enough to do a quick search online. Well, good thing we did. The reviews that I stumbled upon while googling the address for the Days Inn were horrifying. Stories of unclean rooms, bedding, bathrooms and bugs had us quickly doing another search, for different lodging. Not that we could afford to, but we opted to spring the extra dough and stay at the Hilton Garden Inn just about a mile or so from campus. The hotel provided everything you would expect from the Hilton brand. The boys enjoyed a relaxing dip in the indoor pool on Friday night while my wife and I headed to make an appearance at the Hempfest Kickoff Party at the Newport Music Hall on High Street right across from the South Oval of OSU.

It was obviously a short drive to the venue on High Street but the excursion took far longer than one would expect. First of all, it is Friday night on the campus of OSU. There is no parking to be found ANYWHERE it would seem. With the flat terrain and stoned city planners, bicycles are quite popular in downtown Columbus. I must say this, what I saw of the city of Columbus and the state of Ohio for that matter, appeared to be very clean. My wife and I were impressed with the overall "curb appeal" that Columbus has going for it.

After a quick call to Zach Laver, who I was to meet for the first time that night, we found parking several blocks away among the Sorority/Fraternity houses that line the streets for blocks. It was an interesting walk from my wife's Buick LuCage (hehe) errr, I mean Lucerne to the Newport. The only houses that didn't have indoor/outdoor parties going on were empty, presumably because their occupants were attending a party next door. I noted to my wife that neither I nor my father's wallet would have ever survived my going to such a place to "study". I am sure I would have gotten straight A's in "Pussy, Pilsner and Pot" though.

We arrived at the door of the Newport at about 8:30, fashionably late one might say, but in perfect sync between the "on time crowd" and the start of the show which featured a band called "Presidio" warming up for the headliner from Georgia, a band known as "Boombox". It seems Boombox has alot of fans in the Columbus area. I met more than a few there.

Our arrival time allowed Zach and I to meet and talk for a good ten or fifteen minutes during which time he introduced me to one of two co-Presidents for the OSUSSDP (OSU chapter of the Students for Sensible Drug Policy), Will Lum. See Will, I told you I could remember that one! Later out in the outdoor smoking area of the venue, Zach and I had a chance to talk further about the problems that faced the Hempfest this year, problems that might easily have brought an end to 25 years of the Ohio State Hempfest were it not for Zach's dedication to his task. As I noted in my late night speech next to Meir Lake on the campus the following day, Zach is to be duly commended for having worked so hard to pull the Hempfest off with almost no money to speak of, and even less help from his so-called OSUSSDP officers, all of whom should be hung by their toes with hemp rope. This Hempfest was fun, but with some help from those responsible for so doing, it could have been AWESOME. Instead it was bare bones.

There were some musical acts that were quite good, most notable of which to me was a duo who call themselves "Big Nasty". I had the pleasure of following them on stage late Friday night and I am glad that I got there in time to catch their whole show. I said it then and I say again, BIG NASTY ROCKS!

There were also musical acts that completely SUCKED, leaving me to wonder if auditions were at all held for this, or were "bands" just signed up. When one guy is trying to do the jobs of ten, some things that need doing obviously don't get done. The stages were late in being prepared, and the one that was actually built on the lawn of the South Oval was.... well.... pathetic. Generators running in the near background of the stage made for a less than ideal setup from an audio standpoint.

There were some very good speakers, far better than myself, whom I enjoyed immensely. And of course there were one or two who, really shouldn't have. I might well have fallen into the second category myself. With the lack of an audience in comparison to what I had been led to believe attend this event every year (I was told to expect over 10,000 during the 12 hours, I doubt we saw a fifth of that) it may well have taken the wind out of the sails of some speakers, as I found was the case for me. I had mentally prepared for weeks for a very large crowd. What I had was a hundred or two cool folks chilling stoned in the park. As it turns out, the event received almost no publicity, beyond the eighty or so who found reference to it on my website from their Google-ing the weeks before. Again, when one man attempts to do the work of ten. Too bad we didn't have a marketing major on the team this year. Something for Will and his co-President Karla should bear in mind for next year's event.

But beyond the "business side" of the event, the people I met there were "The Tops" in my book. As is the case on any campus in America, many who stopped to talk with me couldn't afford the ten dollars for a copy of my book, but it was an absolute joy meeting every single one of them none the less. As always there were favorites who stood out.

The man I will forever call "O-HIGH-O Joe" is one of my new best friends. If I can say I have a "best friend" in Ohio, Joe would be the guy I am talking about. Joe was an early customer at my tent, explaining to me that he had heard about my book in advance of the event and it had come as "recommended reading" to him. He quickly forked over a ten dollar bill and a smile as I autographed his copy. We spoke of the medicinal benefits of Cannabis Hemp and of his late Mother who had died of cancer not many years ago, the pain of her loss still showing easily in Joe's eyes as he spoke of her. Through tears he chased back to where they came from Joe asked the question he has undoubtedly asked a thousand times since learning of Hemp oil's cancer curing record; "Why couldn't my mom have that?" I understand his ache completely, and his anger. Millions share both with you my friend.

