By Adolfo Gonzalez

Vancouver: beautiful mountains, beautiful people, and yes, beautiful cannabis. We have no shortage of any of these things on this blessed West Coast.

It is no surprise, then, that we are also a hotbed of cannabis conferences, mixers, and other events that boast the power to connect you with the cannabiz world’s biggest movers and shakers.

This nascent industry has shown a great deal of excitement around the opportunity to profit from this amazing plant, but up to this point very little attention has been given to the long-standing culture surrounding the flower itself.

If "cannabis culture" means street dealers and mouldy basements to you, then the following point is worth noting: many people who are new to the field (and many who are not so new) have learned about the production and sale of this plant outside of any well-rooted cultural context.

Cultural relationships with cannabis are often treated as "distant", through time and/or space, by those who forget that there is a wealth of cultural inheritance still around us today. You just need to know where to look.

This is the inspiration behind the Collector’s Cup, an educational event that treats cannabis flowers as a complex combination of history, art, and science.

Think "Antiques Roadshow of Cannabis". This innovative educational format, taking place on September 22, will allow industry experts to interact among themselves as well as with the general public to learn more about the flowers brought by attendees.

The event limits each participant to bringing a maximum of  28 grams of their favourite legally acquired flowers (like bringing a bottle or two of good wine to a wine show), with a limit of four different types. Product experts will discuss lineage, history, and quality indicators of the submissions with each participant, followed by judgings conducted by a panel of experts.

For those who do not collect cannabis flowers, there will also be a wide range of educational presentations and interactive displays throughout the night, all aimed at teaching you the secrets behind the buds that move the cannabis industry.

I know what you are thinking: "Only in B.C.", right?

Yes, but for many this type of event will be more than just gathering of the weed snobs (no shortage of those in B.C.), pushing to give the cultural roots of the cannabis movement an academic setting to peer out from underneath the shadows.

In the end, each flower has its own story to tell and now there will be a place where that story can be told.

The Collector’s Cup will be held on September 22 at the UBC Alumni building starting at 1 p.m. (and don’t forget to bring your collection!). To find out more go to www.collectorscup.com.