[act-ma] Cannamania and Maine Cannabis Awards 2012 - April 14-15

Tue Apr 10 08:01:17 PDT 2012

Cannamania and Maine Cannabis Awards 2012
April 14-15 - Augusta Civic Center

This Patriots Day weekend, come to the Cannamania expo and The Maine Cannabis Awards. This year there are dozens of exhibitors and vendors showing their wares. Tons of free door prizes and other giveaways will also be available for the guests. Patient smoking areas will be provided. A host of speakers from all over will inform and educate guests in growing and concentration techniques. The Maine Cannabis Awards Maines first ever event of this type promises to be an annual tradition.
Maine Green Cross (MGC) will honor 5 community members this year who have helped to spread the truth. Presentation time is planned to begin sometime around 4:20pm 

Saturday:  MGC will recognize the following community members for their achievements-
Wendy Chapkis, professor of woman studies at USM and Author of Dying to get high, a work depicting many of the struggles and stigmas our communities have been forced to endure. Wendy has been a valued advisor to the Maine Green Cross program since its inception back in 2005. Thank you Wendy for all your support. 
Roger Leisner’s, marvelous photography has chronicled the movements progress over the years. His tireless pursuit of events that are shaping our futures will be remembered for all time to come. Roger we are amazed at your eye for detail and your unending drive to preserve what we all know is tomorrows history. Great job, please never stop what your doing! Its just so important.
Alysia Melnick, Attorney for the Maine Civil liberties Union, has been instrumental in crafting the laws we all now enjoy that defend our rights to grow and possess our medicine without unwanted state intrusions into our private lives. Much more work needs to be done and we hope many of you will step up and volunteer to help us out. Thank you Alysia for all your positive commitment to such a wonderful and needed cause.
Dustin Sulak, founder of Intergrate medicine, his pioneering spirit has helped to push this movement into the mainstream media and to draw more doctors into helping our friends and families. As well as working to educate and inform the public and patients of the wealth of healing that is available to them. Dustin has been another tremendous advisor to MGC, thank you Dustin for all your hard work.
David Wilkinson, Director film maker, who’s activism for the cause stems back decades. His work on Science vs Stigma is being viewed all over the world and people are finding out the truth and what patients are really like, and that they truly do exist. Dave we hear almost daily how its informing and changing lives. We look forward to the next film, for they are changing our world on a grass roots level. Thank you Dave.

Around 6-7 pm between the bands Six other awards will be presented to the winners of the cannabis judging that has taken place monthly all winter. Judges gathered at Maine Green Cross to sample a selection of very fine specimens. It was a lot of fun reviewing all the goodies that were brought. Next year we hope to add an editable section.

About the awards-
All of us knew full well going into this competition that it had less to do with finding the best strain in Maine and so much more to do with community building and sharing of ideas and goals with like minded citizens from all over. This has been the primary focus of the competition, and I think we achieved that goal very nicely. This year invitations went out to all of the known MMJ groups in the state, Most of them have contributed to the event, and it is our hope that next year all of the groups will participate.
 Thank you to all the hard work and efforts you all have put into helping out this event. Without your dedication and commitment it never would have happened. We look forward to doing it all again next year. A special thank you is also deserved for the many MGC staff who have worked hard to provide for these events, Thank you guys for all you do..without you these wonderful events and the moments that they create going forward would never happen.
Also a special thank you is deserved for the great awards being presented tonight, Thank you to Ganjar for the very lovely stash jars, Thank you to Know your Grow for the donation of 5 free strain tests for the first place prize, and thank you to all the other vendors and exhibitors freely and openly sharing your time and wares for this great event.
Moving into the new year Maine Green Cross has many new and exciting things planned..
-Plants for Patients A plant give away sometime in May where Patients can come and get 6 plants for a small admission fee. Many growers have offered to donate plants to this wonderful endeavor. Please get in touch if your interested in participating.
-Science vs Stigma continues to show around the world and in many states across the country. Next showing is at the Frontier café in Brunswick, April 18th 7pm. Its playing Sunday at the Expo, and you can pick up a DVD for a $10 donation at the MGC booth. If your group wants to use our film let us know and we will make it available to you free of charge. We only ask that if you charge admission for your event that you share the proceeds with MGC.
-Patient Garden Program We are taking applications for patients wanting to grow their own garden, we will seed all your plants and have you up and running right away, there is a process being developed to screen prospective patients, if you have an interest please get in touch. This pilot program…another MGC first promises to be a big help getting patients the independence they really need.
-Smoke and Mirrors MGC’s new movie is in production and promises to be even more exposing then the first film. Showing many of the road blocks and false hopes that the state has delivered in the wake of the peoples overwhelming demands for their help. MGC has traveled around the state getting input from so many people for this work, Thank you to all that have helped out…you all know who you are.
-THC for PTSD another film we are currently researching expresses the frustrations of our returning veterans who must face un-necessary hurtles, harassment, and sometimes death because of their choice to use a much less harmful treatment then is being forced onto them. Much work still remains to be done here..Thank you to the dozens of veterans who have come forward willing to help. 
-Regular MGC meetings and assistance MGC is trying to organize a place to hold regular meetings to inform people of the things that are being done to change our communities perspectives on MMJ. Part of this plan was to try and provide a small amount of product to as many patients as possible for a donation in kind. This program modeled after the WAMM model in CA, is being tried in the hopes that it will spur better understanding of who the community is really made up of, and what it is we are really all about. In other words its to help in spreading the truth!
All in all 2011 was a great year for change, and 2012 promises to be even more exciting for us all. 
Cannabis is so close to winning back its rightful place in our homes right where its always belonged. Americans overwhelmingly believe we all share the right to possess and to use this wonderful plant. The Governments hypocritical positions that we all know are based exclusively on lies and propaganda will finally give way to the clean clear truth that has always been out there just aggressively obscured by the pro-drug war folks. We are winning the battle, the walls of oppression are falling..and when they do finally come down it will not be with a Whimper but a roar heard around the world.
Get ready for it..the change is happening all around us! Go out and be a part of it.

Roger Leisner
The Maine Paparazzi
Radio Free Maine
P.O. Box 2705
Augusta, Maine 04338
207-242-0643
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