Bristol Cannabis Club celebrated their 5th birthday on Saturday. Upon arrival The Quarter Leaf staff were greeted with a warm smile and invited into the premises they’ve been using for the past few years with no bother from the local police or any trouble from the neighbours. There’s adequate parking for anyone coming that uses a car, and it’s situated not too far from Bristol City centre.

There are a few stalls selling refreshments, and some rather nice cakes on offer too. Everybody settled down to listen to seven speakers in turn. We had a short introduction by Jo Moss and Alistair Burrell, followed by Danny Kushlick from Transform Drug Policy Foundation. Up next were three medical testimonials from Luzita Hill, Callie Blackwell and Phil Monk. It’s always touching when you see the passion with which people convey their stories of self-sustaining help for their medical needs, and when it comes to cancer it really doesn’t get much more serious than that. We had some reminiscing from Lee Harris, a seemingly tireless activist with fitting anecdotes for a cannabis club meet-up. It was all rounded off by an impassioned speech from Simpa Carter who was busy telling everyone the raw truth behind cannabis legislation, and suggesting ways to move forward with cannabis law.

After the speeches a sound system was set up and a few more people rolled through to say hi to their fellow club members. Cake was on offer; what birthday party is complete without one? It was decorated in green, and had a well known Bristolian feature as decoration. There was an after party at the club’s new home where people were invited back to chill some more, but by that time The Quarter Leaf staff were really enjoying the cake! Happy Birthday BCC, we at The Quarter Leaf hope you’ve many more birthdays to come.

NB: Bristol Cannabis Club are campaigning for their local council to recognise the necessity for cannabis clubs, and as such they’ve got a petition going to seek acceptance from the local council. It points out the need for these spaces, which are centres for education and also required safe spaces to consume cannabis, as the level of stigma and apathy surrounding cannabis results in people being very ill informed about this natural healing plant. Please sign the petition here.