Fear And Toking: Pot Convention To Tap Into Growing Industry

Cannapalooza

Gentleman, start your bongs: Cannapalooza, "the international marketplace for all things cannabis," will make L.A.'s vibrant marijuana shops a virtual ghost town for three days in March as the the smoke scene heads to Vegas for this inaugural pipe dream.

The convention at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center happens March 19-21 and 50,000 people are expected to attend. It will "will showcase the latest products and technologies that have made cannabis one of the fastest growing industries in the world," according to a convention statement.

Instead of going to places like London, Berlin and Copenhagen, we think Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa should grab the rest of the City Council and go on a field trip to this event just to get a clue about what this whole pot thing is all about. After all, the convention's boast about marijuana representing such a fast-growing industry is surely based at least in part on the mushrooming trade at L.A.s virtually unregulated pot shops.

While the convention will feature pro-marijuana activists who are scheduled to speak about efforts, including one in California, to legalize pot outright, it will also be a place to get smoke-shop goodies. "Attendees will be surrounded by every imaginable product including hand blown glassware, industrial hemp goods and more," reads the convention statement. "For three days Cannapalooza will be the largest head shop on the planet."

Going? Info.