Yesterday I was privileged (privileged seems excessive for a free party, but it was free to a certain number of RSVP’s, so ha!) enough to attend the Willamette Week’s “Best Of Potland Party“, the same day weed became legal in Oregon. Held outside, at the Falcon Art Community, people were treated to an array of booths, samples, free beer, and food available for anyone who got the inevitable, munchies.

Upon arriving I wasn’t sure what to expect, this wasn’t my first pot party, but it was my first LEGAL one…meaning smoking out in the open! WHAT WHAT! While I was in line with my +1, after they checked everyone’s i.d.’s, we were handed joints from Eco Firma Farms, my +1 isn’t a smoker so I lucked out and got two! The joints made up for the short wait in the hot-ass sun. I’m not playing when I say it was hot, when I checked my phone it was 93 and sweat was running down my face…not a good look. After we got our joints this older couple in their 60’s mentioned how they still weren’t used to the idea of legal weed, even though they hit up some of the rec shops in Vancouver, so I can’t imagine what was going through their minds when they were handed a free joint.

We were let in at 4:20 and we were off! The first booth I hit was the Bud Rub booth, they make medical salves and topicals to help with chronic pain. I had been really interested in trying Bud Rub, so I was glad they were there, I suffer from chronic arthritis pain in my hip and toe and was elated when they handed me some free samples to try, I can’t wait to review them!! The booths at this party were mostly Portland dispensaries, but Vancouver’s, New Vansterdam had a dope booth with joints to smoke on and dabs to be dabbed…all you had to do to partake was tag them in a photo on social media. Gareth and Brian from Vancouver’s, H.E.M.P. were also in attendance, not in a booth, but in weed fairy form with a pocketful of joints, how kind of them.

The party had beer from Lagunitas, I went with the CitruSinensis, a pale ale with strong hints of blood orange, SO GOOD. I also hit up other vendor booths like, True North Extracts, a Portland base C02 extractor. I left their booth with a free shirt tank top, and a nice high after vaping a few of their samples, the +1 won a free oil cartridge…BOMB! I also hit up the Women Grow booth and talked to them for a bit, I am hoping I can attend some of their upcoming events soon, they seem like really great people and I support what they’re trying to do. TWB was also there with a booth and introduced myself to Kaliko one of their sales people. He was on hand to share information and they were also giving away some free samples.

In the same booth as TWB was a company called Spry, and what they were there to showcase was a prototype of a very unique dab rig. Named the Spry, it’s am all-in-one, electric rig that has a custom medical-grade titanium nail, an all-electric heating system (NO TORCH), a detachable base to make cleaning easier, and a charging that charges your rig wirelessly. Amazed yet? With the heat, all the free weed, and excitement I didn’t hit up too many other booths besides that, it seemed like the rest were all about dabbing and being a responsible smoker, I knew they’d make me crash so I passed on them. I did hit this massive joint that Goochy Gardens had, they were also handing out samples and joints of Gorilla Glue #4 a strain that’s loved by many. Other vendor booths on hand were Green Sky Collective, they were showing people how to roll joints, gave some away for free and even made smoothies for the sweaty, party goers. Curb, Nectar, Golden XTRX, and Proper Oil were all in attendance as well.

I’ve been smoking weed most of my life and never have I ever been to an event like this, or felt so carefree while smoking in public. Nobody was worried that the cops were gonna be called, no fights broke out, we were just all enjoying ourselves! How could you not though? Free swag, weed, and beer! It was nice to share this momentous day with other like minded individuals who just want to chill out and smoke some weed. I was among my people, and it was fucking glorious! Thank you to the Willamette Week for hosting such an amazing party, and a thank you to all the vendors, shops, sponsors, volunteers, everyone who made this happen, we all had a blast!