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The Karma Cup 2018 winners and the story behind the sudden venue change

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There was some drama at the Karma Cup this weekend as organizers were suddenly forced to move the event somewhere else for its last day on Sunday due to landlord pressures, but after securing a last-minute venue and with the tireless work of staff and volunteers, the Karma Cup was able to rebound without a hitch for a great weekend full of cannabis and community.

CLN has the list of winners of the Karma Cup’s famous and functional glass trophies so without further ado…

The 2018 Karma Cup Winners

Edibles

  1. Cannabiscotti-Twisted Tiramisu Cannabiscotti (Entry #7)
  2. Purple Krown Canna Co.- Chocobudz (Entry #21)
  3. Sofa King Good Bakery- Cosmic Pretzels (Entry #17)

Indica Bud

  1. Phat Pharms- Remo Kush (8)
  2. Matt- Tahoe OG Kush (9)
  3. Phat Pharms- Grape Pie (7)

Hybrid Bud

  1. Phat Pharms- Zombie (12)
  2. Phat Pharms- Wedding Cake (11)
  3. Unlicensed Producer- Gorilla Glue #4 (7)

Sativa Bud

  1. Pending review by Karma Cup please check back for updates

Preroll

  1. Fukushima Preroll Factory- Citrus Skunk (2)
  2. Dirty Dave- Triple Hash Joint (1)

Topical

  1. Miss Envy- Buddha Bar (12)
  2. Bare Coconut- Recover (5)
  3. Health Therapy Products- 19 Paths Herbal Pain Rub

CBD

  1. Miss Envy- CBD Terp Sauce (2)
  2. Miss Envy- CBD Isolate (3)
  3. Thompson Caribou- CBD Isolate (1)

Functional Glass

  1. Korey Glass- Dragon’s Breath (2)
  2. Redbeard Glass- Pool Sharks (13)
  3. Tropical Iceberg Glass- Peacock Alien Parallax Symbiosis (11)

Solvent Hybrid

  1. Hystar Extracts- Sweet Skunk (8)
  2. Hystar Extracts- Gorilla Glue (9)
  3. Dirty Dave Ltd.- Locktite 777 (1)

Solvent Indica

  1. Hystar Extracts- Death Bubba (3)
  2. Hystar Extracts- Destroyer Kush (4)
  3. Seven Star- Purple Terps (1)

Solvent Sativa

  1. Hystar Extracts- Frodo (2)
  2. Beard Bros- Old School Haze Wax (4)
  3. Beard Bros- Thai Stick (5)

Solventless

  1. Rosinstar- Blue God (8)
  2. Maple Budder- Where’s My Bike? (7)
  3. Unlicensed Producer- Wedding Cake X Ghost Train Haze (4)

Distillate

  1. High Grade Extracts (2)
  2. London Donovan Extracts (1)

High Terpene

  1. Beard Bros- Super Love Potion (13)
  2. Beard Bros- Super Old School Lemon (12)
  3. London Donovan Extracts- Black Dog OG Diamond Sauce (4)

Pens

  1. Seaway Valley Extracts (3)
  2. London Donovan Extracts- Black Dog OG (1)
  3. High Grade Extracts- Terp Distillate Pen (2)

What happened with the landlord?


The Karma Cup kicked off with a spark on Saturday, attracting approximately 10,000 attendees the first day, and we don’t know if the Karma Cup was a victim of its own success or not, but on Sunday, organizers faced an urgent and unexpected situation- the landlord kicked them out, forcing the Karma Cup to move from its location in the heart of downtown Toronto’s entertainment district.

Why?

While CLN has not been able to confirm the reason for the landlord’s sudden change of heart, if we take a look at the location of the Karma Cup and consider what else was happening in the area, we can get an idea of who or what might be behind the decision to move the Karma Cup.

karma cup map

As you can see from the map above, the Karma Cup (circled in green) was just steps away from the box office of the Toronto International Film Festival on Saturday, and you can bet that Aurora Cannabis, one of TIFF’s official corporate sponsors, was furious that one of Canada’s biggest and best medical cannabis cups was only a few blocks away from the “House of Aurora” pop-up that was hosting private events that same weekend.

It’s funny because, according to a Globe and Mail report, there was no cannabis at all at the House of Aurora while at the Karma Cup, attendees could freely medicate.

But the show must go on and the Karma Cup organizers were able to salvage the situation by changing the venue back to where they were the previous year on 512 Church St, and although the venue is slightly smaller than where they were the day before, it was still a great and welcoming space.

This power move shows that it’s maybe too soon to celebrate the end of cannabis prohibition. While the corporate licensed producers were busy celebrating the Toronto Film Festival and schmoozing with the Hollywood elites, a community-minded event like the Karma Cup that celebrates cannabis culture was pushed out of its space due to pressures completely outside of its control.

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