California Roots in Monterey is a stoner’s paradise, and this year there could be even more people toking up at the reggae music festival.
“Lots of bud today,” said festival-goer Cody Jacobs.
Jacobs said there are three things that bring him back to Cali Roots each year: good vibes, high spirits and great music. He said he plans to smoke marijuana this weekend despite the fact it is against the festival’s official rules to bring in drugs.
Smoking weed in public is against the law in California even though the sale of cannabis is now legal. Enforcement at the festival has been lax in the past and many concert-goers say recreational weed sales will not make a difference in cannabis use.
“I think whoever chose to smoke it did it anyways,” said Lisa Munoz, who has attended Cali Roots for three years in a row.
But the Monterey Peninsula’s only dispensary said it is seeing an uptick in business from last year.
The line was out the door at Monterey Bay Alternative Medicine on Friday with a lot of new customers filling out their paperwork.
“This festival brings people from all over the United States, and for some of them, this is their first dispensary,” said Barry Dawn with MBAM.
Dawn said in the past, out-of-state customers were not able to buy cannabis because they did not have a medical marijuana card. Thanks to the 2018 change in law anyone 21 years or older can purchase weed legally in California.
MBAM is expecting around 2,000 customers this Memorial Day weekend. Dawn said Cali Roots weekend is the busiest weekend of the year. However, 420 still remains the busiest day of the year for MBAM.
“It’s like our holiday,” Dawn said.
The music got started at 11 a.m. Friday, and the reggae bands will keep jammin’ until 11 p.m. all weekend long.
