What I could never understand about the events at the Expo is why the organizers had guests and judges standing around for long periods of time between events. Just when a speaker would be getting into his or her message they would cut them off so we could all sit around and stare at each other and get even higher than we already were. Anyway... It was what it was but without further ado I give you Arjan Roskom:
The "King" of Cannabis (?)
We were all standing or sitting around when Arjan ran onto the stage to a flood of flashing cameras and cell phones. He definitely wasn't lacking in confidence as swaggered across the stage like a rooster that owned the day. He immediately started talking about Dutch law and growers, but then he also addressed an issue that had been really nagging me, the weed in the Coffeeshops. He summed it up by saying that the Dutch in general didn't understand about growing weed, now you have understand he saying all this with a rather thick accent so I'm listening intently. By the time he'd finished ripping his fellow Dutch growers I found myself saying, "exactly" rather loudly, he heard it and looked curiously in my direction.
Oops...
It wasn't just me, and he had just confirmed in the most derisive of ways, by slamming the Dutch growing scene. I'd come to Amsterdam with one set of expectations but found myself with an altogether different reality. What made it even worse is that I didn't know if I would have the courage to write about any of that, turns out I did. The thing is, you always gotta be ready for disappointment, that's just how life is. Was I disappointed by a lot of things that happened at the Cannabis Cup, sure, but my response to that situation is to come up with ideas for a better event, one with integrity and true love for the sacred plant.
He went on to give a rather dull and uninformative lecture on basic growing, but right when I was about to fall asleep standing up, one of his boys comes out with a box and starts chucking Super Silver Haze joints all over the place. I copped two right away. If it weren't for those joints I would've fallen asleep and missed the rest of the ego fest. I asked him several grow questions which he answered but didn't enlighten. By the end of it I felt like I got a mixed bag, but the feeling of vindication was enough I guess.
With that I left the Power Zone and hit more Coffeeshops.