The Alaska Cannabis Classic, isn't this illegal?

Is this a scam?

  • Total voters
    3
Legal in AK

Legal in AK

Active Member
This doesn't even look legit. It looks straight up like a shitty money grab with no credibility.
http://www.nwcannabisclassic.com/anchorage-page2/

1. They are asking people to enter 29 grams to compete. Alaska medical marijuana laws only allow for the possession of 1 ounce (28 grams) and the state's new recreational laws are the same. They are asking you to disregard all state laws to participate in their competition.

2. Competitors must have a valid physicians recommendation. These cost $200 and there's only 1 doctor in the state doing them. Why would competitors need a MMJ card if it's legal for anyone to grow and possess? Seems more like a kickback program with the doctor.

3. Registration Fees. These must be paid by February 23, 2015. Almost 3 months before the actual competition. The fees are as follows, 1 entry $200, 2 entries $350, 3 entries $450, 4 entries $525. How are people suppose to enter multiple entries if they can only lawfully possess 1 ounce (28 grams), yet they are asking for 29 grams per entry. How do you know they're just not going to take your money and medication and run off with it?

4. Turning in entries. They are asking for entries to be submitted by March 30, 2015. 6 weeks before the actual competition. Again what credibility do they have? How will you know they just won't run off with it?

5. Entries must be divided into 29 (1 gram) bags. Do you want to get hit with a trafficking charge? This is beyond stupid.

6. Judging. Cost to judge is $500. To put this in perspective, to judge High Times Cannabis Cup it costs $280!!! There will be 40 judges, yet only 28 of the 40 judges will be allowed to sample your entry. Judges must also submit their fees by March 30, 2015. They stand to gain $20,000 from judging fees alone.

7. No potency testing. For having such exorbitant costs, why is there no professional cannabinoid/terpene profiles being tested. They claim that they will be doing a potency test for concentrates, why isn't the same being offered for flowers?

8. Vendors. They claim over 200 vendors will be attending, yet when you check the vendor page there is not a single vendor listed. ZERO! That's a big difference from their claimed 200.

9. Contact page. If we're suppose to be submitting money and medication to these people there should be some info about who runs. There is not. Contact page is very generic and contains no actual information of who it is. The only information you can find is a number which is 907-331-0506. When you do a reverse number lookup you will find out this is a VoIP number. IT'S NOT EVEN A REAL PHONE!!! How do you even know this person lives in the state? It also just so happens to be the same exact number as one of their sponsors, the Alaska Cannabis Institute.

10. No business license. Go on the Alaska Commerce site and try finding them. https://www.commerce.state.ak.us/CBP/Main/
There is no business license for these people. They are essentially trafficking drugs in the open under the guise as a cannabis competition.

11. On their about page they claim classes will be available at the competition. I originally found the site through Charlo Greene's vendor page http://alaskacannabisinstitute.com/vendors/
Is this just another money grab that Charlo is hiding behind? She managed to sucker $8,400 out of people in order to start her "business". https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/alaska-cannabis-club-s-freedom-fairness-fight

12. Their sponsors are The Alaska Cannabis Institute and Cannabis Industry Association Alaska. Who is the CIAA? They're webpage doesn't even exist. They are completely imaginary. If there were a real organization they would surely have website if they are sponsoring both the Alaska Cannabis Classic and Alaska Cannabis Institute.

13. Facebook. Their profile was created on May 20. They have only 2 likes which one of them is from the Alaska Cannabis Institute.

14. When you do a domain look up it's registered to Cory Wray. Who is Cory Wray? He is the event manager for the Alaska Cannabis Institute. http://alaskacannabisinstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/3-31_PR_Speaker-Announcement_Anchorage.pdf
He doesn't even live in Alaska. He lives in Hawaii. http://www.linkedin.com/in/corywray#background-education
Here is another one of his companies which the website is registered under http://www.valleyislewebs.com/


Thoughts? Opinions?
 
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elkamino

elkamino

Well-Known Member
Legal in AK said:
This doesn't even look legit. It looks straight up like a shitty money grab with no credibility.
http://www.nwcannabisclassic.com/anchorage-page2/

1. They are asking people to enter 29 grams to compete. Alaska medical marijuana laws only allow for the possession of 1 ounce (28 grams) and the state's new recreational laws are the same. They are asking you to disregard all state laws to participate in their competition.

