1972. Weesperzijde 53, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Not just an adress in Holland, but the birthplace of a Dutch Phenomena, that is celebrating its 30th Anniversary this year, the Dutch Hashcoffeeshop. The first ‘official’ hashoutlet in the world , the Mellow Yellow, was an initiative of Wernard Bruining and his friends, following a period of selling hash from an appartment, and turned out to be the first business in a mind-expanding branche, the cannabis-business. Today, coffeeshops are a part of Dutch society, and seem to be the example for the rest of the European countries, who are struggling with a huge drugsproblem, caused by a market that does not separate cannabis from addictive and health-threatening harddrugs. Wernard could never have realised he was starting a new culture, but he did, not knowingly, but willingly, just because he thought he should do it. The history of the Dutch coffeeshopsystem was started by Wernard, as did the history of Dutch Homegrown Sinsemilla, and the history of Mediweed in the Netherlands, all initiatives of the man that was also known as the Bushdoctor. Today, 30 years later, cannabis is no longer a dirty word, in most countries of the world, although prohibition is still active, maintained by governments who are still in straight denial of the many benefits of the plant. Wernard has always believed in the plant and its use to mankind, and stood up for it the way he did, openly and with full conviction of his believes. His initiative was the beginning of the cannabis-culture in Europe, or even the world, by just making cannabis available, as if it was as normal as selling beer and wine. The cannabis-industry, that became out of the cannabis-culture, is thriving, and expanding all over the world, displaying the cannabisleaf on thousands of products. This year, 2002, is not only the year of the 30th Anniversary of the Dutch Hashcoffeeshop, it is also the opportunity to give credit where credit is due, by paying a tribute to Wernard Bruining, the first coffeeshopkeeper in the world ! We, the Global Hempmuseum and the Willie Wortel Cannabisshops are proud to be the host of an event to celebrate the 30th birthday of the Dutch Hashcoffeeshop and to stage a “Tribute to Wernard.”, on Friday, November 29, 2002, in Willie Wortel’s Sinsemilla, Haarlem, the Netherlands. This event, that will take place on the evening following the Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam, will be followed by the introduction of a new major cannabis-event for 2003, on Saturday and Sunday, December 1 – 2, by Wernard, in the form of a small scale experiment in a number of coffeeshops in Haarlem. More info about both events, tickets and participation will be made available through our website and other cannabis-related sites. We are starting a fundraiser for Wernard in the Netherlands, he lost his business, Positronics, in 1997, by bankrupcy, the Taxcollector raised the taxrates for seeds and clones from 6 to 19 %, killing the business instantly. I think we owe him something, show your support, or, even better, show up for the event “30 years of Hash for Cash.”, and Wernard’s celebration, you’ll be sorry if you miss it ! Nol van Schaik. www.globalhempmuseum.nl www.williewortel.org www.dutchexperience.org