Daniel DeMeulle poses next to his first-place marijuana plant at the Oregon State Fair. All photos by Marina Riker
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Next to the screaming children on carnival rides, the foot-long sausages, and the pens crammed with prized pigs and cattle, the Oregon State Fair in Salem, Oregon, is starting a new fair tradition: a display of top-notch marijuana.
It's the first state fair to show off live cannabis plants, which pot growers and spectators alike say is proof of the changing times and attitudes toward legal weed.
So far, about 1,000 people have passed through the exhibit each day since the fair started last week, according to Don Morse, chairman of the Oregon Cannabis Business Council, which is sponsoring the exhibit. A security guard protects the nine-plant display, which runs from August 26 through September 5 and is only accessible for those 21 and up. When people file into the greenhouse, many whip out their phones, asking others to take photos of them posing with the plants.
"My end goal is is to destigmatize cannabis to make it just like any other plant," Morse told me. "I want people to leave that room going, 'I don't see what the big deal is about cannabis.'"
Recreational marijuana was officially legalized in July 2015 after Oregon voters approved a ballot measure the year before. That means anyone over 21 can use and possess up to eight ounces of marijuana, while adults can grow up to four plants at home as long as they're out of public view.
Right now, there are about 400 licensed pot retailers in Oregon, but the state estimates that number will grow to 550 by 2019, according to the Oregon Department of Revenue. So far, the program has been an economic success, generating more than $25 million in tax revenue in the first half of 2016.
After recreational weed was legalized, the Oregon Department of Agriculture said it considered Oregon-grown cannabis to be an agricultural cropbut getting the live plants into the state fair was still tricky. Morse said it took six months of negotiations before he successfully made the case for cannabis to be treated just like the other cropssweet corn, giant squash, and heirloom tomatoesthat are entered into state fairs across the country.
And the nine plants on display are special: They were dubbed the winners of the Oregon Cannabis Growers' Fair, a contest held about two weeks ago to select the best plants that would go on to the state fair. Most marijuana contests grade the flowerthe part of the plant that you smokebut the growers' fair was among the few to judge the plants in the "veg" stage, before they start to bud.
Growers from around the state submitted about 60 entries in the competition, which scored the plants based on characteristics including the aroma, leaf structure, and shape of the plant. The contest was divided into three categories (indica, sativa, and hybrid), and first, second, and third-place winners earned a spot at the state fair.
Ed Rosenthal, who calls himself the "guru of ganja," oversaw judging at the contest. Compared to more traditional flower competitions, picking the best vegging plants requires much more subtlety and observation because each strain looks different, he told me. And when it comes down to it, a slight wilting and dulling of leaf color could make or break a grower.
"You know how when somebody is ill their skin color changes a little bit?" said Rosenthal. "It's on that kind of subtle gradient."
Daniel DeMeulle took first prize in the hybrid category for "Whitaker Blues," a strain known for producing a calm and lazy high. DeMeulle said he's been growing for more than 13 years and put about 70 hours of work into his two-month-old, female cannabis plant. Although he's overseen grow operations for a number of dispensaries, this plant came from his personal collection.
"It's a really finicky plant," DeMeulle told me. "So if you don't have everything just right, it won't come out the best it can be."
At the state fair, DeMeulle sipped a neon-green slushy while explaining how he checks on all of his home grows at least twice a day for humidity levels and ...