2. Competitors must have a valid physicians recommendation. These cost $200 and there's only 1 doctor in the state doing them. Why would competitors need a MMJ card if it's legal for anyone to grow and possess? Seems more like a kickback program with the doctor.

3. Registration Fees. These must be paid by February 23, 2015. Almost 3 months before the actual competition. The fees are as follows, 1 entry $200, 2 entries $350, 3 entries $450, 4 entries $525. How are people suppose to enter multiple entries if they can only lawfully possess 1 ounce (28 grams), yet they are asking for 29 grams per entry. How do you know they're just not going to take your money and medication and run off with it?

4. Turning in entries. They are asking for entries to be submitted by March 30, 2015. 6 weeks before the actual competition. Again what credibility do they have? How will you know they just won't run off with it?

5. Entries must be divided into 29 (1 gram) bags. Do you want to get hit with a trafficking charge? This is beyond stupid.

6. Judging. Cost to judge is $500. To put this in perspective, to judge High Times Cannabis Cup it costs $280!!! There will be 40 judges, yet only 28 of the 40 judges will be allowed to sample your entry. Judges must also submit their fees by March 30, 2015. They stand to gain $20,000 from judging fees alone.

7. No potency testing. For having such exorbitant costs, why is there no professional cannabinoid/terpene profiles being tested. They claim that they will be doing a potency test for concentrates, why isn't the same being offered for flowers?

8. Vendors. They claim over 200 vendors will be attending, yet when you check the vendor page there is not a single vendor listed. ZERO! That's a big difference from their claimed 200.

9. Contact page. If we're suppose to be submitting money and medication to these people there should be some info about who runs. There is not. Contact page is very generic and contains no actual information of who it is. The only information you can find is a number which is 907-331-0506. When you do a reverse number lookup you will find out this is a VoIP number. IT'S NOT EVEN A REAL PHONE!!! How do you even know this person lives in the state? It also just so happens to be the same exact number as one of their sponsors, the Alaska Cannabis Institute.

10. No business license. Go on the Alaska Commerce site and try finding them. https://www.commerce.state.ak.us/CBP/Main/
There is no business license for these people. They are essentially trafficking drugs in the open under the guise as a cannabis competition.

11. On their about page they claim classes will be available at the competition. I originally found the site through Charlo Greene's vendor page http://alaskacannabisinstitute.com/vendors/
Is this just another money grab that Charlo is hiding behind? She managed to sucker $8,400 out of people in order to start her "business". https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/alaska-cannabis-club-s-freedom-fairness-fight

12. Their sponsors are The Alaska Cannabis Institute and Cannabis Industry Association Alaska. Who is the CIAA? They're webpage doesn't even exist. They are completely imaginary. If there were a real organization they would surely have website if they are sponsoring both the Alaska Cannabis Classic and Alaska Cannabis Institute.

13. Facebook. Their profile was created on May 20. They have only 2 likes which one of them is from the Alaska Cannabis Institute.

14. When you do a domain look up it's registered to Cory Wray. Who is Cory Wray? He is the event manager for the Alaska Cannabis Institute. http://alaskacannabisinstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/3-31_PR_Speaker-Announcement_Anchorage.pdf
He doesn't even live in Alaska. He lives in Hawaii. http://www.linkedin.com/in/corywray#background-education
Here is another one of his companies which the website is registered under http://www.valleyislewebs.com/


Thoughts? Opinions?
Click to expand...

Legal: Thanks for doing background on this and sharing what you found. I found this yesterday too and think you're smart to be suspicious. Clearly anything over 28.34 grams is over an oz, the fees are outrageous, the vendor claims are false and it just smells funny too.

But perhaps they've included the med requirements in hopes of being legal enough to get this ball rolling asap? Existing med rules are very similar to the future adult-use rules, and if I was trying to pull a legit AK Cup off I might require competitors to be med-legal until the details of the new law are hashed out. I certainly wouldn't ask them to enter illegal amounts though!

It'd be very cool to see an AK Cup happen. So I'm willing to watch and give them a chance to polish their model, update their site and get out in front on this- I mean, who else is?
 
Legal in AK

Legal in AK

Active Member
elkamino said:
Legal: Thanks for doing background on this and sharing what you found. I found this yesterday too and think you're smart to be suspicious. Clearly anything over 28.34 grams is over an oz, the fees are outrageous, the vendor claims are false and it just smells funny too.