Joe came rolling by my tent just fifteen or twenty minutes after he first left, stopping to talk more and share what would be the first of many joints with me. I bet that boy smoked fifty to a hundred bucks with me at Hempfest by the time all was said and done. One such stop by the Yes We Cannabis tent was with his friend "Bizazz" and a couple of others. Biz proceeded to roll the fattest freaking blunt I think I have ever smoked, using Joe's stash. Biz says to Joe, "How much you want me to put in this?" as Joe was walking away to retrieve his sister. Joe replied, "All of it. I'll be right back." and he walks away. Biz happily stuffs it full and we smoked on that shit right there in my screen tent. The female cops on patrol came "nosing" around once we got half of it burned down, but unfortunately for them as I said to Joe, "Aint no crime in smelling like pot!"

Joe's last stop by my tent as we were preparing to break camp had him handing me yet, ANOTHER JOINT. As I prepared to stick it in my mouth to light it, Joe says to put that one away for later and lights yet another. I just laughed and loved O-HIGH-O Joe like a long lost buddy! After that, Joe, Bizazz and their entourage, proceeded to help clean up after the event. Classy bro! Classy!

Another favorite Cannabian friend was "Chance" along with his band of friends. Chance bought a copy of my book and we all posed it up for the camera. Chance asked me where I was going to be at 4:20 and I told him I would be there in my tent. He said, "I'll see you here." He and his posse rolled back up as promised precisely at 4:19pm. Chance sat down and amazed my son Dave with his joint rolling skills. It must have been good because I completely missed it. But that doob smoked perfectly. Chance told me he is a wanderer and that his backpack contained his whole life. He seemed to feel naked without it on his back. In the pics on my site of my "Buckeye Budz" Chance is the one in a group shot wearing a yellow shirt that says "New Mexico" and displays what is called their "Zia". It was the Zia that gave us a quick bond since my wife and I fell in love in Albuquerque and began our family there. Chance is a "Doso Boy" as he called himself, hailing from Rui Doso, New Mexico. I laughed that I didn't think they still made Gringos in Doso. He said, "Why do you think they called me 'Chance'?" I really liked Chance and his compadres. I told him to stay in touch via my website and maybe we would track his travels with an ongoing storyline called "Where is Chance?" He may have liked the idea too much. Later in the day his friends came by looking to see if I had seen him. I hadn't. Most interesting was and is that one of them had Chance's backpack. I told them to let me know when they found him and told them to check back with me because if I saw him I would keep him with me. Though I saw the posse a couple more times, they never reported finding him. So now I am really asking.... Where is Chance?

I cannot fail to mention the first to get me HIGH in OHIGHO. Eric met me out back of the Newport. With his mohawk and perfectly chosen eyewear frames, Eric strikes a hell of an appearance. He is definitely going to be noticed. What's more is he has a personality to match his look. Eric sat me down behind the Newport and asked "Do you like Lemon, Strawberry, or something REALLY strong?" I said, "I like weed man." He then proceeded to cram the biggest bud of sweet strawberry into the bowl of my Protopipe. I said "Holy shit man you really packed that in there. I doubt we will get it to hit." Eric says, "Oh gee bro, I'm sorry I stuffed too much pot into your pipe." What I found most funny is that I am so often compared to John Goodman, who played Roseanne Barr's husband on the show "Roseanne" and Eric totally reminded me of Roseanne's real husband at the time, Tom Arnold. Too bad I didn't get the chance to snap a pic of us. Maybe at Comfest?

I met a man who claimed to be one of the Founders of the Ohio State Hempfest, a man they call Chris "The Anarchist". I found him to be quite interesting. At first he apparently was confused in thinking that I was there to represent NORML, which a number of people also presumed since I flew their banner and was handing out their literature. Apparently there is some bad blood between NORML national and the North Ohio chapter, seventy five thousand dollars worth of bad blood. I will say this. I met the people there representing North Ohio NORML and they had their shit together. These people are doing a GREAT job representing the cause and NORML should be damn proud of the job those guys are doing. I got to talk with Dave from their chapter quite a bit and he is quite a compelling speaker. Keep up the good work Dave.

The 25th Annual Ohio State Hempfest can all-in-all be called a "success" from a participant standpoint. Not likely the case for many of the vendors but it is safe to say that everyone at Hempfest had a good time. I look forward to seeing many of my Buckeye Budz again very soon!

And to my friend "Abu" across the way. I say again, Peace and Love to you also!