Neville To Headline 14th Annual Medical Marijuana Concert In FL

Headlining will be Grammy Award winner Cyril Neville. Also appearing will be Johnny Dread, The Spam Allstars, Sweetbone, Crazy Fingers, Ephniko, JP soars, Gypsy Cat, The Funky Nuggets, Nag Champayons, Sigmund Floyd, Kuyayky, The Tribe, Rhythm Flow, The Inbt’l Language, Smokin’ Pianos with Kiki Sanchez & Fudakochi, Jam I Am, Omine, Ellen Bukstel, Valerie C. Wisecracker, Teri Catlin, Orrin Bolton, Steve Minotti, Lonesome Grey, Anglo Sax, Mr Grim Reapa, Immortals and more artists.

Spoken word artists including Alonso, Rebecca “Butterfly” Vaughns, Soulflower, Raven, Martian Ambassador, Bishop Makalani-MaHee, Benjamin Shahoulian and others will present innovative spoken word poetry with musical accompaniment.

​In addition, dancers Elviza’s Rockabelly Hippies featuring Elviza, Symphony, Stacy Oh, Lili Barrera, Marie Insua, Sofia Luna, Pryofusion and others will be performing a variety of dance and movement pieces to energetic, rhythmic percussion and ambient tones.

Coconut Grove Jugglers Exchange will be juggling various items and entertaining the crowd with a festival vibe.

Yvonne Gougelet will present an interactive performance art piece with a medical marijuana theme.

Gabriel Orenstein will showcase a special marijuana activist video that will be projected during the show.

Anibal Fernandez, Linx and other creative artists will be rendering a live painting demonstration to visually complement the music.

Legal federal medical marijuana patients Irvin Rosenfeld and Elvy Musikka, directors of Patients Out of Time, will be describing their experiences with getting medicinal cannabis through the federal government.

​Also featured will be community speakers presenting information about the issues including Norm Kent of the national NORML Board of Directors; Howard Finkelstein from Channel 7’s Help Me Howard; South Miami City Commissioner Walter Harris; Artie Kornfeld, author, music producer and organizer of the original Woodstock music festival; Dante Trevisani of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Greater Miami; Michael Minardi, P.A.; Shawn Heller from the Florida Justice Institute; Robert Platshorn, author of Black Tuna Diaries and speaker for The Silver Tour; Eric Stevens from the Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy; Angel Hernandez from Americans for Safe Access (ASA); Kim Russell from PUFMM; Jayne King from the Florida Green Party; Steve Berke, former Miami Beach mayoral candidate, comedian and video activist; plus representatives of NORML of Florida, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) and many other concerned citizens.

NORML of Florida, The Silver Tour, PUFMM, Patients Out of Time, ACLU of Greater Miami and various other organizations will have informational booths with literature and handouts to help educate about community issues and the medical marijuana campaign in Florida.

The event will work to raise funds and awareness for NORML of Florida, The Silver Tour, Patients Out of Time and the PUFMM medical marijuana campaign to protect patients’ rights.

​Previously, a person’s right to use medical necessity as a defense to marijuana charges has been upheld by several appeals courts in Florida. Marijuana has proven therapeutically useful in treating numerous medical conditions including muscle spasticity, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and the nausea related to AIDS and to cancer chemotherapy.

In 2010, the City of South Miami passed a resolution to support medical marijuana on a statewide and national level. This is the first city in Florida to endorse the issue.

Currently there are companion bills to reform medical marijuana laws in the Florida House of Representatives (HJR 353) and the Florida Senate (HJR 1983), and this is a first in 30 years. Attendees will be encouraged to contact their elected officials and have them endorse these bills.

In addition there will be vendors and small businesses, including The Wallflower Gallery, Betwe
en Spirit & Stone Jewelry, Progressive Rags, Shamanic Harmonics, Shiva Gear, 2-Dye-4, Man With The Magic Hands – Jeff Brown LMT, Awesome Rockin’ Massage by Kelly Cordova LMT and selected independent corporations.

Production support for the 14th Annual Medical Marijuana Benefit Concert is provided by Ploppy Palace Producteions, Lovestruck Productions, Event Rhythm Management, Moksha Family and 7th Circuit Studios.

The event is currently looking for supportive sponsors and unique vendors to help build up the community outreach and contribute to the cause.