But perhaps they've included the med requirements in hopes of being legal enough to get this ball rolling asap? Existing med rules are very similar to the future adult-use rules, and if I was trying to pull a legit AK Cup off I might require competitors to be med-legal until the details of the new law are hashed out. I certainly wouldn't ask them to enter illegal amounts though!

It'd be very cool to see an AK Cup happen. So I'm willing to watch and give them a chance to polish their model, update their site and get out in front on this- I mean, who else is?
Click to expand...
I would love to see an AK Cup as well but this looks like a total scam. It's definitely being put on by Charlo Greene and her "business" and I think they've gone the medical route because she likes to hide behind medical patients and act like she his "helping the patients". Everything she has done to this point has been very unprofessional and unethical. Her previous job she failed to notify her employer about her conflict of interest, decided to drop the F bomb on TV and now she is trying to run multiple businesses, all without a business license. She is essentially trafficking drugs at this point and avoiding paying any taxes on any of it. Medical dispensaries are illegal in the state of Alaska, and if she wants to distribute cannabis she will need to wait until it is actually legal and apply for license like everybody else. Why does this special snowflake think the rules don't apply to her? With this "cannabis cup" of hers she is charging people and selling them dime bags. Her last little adventure on indigogo she stated the money was going to be used to campaign for cannabis, yet she took that money and put it into her own business instead.
 
Legal in AK

Legal in AK

Active Member
1. If you understand the laws, why are you encouraging people to break them? The 1 ounce rule has been law for 16 years and hasn't changed. You are encouraging people to enter as many as 116 grams, well over 4x the lawful limit. You are asking contestants to commit a felony which is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and up to $50,000 in fines. Alaska Medical Marijuana laws also only allow you to be the caregiver for 1 patient (2 if they are blood related) and you are trying to provide "medication" to 28 patients, way beyond what Alaska State laws allow.

2. What extra layer of protection are you referring to? How will medical patients be more protected than an Alaskan resident? There's no difference in weight limits between medical and non medical growers.

3.This seems like its being thrown together rather frivolously. We're about 3.5 months away from the registration deadline and you still haven't figured out costs? Why do the judges need so much time to judge? Both the Emerald Cup and HTCC are judged over the weekend of the event, not prior to. Is it really that hard to sample ~9 strains a day over a 3 day event? If the judges aren't capable of that maybe you should have people who are familiar with smoking cannabis judge instead of beginners.

4. As I mentioned in my original post, HTCC only costs $280 to judge, yet you are trying to charge double that. Seems rather overprice IMO

5. People can put some nasty stuff in cannabis too, ever heard of growth hormones? If you want to be considered a legit and reputable Cannabis Cup you should be testing every single entry. You already state on your website that you will only allow bubble hash and dry sieve.

6. Sounds cool

7. You need to understand my suspicions. You don't clearly identify yourself on the webpage and share the EXACT same number as the Alaska Cannabis Institute. The number is also a VoIP, which means you could be sitting in China for all we know scamming people. Why did I have to jump through so many hoops to figure out who you are, and what you do? Why not just come clean about it to begin with?

8. What does having a bank account have anything to do with owning a proper business license? You can still get a business license from the state of Alaska without a bank account. Maybe you should talk to your colleague Charlo, as she currently has a valid business license for her Alaska Cannabis Club. I don't need to attend some overpriced seminar to understand basic Alaska laws.

9. I didn't say you were related to the Alaska Cannabis Club, I stated you had the EXACT SAME NUMBER as the Alaska Cannabis Institute. Why all this secrecy? Why is it so hard for you to be truthful and forthcoming? Also what do you mean by a Cannabis Club? Do you mean a dispensary? Medical Marijuana dispensaries are still illegal under Alaska state law. Maybe you should do some reading about our laws before you come in here and try to tell us what they are. I have a very good understand of them, but you appear not to have any idea what they are. This will help you a lot http://medicalmarijuana.uslegal.com/state-laws/alaska-medical-marijuana-laws/
Even better I found it on your website. http://alaskacannabisinstitute.com/current-alaska-law/
Do you even read what you post on there? For someone who is trying to teach other what Alaska law is, you sure don't seem to even remotely grasp what it is yourself. Not sure if you should be trying to teach others, let alone be charging for that service... If i had paid to go to your seminar I would be feeling pretty ripped off right about now.

