Pubdate: Mon, 16 Dec 2013
Source: Press Democrat, The (Santa Rosa, CA)
Copyright: 2013 The Press Democrat
Contact:  http://www.pressdemocrat.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/348
Author: Sean Scully

SONOMA COUNTY GROWERS WIN EMERALD CUP AWARD

A custom cannabis strain developed in Sonoma County known as "Cherry 
Kola" won the Breeder's Cup at the 10th annual Emerald Cup cannabis 
competition, held for the first time ever at the Sonoma County 
Fairgrounds this weekend.

The proprietary strain was developed over a number of years by the 
Sonoma County Collective, CEO Asa Schaeffer said. The strain also won 
the second place in the annual "Flower" contest, which pitted 
hundreds of cannabis buds from across California in a juried competition.

"I can't put it into words; this was an actual event where people 
viewed it as an honor," Shaeffer said as workers cleaned up from 
Sunday's awards ceremony to make way for performances by classic rock 
bands that included Big Brother, Canned Heat and Jefferson Starship. 
"Overall, we're overjoyed."

The collective is a home-delivery-only dispensary headquartered in 
Santa Rosa. Schaeffer said the collective doesn't plan to sell seeds 
to other growers, but would hold onto the strain as the eventual 
flagship of a brand of similar products.

The Emerald Cup had formerly focused only on the "Emerald Triangle," 
a region said to be the largest marijuana producing zone in the U.S., 
including Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity counties. The event had 
previously been held at the Mateel Community Center in Redway, but 
growing popularity led organizers to move it south to Sonoma County 
this year, and to open the competitions to growers from other parts 
of the state.

"For our first year moving from a much smaller location to a much 
larger location, I feel like it was a success ... I think we will 
probably come back here," event organizer Samantha Mik said.

About 4,500 vendors and conference-goers attended each day of the 
two-day event, she said. Conference goers were able to browse 
displays with a variety of marijuana-related products, including 
seeds and agricultural equipment. Those with state medical marijuana 
certificates were permitted to buy and smoke marijuana as well, with 
no interference from patrolling Santa Rosa police officers and 
private security.

But the conference had a serious side, with panels on both days on 
various aspects of cultivation, branding and medicinal use of marijuana.

"The Emerald Cup is an example of how we can scale up in our industry 
without losing our soul," said Andrew DeAngelo, general manager of 
Harborside Health Center in Oakland and San Jose, which bills itself 
as the world's largest distributor of medical cannabis.

Harborside took the top spot in the Flower contest with a strain 
developed for it by a grower in Monterey County.

Topics at the panels did not shy away from the controversial, 
including one on Sunday about the use of medical marijuana by ill 
children. That panel included activists Erin Purchase and Brandon 
Krenzler of Oregon, whose 7-year-old daughter was diagnosed with 
leukemia and who have used a cannabis oil as part of her treatment, 
despite threats from state authorities to intervene.

"This is medicine for a child; it works, it is safe," Krenzler said. 
"It is the best decision we could ever have made for our daughter."

Breeder's Cup winner Shaeffer told the crowd as he collected his 
awards that the Sonoma County Collective would donate all of the 
proceeds from sales at the Emerald Cup to Mykayla's family. That 
should amount to about $5,000, he said later.

The move to Sonoma County was not without controversy, event 
organizers admitted. Many in the Emerald Triangle were possessive of 
the event and their status as the nation's best-known growing region. 
The announcement that a Monterey County grower had won the top Flower 
contest honor led to a brief surprised silence by the crowd, though 
they quickly regained their fraternal enthusiasm and cheered 
vigorously for the new champ.

"There was definitely some backlash (to the move) from the community, 
but I take it as a compliment that people really did not want it to 
move out of their hometown," Mik said. "But you know there is just no 
way to compete with better weather and a bigger fairgrounds, room to 
grow. You can't grow in a space that doesn't allow it."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom