News and Events

Expogrow: Much more than a Cannabis Fair

This past weekend, from 14 to 16 of September, the 7th edition of Expogrow was held in the Basque Country, an absolutely un-missable event for the cannabis community.

Once again, the Ficoba exhibition centre in Irún hosted the fair, with a considerable increase in the space for stands: 5,000m2 spread over 4 pavilions for exhibitors and professionals from the cannabis sector, as well as a large outdoor area of 7,000m2 for leisure activities, chill-out areas and food trucks, alongside numerous fun things to do.

Poster for the 7th Expogrow 2018

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Ganja, Collie, Kiki, Sinsemilla…cannabis has plenty of different names, especially in Jamaica, a small Caribbean island known around the world for its long relationship with this plant.

Indeed, Jamaica is a true place of reference with regard to cannabis cultivation for smokers worldwide. Its tropical climate and fertile soil are ideal for the cultivation of cannabis plants, especially Sativas. Moreover, it is also the place where the Rastafari movement was born, which promotes a religious use of ganja and has a large number of followers in the island. Still, the use of cannabis is widely spread among all social classes – not only Rastafarians – and is doubtless one of the most popular crops in the island. In this article we’ll tell you more about the relation of cannabis with this small Caribbean paradise.

7-mile Beach, Jamaica

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What is the Emerald Triangle?

The Emerald Triangle refers to an area located on the northwest coast of the United States (northern California) and comprised of Mendocino, Humboldt and Trinity counties. To be delve into the origins and traditions of cannabis cultivation in this region, we must go back to the 60s, during the Summer of Love in San Francisco. During the second half of the decade, and with the hippie counterculture as a backdrop, a good number of growers settled in this area in search of a place that would meet the ideal conditions for the outdoor cultivation of cannabis, namely isolation and a privileged climate. Since then, the Emerald Triangle has been one of the main sources of cannabis supplying California. As of 1996, and after the approval of California’s Proposition 215 for medical cannabis, the production in these three counties shot up due to the increase in demand, reaffirming the Emerald Triangle as one of the main producing areas of the country.

Map of California with the Emerald Triangle outlined in red

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Every year in the weeks around Spannabis, the Catalonian city of Barcelona plays host to a multitude of events, competitions, workshops and seminars as the great and good of the global cannabis scene flock to the city to enjoy the company of like-minded folk from around the world. This year one of the biggest events of off-Spannabis was the Masters of Rosin competition organised by one of the top clubs in the city HQ Barcelona and hosted by solventless pioneer Nikka T of Colorado’s Essential Extracts.

Masters of Rosin 2018

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The most important fair in the European cannabis sector – and the most visited cannabis event around the world – will be held this coming weekend at Fira de Cornellà, Barcelona. During 3 days, tens of thousands of professionals and visitors meet at Spannabis to know about the latest marijuana strains, nutrients, growing systems, smoking accessories, vaporisers, climate control units, lighting systems…Also, and following the trend of the past years, it’ll pay special attention to one of the most widely used cannabinoids in the medical field – cannabidiol or CBD – as well as cannabis resin extracts and concentrates.

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In the space set aside for the Cannabis Box Forum at this past Expogrow 2017 in Irún we interviewed Guillermo Moreno, pharmacologist, neuroscientist, who since 2008 has been in the USA obtaining a doctorate in Cannabinoid Pharmacology at the University of California and working in the laboratory of Dr. Daniele Piomelli, a pioneer in the knowledge of endocannabinoid pharmacology.

In this interview for Alchimia, Guillermo Moreno talks about his experiences in the USA and the various current issues on medicinal and recreational cannabis, scientific advances and marijuana legislation.

