Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Las Vegas marijuana expo loses name over ‘differing vision’ with parent group

The Las Vegas Hempfest 2014

L.E. Baskow

Las Vegas Hempfest attendees cheer for cannabis-related merchandise being thrown from the Top Shelf Stage 1 at the Clark County Amphitheater on Saturday, October 4, 2014.

2014 Las Vegas Hempfest

Festival attendees smoke while listening to Los Marijuanos performing during the Las Vegas Hempfest taking place at the Clark County Amphitheater on Saturday, October 4, 2014.. Launch slideshow »

An annual Las Vegas marijuana convention has severed ties with its Seattle-based parent organization after a four-year partnership.

The former Las Vegas Hempfest will now be called the Las Vegas Hemp Festival after what the Seattle-based Hempfest brand called a difference of opinion regarding the definition of a cannabis social gathering.

“The two organizations have a differing vision of what a traditional Hempfest event should be, so we have amicably dissolved the licensing relationship to allow the Las Vegas event to follow its vision unhindered by the contractual agreements,” Hempfest Executive Director Vivian McPeak said.

McPeak did not provide any details about the reasons for the separation.

Representatives from the Las Vegas Hemp Festival did not respond today to request for comment.

The daylong Las Vegas marijuana expo, set for April 1, is one of multiple cannabis expos in Las Vegas in recent years.

Another weed convention, Las Vegas Hempcon, held its last convention at Cashman Center in May 2015 after authorities arrested 10 attendees and seized marijuana they said was being consumed illegally.

A Hempcon representative asserted at the time that the arrests stemmed from backlash from Hempfest, which was held earlier in the year and where people were smoking marijuana in front of police without any problems.

Police were embarrassed by photos that showed attendees smoking marijuana as officers watched, said Jennifer Solis, a spokeswoman for Wellness Education Cannabis Advocates of Nevada. “You can thank your buddies at Hempfest for all of this backlash,” Solis quoted one officer as saying.

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