festivals

Zig-Zag hosts 420 bash in New York’s Times Square

Posted on April 21st, 2025 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , .

420For those, such as myself, who came of age in the prohibition era, it was a tad surreal to see the giant electronic billboard overlooking Manhattan’s Times Square (focal point of the world-famous New Years Eve countdown) displaying a “countdown to 420” promoted by a leading brand of rolling papers. But that is what gathered revelers witnessed in the minutes leading up to 4:20 PM on the afternoon of Sunday, April 20.

Son of Peter Tosh dies after prison beating

Posted on August 26th, 2020 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , , , , , , .

JawaraThe son of late reggae legend Peter Tosh, himself a successful musical artist who recorded under the stage name Tosh 1, has died at the age of 40. He'd never fully recovered from a brutal 2017 beating in a New Jersey jail, where he was serving time on a cannabis charge.

NYC Cannabis Parade draws bigshot pols —but legalization stalled in Albany

Posted on May 7th, 2019 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , , , .

Jumaane WilliamsNew York City's annual Cannabis Parade, launched long ago by Yippie counterculture freaks, this year headlined one of the Big Apple's highest officials, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams—a sure sign of that the leaglization cause has hit the mainstream. However, politicking in the statehouse in Albany has stalled passage of a long hoped-for legalization bill.

Free-speech fight over Vancouver 420

Posted on April 16th, 2019 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , , .

VancouverA showdown is shaping up in Vancouver, where the city's 420 event has always been held with no permit. This year it promises to be huge, with Cypress Hill headlining—and authorities pressing for cancellation. Organizers pledge the event will go ahead—with approval of the bureaucracy or not.

National Cannabis Policy Summit to join activists, lawmakers

Posted on April 12th, 2019 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , , , .

cannabisOn the eve of 420, a National Cannabis Policy Summit will convene in the nation's capital, joining industry leaders, activists and elected officials to discuss how legalization could look in the United States—and how to get there.

421: April 21 declared day of cannabis justice

Posted on April 12th, 2019 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , , .

leafApril 20—popularly known as 420—has emerged as a global day of celebration of cannabis culture. But a group of activists have launched an effort to the make the next day the one that grapples with the challenge of creating an equitable, inclusive and diverse cannabis industry.

Real-world utopian quests

Posted on December 26th, 2018 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , , , .

True StoriesIn his new memoir True Stories: Tales from the Generation of a New World Culture, Garrick Beck spans a personal journey through radical bohemia in the 1950s, hippie utopianism in the 1960s, back-to-the-land communalism in the 1970s, to applying those ethics today through community work and urban land-reclamation back in the New York City of his youth.

He was born into artistic activism as the offspring of Julian Beck and Judith Malina, the leading figures of the Living Theatre.

Canada's contentious course to cannabis legalization

Posted on June 13th, 2018 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , , , , .

Canada Canada is about to make history, with passage of its cannabis legalization bill imminent. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau  is the man of the hour, shepherding the first Western industrialized country along a course that was nearly unthinkable a generation ago. But it was activist efforts that really brought Canada to this point—and advocates are still fighting to keep a place for small growers and vendors in the new system.

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