Joint Rollers Try to Smoke Rivals at NORML Contest
Friday, May 23rd, 2008 at 12:50 pm | By: Radical Russ
Joint Rollers Try to Smoke Rivals at NORML Contest – Daily Nexus
Scores of marijuana enthusiasts packed into Isla Vista’s Anisq’ Oyo’ Park [last weekend] to celebrate the fourth annual NORML Joint-Rolling Competition.Hosted by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws at UCSB, the contest aimed to promote the decriminalization – and use – of cannabis. High points of the afternoon included musical performances from various local artists, dance competitions and nine different joint- and blunt-rolling competitions, such as the “primo joint” and “fattest fatty.”
NORML club founder and UCSB Alum [Lauren] Vazquez said she was pleased to see the crowd of locals come out in support of her club and its patron plant.
Thirty-five contestants participated in the various competitions, and contest’s judges included 3rd District Supervisor candidate Dr. Dave Bearman and Vazquez. NORML club co-chair and event organizer Stan Cui said that the criteria for judging the final entries was simple, but varied from judge to judge.
“The product has to look functional and smooth,” Cui, a second-year political science major, said. “It’s pretty subjective. They look for good use of the whole paper, so that it’s tight and doesn’t flap around.”
According to Cui, judging also varied from one category to the next. During the freestyle competition, Cui said judges valued originality above all. The prize for that competition went to Brian Tibberend, who submitted a series of joints that spelled out the word “weed.”
For legal reasons, Cui said that contestants were provided with paper and “fake bud” composed of a mixture of dried leaves.
“It looks and rolls like bud, it just doesn’t have the same smell,” Cui said.
The faux weed was used exclusively throughout the day until it came time for what Cui called the competition’s coup de gras – the medical contest. For this final event – the day’s biggest and most competitive – contestants rolled joints filled with their own medicinal marijuana.
With prizes donated by Santa Barbara head shop Original Glass, the stakes were high. An elaborate conch-shaped glass bong was bestowed upon the victor in the medicinal category. Vazquez said that the winning entry was an eight-inch joint that scored a 36.5 out of 40 on the judging scale.
After the judging concluded and the prizes were distributed, contestants were encouraged to dispose of their artfully crafted submissions as they saw fit.
“Oh, they are long gone,” Vasquez said. “People smoked them. I mean, what better way is there to judge a joint, really?”
An eight inch joint? How cute. But seriously, what a fun afternoon that must have been. I’d have to be a judge though, not an entrant. I am the worst joint roller, even with those damn machines. Fortunately, I have many friends who are quite good at it.
Topics: California, joints, Santa Barbara, UCSB
