Alain Riquelmy
SACRAMENTO, California (CN) — Cannabis history is going down in history at the California State Fair and if you don’t know it’s there, you might miss it.
Behind a monolithic building, past museum-style exhibits that take the visitor on a timeline of the marijuana plant, lies the first hashish sales and consumption area at a state fair.
Not the California State Fair, organizers said. Any state fair.
“We’re making history,” said Embarc co-founder Dustin Moore. “This has happened. “
Embarc has partnered with Fair Play Ventures to create the exhibition’s new edition of the hash exhibition. Since 2022, a hashish festival has been held at the exhibition. This year, after having the opportunity to communicate with manufacturers and sellers, participants can buy hashish and consume it. them in an admission area.
Part of this domain is already prepared. A space for vendors was prepared on Wednesday in anticipation of Friday’s opening. The couches were under a blanket, offering respite from the scorching California sun.
Smoking is allowed in this area. The larger intake site, where smoking is allowed, remained under construction midweek. Participants will follow a predetermined path to this location, approximately 20,000 square feet, where more tables and chairs will be set up, as well as panelists and music. welcome them.
Both sites, Moore said, are for normal climbers. People can stop at the fair without even knowing that there is hashish there.
Moore admitted that this contradicted one of the aims of the exhibition: to remove the stigma of hashish and normalise it.
But, as with the legalization of hashish in California, those are small steps.
James Leitz, of Fair Play Ventures and executive producer of the hash festival and expo, gently recalls the state of hashish in California before 2016, when Proposition 64, the ballot initiative that legalized marijuana in the Golden State, was adopted.
Ten years ago, Leitz would have believed that it was possible to sell and receive products at the national fair.
“It’s huge,” said Leitz. Es the first in the country. It’s just that hashish is legal. “
A visitor to the hashish exhibition can see how people’s attitudes towards hashish have evolved over time.
The exhibition is located in a giant construction a few steps from the main entrance. Upon entering, one of the first things the guest will see will be what appear to be hashish plants.
Moore confides to other people that this is not the case, but that they are made from hemp.
“The hemp plant is hashish because of regulations,” he said.
Regulation plays a role in the history of cannabis, as well as today.
A chronology of hashish over the decades is shown on the walls. Attendees will see a poster for “Reefer Madness,” an anti-marijuana movie from the 1930s that is now considered a cult classic. Cannabis used to challenge immigrants and jazz culture. The war on drugs is not far behind.
“It’s about education,” Leitz said. This with education. “
The story continues to evolve over the years. The voices of those who see hashish as medicine began to be heard. The 1990s brought legal medical marijuana to California.
And then, around the corner, the visitor can see the gold and silver medal winners in crops such as sun, combined light, cartridges, edibles and beverages.
Nearby, a booth where other people can buy terpene-infused slushies, a reproduction of the popular wine slushies discovered at the fair. Terpenes are to blame for the distinctive smell of many plants, including cannabis.
Tremors, Moore said, intoxicating.
Cannabis has struggled since it was legalized on January 1, 2018. Sales in 2021 amounted to $5. 35 billion, followed by $4. 9 billion in sales in 2022 and $4. 89 billion in 2023.
State legislative analysts estimated in May that the state would earn $649 million in hashish tax revenue in the 2023-24 fiscal year. While that’s $16 million less than Gov. Gavin Newsom’s forecast in May, the analyst company forecasts $727 million in fiscal profits in Fiscal Year 2024-25.
“Everyone expected hashish to be a blessing,” said David Hafner, the State Department’s media chief for cannabis control.
While hashish makes a lot of money for the state, Hafner noted that 40% of California has licensed hash retailers. This leaves significant portions of the state in a hashish desert. Exposure to cannabis plays a role in the socialization and normalization of hashish.
“Having him in the state is the next step,” he added.
Hafner’s office will have a compliance team on-site to ensure compliance with regulations, and there are many. The showroom is reserved for people over 21 years of age. There is no place to smoke on Fridays and Saturdays. However, smoking is allowed on all other days, except on July 19, when a beer festival is held on the occasion of the fair.
The California State Fair at Cal Expo, 1600 Exposition Blvd. , Sacramento, will be held July 12-28.
Organizers remain cautiously positive about the mood of the show. The Sacramento area has experienced a heat wave in recent days, with mercury levels above 100.
Exhibitors expect temperatures to be too high.