As many of you may already know, I have a company in Kingston Jamaica with my Jamaican, Canadian and American partners. We are doing research and development as well as safety and efficacy testing thru the University of West Indies, on our products from United Cannabis (our partners) Prana. Thru our various relationships on the island we were invited to represent at the Honourable Robert Nesta Marley’s 72nd Earthstrong. Now this isn’t the first time we have been at this event, but it is the first time we got to represent properly with a booth. We showcased some solventless technologies we specialize in including water extraction with Bubblebags, Rosin Tech with Sasquash Press (and crew who came with us) as well as plant fat extraction technology and terpene extraction technology. ie Prana and Blue River.
The day starts early when you are going to have a booth at the Bob Marley Earthstrong celebration. Tony was certain no one would be present, but lo and behold at 7am when we arrived, the Nyabinghi drummers were
already drumming up a storm. A free kitchen was set up with incredible quality food from local Ackee, Bammy sticks and Johnny Cakes. Along with some tasty vegetarian lasagna and salads, the food was on point as usual. One of Bob’s big things was to feed the local people and they have really held onto that vibe for his Earthstrong parties. The stage was set up and fantastic artists played throughout the day. However, most of our time was spent in the back yard at our booth, as well as at some of the talks that happened. My favorite was of Dr Jahlani Niaha along with Jah 9 local popular reggae artist. The topic was ritual and spiritual use of cannabis/ chalice. I managed to record some of the audio from Jah 9 and will share this on my youtube channel Bubblemans world for all to hear as it’s very well articulated and inspirational to say the least.
Once I moved around the property a few times and saw some speakers, I made my way to the back of the property where our booth was located next to the Koi Pound. We brought with us on this trip the Sasquash Rosin Crew which consisted of Victoria, Jessica, Joel and Matt. Amazing people doing amazing work, and having them here to do some minor work on our air compressor, as well as operate and squish all the bud that came our way was KEY. From Reggae superstars to regular every day people, they squished plenty of buds and educated many people on the wonders of Solventless Oil production. While on the other side of the table, we had Tony V teaching the masses about plant fat extractions in both active and non active forms. You can check out the ACT now program that United Cannabis set up in America, and is soon to bring to Jamaica here at actnowprogram.com. The Jamaican Doctors we met with were very impressed and seemed to want to move things forward as soon as possible. We even had the Prime Minister stop by the booth and shake hands . He told us that within a few months we will see major movement in the licensing.
He announced they already had three preliminary licenses given out, and that has since been announced in Jamaican newspapers.
All in all, the event was spectacular. I wanted to stay longer but had a radio interview on Ganja Talk with Dr. Jahlani Niah at the University of West Indies. So I missed a lot of the Marleys and better known artists. However, I had seen them the night before at the Half Way Tree Concert (which you can watch on my YouTube channel). Want to give a big up to Keven and the Steamteamja (instagram) crew who came by and held it down steaming for hours on end. These guys are legit and can be found in the Steam Corner of any concert or event. You can show your support by purchasing a Jamaican Steam Chalice from them via instagram @teamsteamja. My biggest shout out goes to Bob Marley for producing this incredible body of music and experience that we are still drawing on like a steamer decades later. I truly believe his Earthstrong will be celebrated for hundreds of years and to be a part of it is indeed an honor. Bless up.