Here’s the video of the interview (you can change the language of the subtitles by pressing config–>subtitles)

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III Fresh Cup 2017

This past 24th June we travelled to Zaragoza in North-Eastern Spain to attend the third edition of the Fresh Cup, organised by local cannabis association Nuestra Señora del Agua and sponsored this year by Spanish seed bank Diamond Seeds. The “Cannabis Cup of the Summer” took place in a leafy, tranquil corner on the outskirts of the city, away from prying eyes in a walled garden divided into three zones, firstly the main stage area with shaded seating and a bar, then a fantastic chill-out area complete with swimming pool, bar, snack and juice bar and plenty of trees to provide shade and lastly a rooftop area to host the the “Battle of the Crews” and stands where we could check out products from many exhibitors from the cannabis industry.

Chilling in the pool at the Fresh Cup

Non-stop Hip-Hop, Funk and Reggae music was laid on throughout the day both in the pool area and on the main stage, with a top-class line-up of artists and DJs like Mapuxe Sound, Little Pepe, Axl Roc ft Agusto Pablo, Kiki Sound, Ese Trukas & Johan Hincapie with a live trumpet show, SEISKA, Sr Wilson ft Alex Badalonians and Sweet Sound maintaining the party atmosphere and keeping the good vibes at maximum level all day long.

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The Weedkend 2017

This summer, one of Spain’s greenest corners became a shade greener when last weekend, on the 10th June and for the third consecutive year, the beautiful seaside town of Gijón hosted The Weedkend 2017 (previously Asturcannabis), a diverse and popular cannabis event, expo and competition.

The patio at El Jardin was busy with stands and exhibitors

Set on the Bay of Biscay in the north of Spain, and backed by the green mountains of the Picos de Europa, this part of the principality of Asturias is famed for cider, beef, powerful blue cheese (of the dairy variety!) and its spectacularly wild coastline. It was here in 2014 that a group of young cannabis enthusiasts decided to take their love for the plant one step further, become activists and form their own cannabis association. Thus CISCA (Cannabis Interior Social Club Astur) was created with the aim of representing user’s rights, responsibly educating about the benefits of cannabis, and working towards political and legislative change normalising its use within their community, whether medicinal or recreational.

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Humble beginnings

Dutch Passion were formally established in 1987, but the first genetics were collected in the 1970’s when Henk van Dalen was a Biology Student at Amsterdam University. In those days cannabis was being imported into Amsterdam from all over the world. Henk began collecting the different seeds from various batches of cannabis which in the early days came from numerous sources. Nigerian, South African, Brazilian, Filipino, Thai and even Californian cannabis was making its ways to the early Amsterdam Coffee shops. These varieties were often quite different in terms of the effect of the cannabis and the quality. The seeds were collected and became the basis of the early Dutch Passion breeding.

At the time, indoor growing techniques and equipment were quite basic. But Henk managed to grow the seeds, and eventually the best plants were selected for breeding and eventual crossing. Soon it was clear that the cannabis being grown in Amsterdam was of superior quality to that being imported. The 1970’s indoor growing scene was small, but the community of first seed pioneers was already at work, and they had a good selection of cannabis genetics from all over the world to start from. Today Dutch Passion still operate out of Amsterdam and have remained true to their original goal – to focus exclusively on supplying the best quality cannabis seeds.

Dutch Passion Seed Company, Masters at Work

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With cannabis legalisation gathering momentum across the USA, this year there are more cannabis events, competitions and expos than ever before. With so many to choose from, it can be difficult to decide which to attend, so here we’ve outlined a few of the more important ones to look out for.

Indo Expo Denver, Jan 28-29th

Massive cannabis trade show in Colorado’s Mile High City with seminars, workshops, demonstrations, more than 200 exhibitors, thousands of attendees. Indoor, outdoor, greenhouse, production, processing and retail show.
https://indoexpo.com/

CannaCon Seattle, Feb 16-18

Creating a greener future for a global marketplace in education, horticulture, packaging, genetics and cannabis businesses, this is a trade show for innovators, educators, entrepreneurs and novices alike! Featuring vendors, exhibitors, seminars, keynote speakers and much more!

https://cannacon.org/seattle/

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