Expo Grow Mar Del Plata
By Mike Bifari
It was held in the southern city of Mar del Plata, the first Expo Grow in Argentina,this past third week of January [2012].
The Argentine cannabis community gathered in a huge five-star hotel in this tourist city to be part of an historic event. It was the first time that we were able to reach the big public in a comfortable facility.
All the major grow shops, head shops, and the local mar- ijuana magazines, like HAZE, T.h.c., and Soft Secret magazine from Chile, and different vendors of the local and international cannabis industries, were there to give us an interesting update of all the latest news concerning technology and cultivation.
The big success in the number of people attending the three-day expo was celebrated by the organizers, who are now thinking of moving the expo to every big city in the country.
Several representatives from overseas were attending, like Pure Sativa, from the UK, or seed companies like Medical Seeds, from Spain, or Green House, from Holland. We had many visitors from our neighbors, with people from countries like Chile and Brazil attending.
It was obviously not allowed to smoke in the main salon, but there were many stands with different vaporizers heating with no stop for three days. The atmosphere was a nice one, full of people checking out new stuff to improve their gardens.
We also were able to assist three conferences organized by the cannabis community, including the history of hemp, legal issues, and homegrown cultivation tips.
It looks as if we will continue to enjoy this type of event concerning the huge, growing cannabis wave in South America. Also, because of the fact that even though the current law has not been changed yet, we can now breathe freedom and tolerance in every big city concern- ing the cannabis issue with its social acceptance. This reality was very far away to even imagine a few years ago, when we had the failed and cruel policy of the ¨war on drugs.” Instead, we are building a new paradigm now based on human rights and harm reduction — something that is growing with deep roots in our society.
