Press message: Cannabis coffeeshops in the Netherlands celebrate their 30th anniversary on November 29, 2002. Dutch coffeeshop entrepreneurs honour their pioneers! When Wernard Bruining and a few hippie friends started to sell hash from a former bakery in Amsterdam, in1972, he could not foresee his initiative would develop into the industry it is now, 30 years later. Wernard’s Mellow Yellow was the first place to serve their customers with pre-bagged deals of hash, from a regular address. This example was followed up in the following years; the famous Bulldog concern opened its first coffeeshop in 1975, in the middle of the Red Light district, in business for 27 years already! Henk de Vries, the founder, is now the managing director of a chain of Bulldog coffeeshops, bars and a traveller’s hotel. He is the longest active coffeeshop-entrepreneur in the world. It was Wernard who introduced the technique of sinsemilla growing to the Netherlands, in 1979, and produced the first harvest of the renowned ‘Nederweed’ in 1980. He developed this technique in close cooperation with an American expert, Old Ed, who came over from California to share his knowledge with Wernard. This shows that the famous Dutch sinsemilla originates from the USA. After setting up hundreds of sinsemilla growers in the Netherlands, and founding the Lowlands Seed Company in 1981, Wernard went on to other projects. In 1986, Wernard opened the first growshop of Europe, serving his members with the equipment, nutrition, seeds and cuttings, and with expert advice, to start up their own ‘homegrow’ operation to produce sinsemilla, the demand for the potent marihuana grew faster than the plants! Coffeeshops became accepted in Dutch society, their numbers went up to 1450, around 1994, the current count is 805 coffeeshops, in 105 out of the 504 Municipal Counties in the Netherlands. Wernard was and is the ultimate cannabis pioneer, he initiated the first medical marihuana project in 1996, “Mediweed”, meant to serve sick and disabled people with first class cannabis, for a reduced price. The system still works, and serves thousands of people. Positronics went bankrupt in 1997, theft and fraud in his company left him with a 1.5 million guilders in bills, and pushed him into a state of depression, after exactly 25 years in the business he gave birth too. The cannabis entrepreneurs of the Netherlands are about to pay tribute to Wernard, the Potfather of Cannabis, for his career as a pioneer, for thirty years now! The Global Hempmuseum, in cooperation with a number of coffeeshops and other cannabis related businesses, organise a special event for and around Wernard: ‘The 30th Anniversary of Coffeeshops Celebration’ This event is meant as a fundraiser for Wernard Bruining, and to pay tribute to him and other greats of the cannabis culture, in a relaxed setting, with video’s, demo’s, artists and a special bingo, with a two week trip to Jamaica as a grand prize. During the event there will be a book presentation, Wernard will be handed the first copy of ‘The Dutch Experience’, by the author, Nol van Schaik. The book describes the developments of Wernard’s initiatives and the explosive follow up, over the past 30 years, and the political changes and motivation that lead to the current status of cannabis in the Netherlands. Wernard and other prominent cannabis pioneers were involved in supplying authentic material and pictures, making this book a unique chronicle of the history of cannabis, the coffeeshops and the policy around the controversial topics. After the Anniversary Celebration, we clear the floor for Wernard again, he launches the Haarlem Hash & Weed Festival on Saturday, November 30. This event is organised to taste cannabis, and then cast a vote on the quality of the tested product, in the most democratic manner possible. Old Ed, the Sinsemilla Man from the USA, 86 years old now, will be our special guest, throughout the events, he will be available for a meet and greet in the Global Hempmuseum, from 14.00 – 17.00 hrs. The closure of this ‘best cannabis competition’ is on Sunday, December 1, the winners will be announced and handed a suitable trophy on Sunday evening, from 21.00 hrs. More info on The Anniversary celebration, and the Haarlem Hash & Weed Festival, is available on: www.wwwshop.nl/30 More info on “The Dutch Experience” book: www.realdealpublishing.com contacts: The Global Hempmuseum, Tel/fax: 0031(0)235349939 Maruska de Blaauw: Kim van Schaik: 0031 (0) 653666921 0031 (0) 618499064