Want to grow your own weed? Land a top job in the marijuana industry? Learn to cook cannabis? Enjoy an unforgettable pot party?

The National Orange Show Events Center in San Bernardino is the place to go, organizers of the Cannabis Cup say.

About 20,000 pot advocates will whiff marijuana culture at the two-day High Times SoCal Medical Cannabis Cup that ends Sunday, Feb. 8.

It’s the latest in a string of marijuana-themed events staged in the Inland area – often on state- or county-owned property – even though California bans recreational pot use. Past shows include the Smokeout concerts founded in San Bernardino by Cypress Hill, the rappers famous for pot-themed tunes. At least two other marijuana events are planned for later this year.

Marijuana dispensaries are illegal in the city and events such as Cannabis Cup run counter to the goal of shutting them down, San Bernardino Councilman Jim Mulvihill said.

“It’s encouraging behavior that’s banned within the city of San Bernardino,” Mulvihill said. “I just suspect this is going to cause a big influx of individuals who use marijuana. We’re probably going to see a lot more criminal behavior because of it.”

Nothing could be further from the truth, said Dan Skye, editor in chief of High Times magazine, which is staging the event.

“It’s a legal practice,” Skye said of medical marijuana use in California. “People are medical patients, and they are allowed to use their medicine. There’s nothing bad about it. We’re dealing with these kind of stone-age attitudes.”

CANNABIS SHOWCASE

The cannabis and hemp expo at the state-owned Orange Show started Saturday, Feb. 7. The event, in its third year in San Bernardino, is not open to minors. It celebrates “the incredibly diverse and emerging medical marijuana movement,” the event’s website boasts.

Festivalgoers with a medical marijuana recommendation get a wristband allowing them to enter a fenced-off area where they can consume pot legally.

The aroma of weed permeated the air Saturday afternoon as visitors smoked marijuana through glass pipes at dozens of booths.

“Of course you’re going to have a bunch of people coming to get high,” said Chris Stearns, a 31-year-old San Diego resident who attended the event. “It’s called High Times for a reason.”

Pot lovers indulged in medicated hot wings, cannabis cake, and other drug-laced sweets. Even canines weren’t left behind, as dog owners could purchase hemp-derived treats for their furry friends.

When they weren’t taking bong hits, festivalgoers stopped at tables showcasing glassware, vaporizers and other drug paraphernalia. Collectibles offered different quantities of marijuana for sale with names such as “moonrocks” and “superbuds.”

Outside the consumption area, guests could attend seminars on “cannabis use for enhanced creativity,” “the evolution of organic horticulture,” “the emerging edibles industry,” and how to avoid upsetting “your cannabusiness clientele.”

They also could pick up literature on pot legalization and purchase clothes and other products made with hemp.

It’s not the last Inland event to extol the virtues of marijuana.

Blaze ‘N’ Glory, a music and cannabis culture festival, comes in May to San Manuel Amphitheater, the Devore venue owned by San Bernardino County. Hempcon Cup, billed as America’s largest cannabis industry, health, lifestyle and culture event of the year, arrives at the Orange Show in November.

QUESTIONS RISE

While marijuana-themed events are a trip for pot supporters, they’re a downer for others who say they send the wrong message.

Francisco Pegueros, president and CEO of Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.), is among the foes. The Inglewood-based group works with police agencies that talk to kids about the dangers of tobacco, alcohol and drugs.

“The more frequently these types of events occur, and the more mainstream they are viewed as, the perception of harm is reduced,” Pegueros said.

Skye disagreed, saying public attitudes are shifting in favor of marijuana. Californians’ support for legalizing pot grew from 13 percent in 1969 to 55 percent in December 2013, according to a Field Poll.

In 1996, state voters passed the Compassionate Use Act, which allowed marijuana to be grown, distributed and used for medical purposes. Full legalization, which would allow recreational use, may be coming to California next year if a potential initiative passes.

MORE MARIJUANA, MORE PROBLEMS?

Marijuana-themed events are nothing new at the Orange Show, which hosted Cypress Hill’s Smokeout music and medical marijuana festival starting in 1998 and continuing on and off through 2012.

San Bernardino should look into what can be done to stop marijuana-friendly events, said Mulvihill, the councilman. He said he’s disappointed the Orange Show allows pot-themed events. Dan Jimenez, Orange Show general manager, could not be reached for comment late this week.

“I would suspect people will be bringing marijuana and sharing it,” Mulvihill said. “That sounds to me like it’s going to create a very permissive environment around the Orange Show.”

Skye, the High Times editor, said those entering Cannabis Cup won’t be searched for marijuana. He compared the atmosphere at the High Times’ event to a typical concert.

“At any festival, whether it’s a music festival or anything, people light up,” Skye said. “People smoke marijuana out in the open.”

A San Bernardino police spokesman said pot-themed events don’t generate more arrests than rock concerts and other shows at the fairgrounds.

Illegal activity “occurs at a lot of events in the city, not just marijuana events,” Lt. Rich Lawhead said. “Historically, we haven’t had a whole lot of enforcement issues that I can recall over the last few years at these type of events.”

The Orange Show has a security force and picks up the tab for city police officers to work overtime at the event, Lawhead said. High Times also hires its own security company, Skye said.

Police will be there to prevent illegal smoking and make arrests if they catch anyone lighting up outside the designated area, Lawhead said.

NICE ‘WEATHER AND WEED’

Meanwhile, San Bernardino County officials are gearing up for Blaze ‘N’ Glory on May 15 and 16. The music and cannabis culture festival is on the grounds surrounding the amphitheater at Glen Helen Regional Park.

The county-owned amphitheater is operated by way of a contract with promoter Live Nation. A contract provision requires the county to be notified when an event is scheduled, but the county can’t pick and choose what shows or acts are booked, county spokesman David Wert said.

Under the contract, Live Nation arranges and pays for private security and reimburses the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department for overtime costs to staff events, Wert said.

Some arrests and medical issues happen at most events, Wert said, but “it doesn’t seem to be any more for a rave than it is for a country concert.”

“Unfortunately, any time you get 20,000 or more people together in one place, there’s going to be a few knuckleheads,” he said.

The county has strongly urged Live Nation to ensure that Blaze ‘N’ Glory “is not promoted, billed, themed or conducted as a marijuana-friendly event,” Wert said.

In a news release announcing Blaze ‘N’ Glory, the band Pepper is quoted as saying, “It’s basically Christmas with better weather and weed.”

Festival producers Live Nation and SGE couldn’t be reached for comment by their spokeswoman, Kristine Ashton-Magnuson.

In neighboring Riverside, promoters haven’t inquired about putting on a pot-themed event at the Riverside Convention Center, said Debbi Guthrie, senior vice president of Raincross Hospitality Corp., the company contracted by the city of Riverside to manage the facility.

Each request is evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Whether it’s approved would depend on the quality of business, time and day of the week, history of the event in other cities and the type of crowd it attracts, Guthrie said.

Moreno Valley resident Rolando Tolentino, 34, was part of the enthusiastic throng at Cannabis Cup Saturday. It was his first pot festival.

“Right now, I’m getting high with the honey,” he said, showing a small bottle of honey made with hemp seed oil. “I love it, I love it, I love it. I found my new Disneyland.”

Contact the writer: swall@pe.com