Go HERE for the full gallery of photos from Reggae Fest 2010!

Yesterday was reggae day of the annual two-day JazzReggae Fest on the intramural field at UCLA. The fest brought reggae lovers and stoners of all shapes and sizes together for an afternoon of music, sun, bbq and lots of ganja.  Despite the very heavy police presence, people were blazing up all over the field and the smell of freshly lit green clouded the air.  Headliners Nas and Damian Marley put on a fantastic performance, which served as a wonderful backdrop to what really got our attention–the shameless weed smoking of everyone there.

The day was like a study of stoners through the ages, from teenagers to the elderly. And we do mean elderly.  Case and point: this man.

Grandpa Stony makes the rounds across the field to say hello to his loyal subjects.

Grandpa Stony here has to be well into his 70s and was bouncing around high as a kite saying hello to people he apparently knew while he hopping from blanket to blanket like the mayor of Stonyville. As he danced around the field, he was welcomed with open arms into the rotations of many young peoples' sessions, so it was definitely a good day for him.

Then there were your requisite Westside private school white boys who kind of stuck out of the crowd like sore thumbs with their skinny jeans and ironic accessories.  These boys were smart and rolled their blunts in the car before they got there, saving them a world of difficulty and paranoia of trying to do so out on the breezy field.

The boys assess the chosen smoke spot to make sure it's secure before they assume the position and spark up…

“Hey bro, would you stop being sucha grimer and pass that. This is not a charity drive…”

“Jesus Christ. Like I drove all the way from Kenter on my Memorial Day to watch him smoke the blunt we rolled. Aw man, look at this shit, it's all soggy now!”

They found a strategic spot nestled between several groups where they felt safe enough to lineup Indian-style and fire up that fatty.  See the payoff of a private school education? Making mom and dad proud parents one Dutch/Swisher at a time.

There were also young parents who puffed on spliffs right in front of their seemingly clueless toddlers during the show. Yeah… Not that cool. As carefree as the day was, seeing a father take a hit from a J and then bend down to play with his 2-year-old as he passes it to his wife and exhales is not the most sound of images.

In case an event called “Reggae Fest” is not a clear enough warning: unless you're cool with exposing your very young children to a sea of marijuana, don't bring them.

…But it did widen the scope of our study and gave us another demo to round out our spectrum of stoners at large.

Article courtesy of Los Angeles | Guest of a Guest – Los Angeles People, Places, Parties & Nightlife

Have you been in disbelief over the state's plans to shut down hundreds of our lovely weed shops? If you've been living in denial, this will be a sobering, (please forgive the pun) visual for you to digest: a map denoting every marijuana dispensary in L.A. that was summoned by the city to close for business by June 7, each red dot representing one of the 439 shops whose days are numbered.

The map enables us to see exactly how the new ordinance to close these shops will affect the city's landscape.  By the looks of it, Westwood Blvd between Pico and Sunset, and Melrose between Fairfax and Highland will no longer be amongst the go-to areas to pick up some fresh greenery come June.

The ordinance, and the map to illustrate it's impact, mark the end of an era when we could find a Cannabis Club just by driving down any given commercial street for a few blocks. Now everyone's going to have to put some effort and planning into getting a refill, instead of moseying their stony way around the corner expecting to stumble upon a weed shop.  And we also lose bragging rights to our friends who live out of town about the availability of marijuana how it's as easy to get as stopping for gas at the station.

Article courtesy of Los Angeles | Guest of a Guest – Los Angeles People, Places, Parties & Nightlife

Happy 420 everyone! Have you worked out your plans for the holidaze? Some of you may have a head-start in observing this special day with that lingering Coachella buzz.  If you haven't decided what you're going to do to celebrate yet, there is 420 party happening at the Normandie Hotel on Normandie and 6th in K-town where stoners are more than welcome.  With ambitions of making it the first weed-friendly hotel in the country, the hotel's owners picked the perfect day to kick-off the initiative.

So what exactly is “420″ anyway? Myths and rumors of its origins and significance abound.  The one that seems to have prevailed is 420 is the police code for Marijuana Smoking in Progress.

But the REAL story behind 420 comes from the San Rafael, CA in the 70s, where a group of five high school dudes known as the “Waldos” coined the term.  4:20 pm was the designated time of their smoking sessions, so they used “420″ as a code for smoking weed, which enabled them to discuss it openly in front of teachers.

Well, cat's out of the bag now and we can all enjoy the 420 festivities.

[photo via VCS]

Article courtesy of Los Angeles | Guest of a Guest – Los Angeles People, Places, Parties & Nightlife

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• Even more food trucks will give Angelenos the opportunity to eat curbside [Grubstreet]
• Mel Gibson's ex is anxious to tell us all what went wrong [Eonline]

Article courtesy of Los Angeles | Guest of a Guest – Los Angeles People, Places, Parties & Nightlife

First it was legal for doctors to prescribe to patients. Then came the new policies of lenience towards the residents of West Hollywood blazing in the privacy of their homes. Now everyone and their mother is a member of the Cannabis Club and you can't go three commercial blocks without passing at least one dispensary (just look for the Green medic cross). The move towards the softening of laws regarding the purchase and consumption of marijuana the has reached a crucial point in this fair state: legalization of that hydroponic goodness is at stake in the November election and it's now up to you, voters, to make this happen.

The terms of the initiative, dubbed the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010, are as follows:

• adults 21 and up can possess up to an ounce of weed for personal use

• adults can cultivate up to 25 square feet of their own crop on their property

• the sale of weed is taxed to raise state revenue (helping to aid CA's budget woes)

There's sure to be a shitstorm of opposition to the Act, so if you're in favor of it, go vote.  That goes the for the little stonies out there, too–make your way through the haze filling your car or apartment or tree house and get yourself to your local voting facility in November. Check the box on the ballot and let's make history.

Article courtesy of Los Angeles | Guest of a Guest – Los Angeles People, Places, Parties & Nightlife