It’s a community with thousands of fans on Facebook.

Now Cork Cannabis Club is hosting an outdoor event where like-minded folk can meet up to chat about the issues surrounding cannabis use in Ireland.

Cannabis use and legalisation are back in the news this summer after reports that Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly is standing by comments he made on the issue in an interview with Hot Press magazine back in 2017.

In the interview, Minister Donnelly admitted he had use marijuana in the past and said he supported finding a way to “decriminalise small quantities of weed,”

Earlier this month, Tony Keogh, a director of Keogh’s crisps, appeared in court following the seizure of €20,000 of cannabis at an address in Dublin. Mr Keogh had been researching medical cannabis production around the world following the move by the Irish government to legalise medical cannabis last year.

Cork Canna Expo

Whatever your views on the subject, many people agree that legalising some drugs for personal use would allow the government to tackle drug-related crime and tax sales.

Cork Cannabis Club’s event, a ‘Cork Canna Expo’ is scheduled to take place on August 8th, 2020 from 2pm at Fitzgerald Skate Park in the city.

“The aim of the event is to bring the cannabis community together to openly challenge the cannabis prohibition laws and break the stigma by bringing their own bud and openly consuming cannabis.” say the organisers.

“Our past events were not interfered with by the Gardaí and we will aim for this to remain the same. We will have a generator, mic and speaker available.”

“We will have some guest speakers including medicinal cannabis patients, live music, yoga, art and a raffle with some great prizes kindly donated by some great businesses.”

By the way…

It’s important to know that right now, under the Misuse of Drugs Acts, anyone found in possession of cannabis or cannabis resin is guilty of an offence. If the court decides that the drug was for personal use and not for sale or distribution and this was a first offence, it can impose a class D fine (up to €1,000) on summary conviction in a District Court. On conviction on indictment, the defendant can be fined €2,500.

Growing cannabis plants is also illegal in Ireland. The advice from the government is that it is “an offence to grow cannabis plants or opium poppies and on summary conviction for this offence, you could be liable for a class C fine, or a prison sentence of no longer than 12 months.”

And there’s more: “If the court decides, you could be liable for both. On conviction on indictment for growing these plants, the court can decide on an appropriate fine and you could also be liable for a prison sentence of up to 14 years. Again, if the court decides, you could be liable for both.”

Don’t say we didn’t warn you.