10. You haven't finished making the page, you have no business license, and there's absolutely 0 information about what the business actually does. Your missions and values page is absolutely horrendous. I've seen more work put into a freshman business project than you have done with your "business". Why do you guys keep asking for donations? I feel like all you have tried to do thus far is give us the run around.

11. Again where is this business license? There's no record of it in the state of Alaska... In part 8 of your post you state that there are no businesses with the word "cannabis" in it, yet when I look on the Alaska Commerce page I found 8 active business licenses with the word cannabis in it. Which is it? Do you have a license or not? Because you have taken both sides of that claim.

If you are living in this state where are you? Anchorage? The Valley? All your social media websites still say you live in Hawaii, and until you prove otherwise I'm going to assume that's true.

FrozenChozen said:
@Legal in AK
he joined up just to bust your balls..... Seems sketchy to me....
Click to expand...
Indeed, we've given him the benefit of the doubt already and he's just giving us the run around.
 
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Legal in AK

Legal in AK

Active Member
And he's taken the page down. You just get a 404 error when you try to visit it. He also removed the CIAA from the list of sponsors. Very sketchy indeed.

He posted a video on their Facebook page yesterday still trying to give people legal advise
https://www.facebook.com/AKCannabizInstitute

Maybe Cory should follow his own advice :hump:

Quoting in case Cory tries to edit/delete this post
Cory Wray said:
Hi Legal and friends,

My name is Cory Wray, and I am organizing the Alaska Cannabis Classic. It is actually part of a Cannabis Classic tour, with the first event in Anchorage, at the Dena'ina Center, May 15-17. Its a cannabis tradeshow and competition. We will have over 150 vendors. There is going to be live music, hemp fashion show, dab bar, eCig Vape lounge, and a medicating area. We expect over 8500 attendees over the 3-day event.

However, I want to compliment Legal on his research skills. We have not begun promoting the event yet as we have been negotiating with city officials and law enforcement to let them know what we are doing.

Please allow me this opportunity to address your concerns above.

1. The fees and weights are just temporary place holders as we have not finalized or begun advertising. So what you are seeing is essentially the "sausage-making" of putting on an event of this magnitude. We will not be doing anything that is breaking the spirit of the law, and that is why we are working with the community.

2. Doctors Recommendation: as you pointed out, we created our FB page on May 20, which was before the November 4th vote. During that time, recreational marijuana was still illegal. We were moving forward with the event regardless, so we set it up for medical marijuana patients. I believe in marijuana as medicine. I still think folks should have their medical marijuana card. It adds an extra layer of protection. And so we included medical marijuana cards, just in case the vote did not pass. If you are interested in getting a medical marijuana card, you can see Zeke with AC-Medical. I think he charges $175. We do not get any "kickbacks." Zeke is a good guy, and he is doing this for the right reasons.

3. Entries: again, the costs associated with the entries are templates. They are placeholders until we can figure the costs out. Still, we need the samples about 6-weeks before the event. We need to get the samples in the judges' hands so they can judge the product. We don't want judges judging multiple products back-to-back, because how would they be able to honestly say what the effects were, etc. So we give judges plenty of time to judge and examine the products so they can give an accurate opinion.

4. Costs to enter or judge: again, the numbers we have on the webpage are just templates at this point. What do you think is a fair cost for entries and judges?

5. Potency testing: we have a lot of connections in the marijuana industry. We are working on getting testing lined up for every product. Why it was specific to concentrates was because people can put some pretty nasty, dangerous elements into their concentrates throughout the process. So we are testing for those dangers.

6. Vendors: We have already signed many vendors. However, the website is under construction. Once it is finished, which should be in the next 10-days, you will see our marketing go "live" and you will then see who our vendors are. It's going to be great. You are gonna have a fantastic time.

7. Contact info - 907-331-0506 is my number. That is my direct line. You can call me right now and we can chat more about the Alaska Cannabis Classic, which is part of the NW Cannabis Classic series that is going to Anchorage, Tacoma, Portland. And then we will crown the cannabest-of-the-best in the NorthWest. You can also reach me at [email protected], which we own and operate...

