By Benji Garcia-Reyes
IG: @themedimexican
Candid Chronicle: Your event is so great for the community and vets and we would like to help spread the word.
Benji: Thank you, yes it is. It’s a unique opportunity to combine worlds. The cannabis industry world and the military armed forces. And we know now, from what we have learned from Weed for Warriors and the Cannabis Coalition that cannabis effectively helps mental and physical healing. With that being said, we want to merge that and make it an event where the veterans who maybe new to it will get a card and receive education. Half of the vendors we are getting are non-profit and education. We are using this event to help veterans and their families talk about mental health, which is something people still don’t talk about but, it’s a big issue, especially when they come home. Also, issues like domestic violence are important and need to be covered.
CC: That’s awesome Benji, are you a veteran yourself?
B: No, I’m not. I’m actually a comedian but I have a lot of veteran friends. I live in Imperial Beach and we have a lot of veterans. I worked at a military bar for a while and have a lot of good friends that lost people in the Middle East.
CC: You’ve been able to attract some key names in the cannabis business like 420 Nurses, Kurrupt Moonrocks, Don Ponchos, among others. Was it challenging to get these companies behind you?
B: No, not really, I’ve been working in cannabis industry for 5 or 6 years. I’m a part of the Nuglife Radio Show, I’m host of Nuglife Radio in Spanish. I’ve toured and produced the Cannabis 215 shows here in Southern California. Because of my knowledge, because of my touring with Las Vegas Hempfest, I covered the first Cannabis Cup in Jamaica, I run into these people. I’ve learned to not waste people’s time and ask them to do everything, just the big things. We’ve gone all out for this event and that’s why it’s not hard to get people involved. We don’t ever have anything big in San Diego, it’s not Los Angeles or San Dimas. We have a big property, a big venue, and a big rolodex as well. Medicinal Mike was instrumental in helping us with contacts and mentoring me and linked us with a lot of people he works with.
CC: We hear that a lot about Medi Mike. I see he’s touched you as well.
B: I’ve been his right hand for 6 or 7 years and he’s given me opportunities like this one and many others.
CC: That’s awesome. As a community the more we work together and grow together the better we’ll be. This event sounds great and I know more people would like to know how they can help veterans and the Veterans Day Cannabis Fest. How can our readers help you help the veterans?
B: Bringing awareness and letting people know that the event is going on. If you’re a veteran, disabled, or military you get in for free. Anyone who brings a can of food gets in for $5. Long term, be involved with your veteran friends. Let them know about being educated on cannabis.
CC: It’s really amazing what you’re doing for the community and veterans. I know the readers will be happy to help and participate. A lot of these events are at a secret location. Is this a location you can announce yet?
B: No, we can’t let anyone know the location until the day of the event. Only because we want to be absolutely sure we can use that venue for more events in the future. We are trying to get everything together so we can utilize the venue for other community events.
CC: I’m sure there will be other entrepreneurs, businesses, products and services that will want to get involved in future events at that venue. There are not a lot of those venues here yet in San Diego.
B: I’m the event coordinator/supervisor because of the experience I have. The empowerment and idea is from nuggplug.com which is the principle sponsor of the event and run by Esco, the CEO, and the special project manager Abe with Nugg Plug. It’s a bunch of us but, I’m just the dude that knows how to talk about it
CC: It’s great that everyone has their hands in making sure this is a successful event for the veterans. It’s an honor for the Candid Chronicle to be apart of it and we will do everything in our power to ensure the fact that this is a successful event for the veterans that allow us to do what we do here in America freely. We appreciate your support, dedication, and resources you have put together to make this a great day. Please let the readers know the date, time and where they can know about the event.
B: The event is Saturday, November 12 from 2pm-9pm. You can follow us on Instagram @veteransdaycannabisfest and @crazysandiego.
CC: It’s been a pleasure talking to you today. Thank you to you, Nuggplug and Crazy San Diego for putting on this event!
