| Photo: dscriber |
| Bruce Perlowin: “They were clear we weren’t going to get a city permit, so I decided to reschedule it” |
Organizers have canceled a marijuana festival planned for October at the Silverdome, former home of the Detroit Lions.
Elected officials and police cast the show as a “pot party,” and pointed to advertising materials they claimed “upset” them because the materials described the event in much the same way. Local officials claimed the event would tarnish the reputation of Pontiac and Oakland County, Michigan.
Promoters said the International Holistic Health Cannabis Convention Halloween Harmony & Harvest Festival (damn, how were they going to fit that on the marquee?) had been “moved,” Pontiac Silverdome Building General Manager Grant Reeves told Shaun Byron of The Oakland Press.
Reeves declined to say if the promoter had given a specific reason for moving or canceling the festival, and said that any information about the move would have to come from the promoter.
The event had been planned for October 29-31.
The event was a trade show focusing on natural and healthy products, as well as green technologies, claimed promoter Bruce Perlowin, CEO of Medical Marijuana Inc.
Perlowin, who spent nine years in federal prison after being arrested in 1983 for smuggling marijuana, is the self-proclaimed “King Of Pot.” He is said to have been one of the biggest pot smugglers on the West Coast.
Former business associates have accused Perlowin of engaging in fraudulent activity with his company and their money, according to The Oakland Press.
According to Perlowin, his attorneys had met with law enforcement officials and were told they would have to obtain a permit from the city of Pontiac.
Perlowin claimed this conflicted with information given him by Silverdome officials.
“They were clear we weren’t going to get a city permit, so I decided to reschedule it,” Perlowin said.
The event is now being planned for July and October 2011 at the Cobo Center in Detroit, according to Perlowin, who had some choice words for the city of Pontiac.
“There was [sic]going to be about 100,000 to 200,000 people there,” Perlowin said. “You can see why the city is in receivership.”
“Anyone with brains” wouldn’t have printed and used promotional materials that described the event as the world’s biggest pot party, according to Pontiac Mayor Leon Jukowski.
“I’m glad to see it was canceled,” Jukowski said. “It is not the kind of event that I would like Pontiac associated with and I’m sure the county feels the same way.”