8. Speaking of, you will not find our business if you look up Alaska Cannabis Classic or Alaska Cannabis Institute. If you attended one of our seminars, you would know why. Good luck getting a bank account with the word "cannabis," "marijuana," "weed," or anything like that in your name. Banks are FDIC insured. Marijuana still illegal federally. Federally charted banks won't touch marijuana businesses. Try looking up our parent corporation, which is Pacific Sun West.

9. So, we are not affiliated with the Alaska Cannabis Club and Charlo Greene. Charlie owns the Alaska Cannabis Club, and they are actually opening up a club in December. Charlo, and her group, are good people.

10. Our website says one of our sponsors is the Cannabis Industry Association of Alaska. We changed the name to Alaska Cannabis Industry Association. You can check out our webpage at www.akcannabis.org. Keep in mind, we haven't finished this page either. You can visit our ACIA FB page, which also has 2 likes, similar to the NW Cannabis Classic. But keep in mind, creating these websites and including everybody take time and a lot of work. Any suggestions you have I would love to hear. You are probably right in the fact that we probably shouldn't have put the websites up where people could find them, but I wanted to see how they looked on the monitor. Plus I needed to link the pages with the URLs. But, I appreciate the fact that you were able to find them.

11. Finally, yes, my name is Cory Wray, but I do not live in Hawaii anymore. I have not updated my LinkedIn page since I left Maui, but you can verify my residence when you look up our business license.

At the end of the day, our goal is to help establish the marijuana industry in Alaska. I have no intention of owning or operating a dispensary or grow operation. However, I know a lot of people in the industry, and so I can help bring information and resources to the marketplace, like we did with the Alaska Cannabis Institute. If you want to help us out, shoot me an email.

Thanks for your time in advance. I can't wait until the Alaska Cannabis Classic. It's going to be amazing and I promise you are all going to have so much fun. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

Cory Wray
907-331-0506
[email protected]
www.alaskacannabisinstitute.com
Click to expand...
 
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FrozenChozen

FrozenChozen

Well-Known Member
Legal in AK said:
And he's taken the page down. You just get a 404 error when you try to visit it. He also removed the CIAA from the list of sponsors. Very sketchy indeed.

He posted a video on their Facebook page yesterday still trying to give people legal advise
https://www.facebook.com/AKCannabizInstitute

Maybe Cory should follow his own advice :hump:

Quoting in case Cory tries to edit/delete this post
Click to expand...
Alaska's in the news now guys... There's not much we can do to get away from scammers now, just don't bite....
 
Cold$moke

Cold$moke

Well-Known Member
I tell you if there is a convention I will be there

I might not be entering any weed to leo though
lol
 
elkamino

elkamino

Well-Known Member
Well apparently I don't know fuck-all about shiesters and their cannabis cups or competitions! I mean is that dude a cop? A math idiot? Or just a dude looking to make a buck with no interest in following the law?

Doesn't really matter, I guess... unless its a cop, in which case using tax dollars to pay cops to troll here for 1 gram violations of the future law is total bullshit. But since this "Cup" does appear to be bullshit, when/where are Alaskans going to publicly celebrate/flex our newfound freedoms?! I don't have any need to pay hefty entry or judging fees, or even access to anyone else's dank. But I am definitely down for some kind of public smoke-out or meet-n-greet once we're re-legalized, this has been a long time coming...
 
Legal in AK

Legal in AK

Active Member
elkamino said:
Well apparently I don't know fuck-all about shiesters and their cannabis cups or competitions! I mean is that dude a cop? A math idiot? Or just a dude looking to make a buck with no interest in following the law?

Doesn't really matter, I guess... unless its a cop, in which case using tax dollars to pay cops to troll here for 1 gram violations of the future law is total bullshit. But since this "Cup" does appear to be bullshit, when/where are Alaskans going to publicly celebrate/flex our newfound freedoms?! I don't have any need to pay hefty entry or judging fees, or even access to anyone else's dank. But I am definitely down for some kind of public smoke-out or meet-n-greet once we're re-legalized, this has been a long time coming...
Click to expand...
It's more than a 1 gram violation, they are encouraging people to enter up to 116 grams, which is a felony punishable by 5 years and/or $50,000.

I saw we have an unofficial competition this spring and everyone brings their best/favorite ounce and we all just smoke it. Don't tell anyone who's is who's and have judging forms everyone fills out.
 
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