Las Vegas, Nev. PRESS RELEASE -- On Friday, Oct. 11, the first-ever Budtender Awards kicked off two days of education, entertainment, parties and networking at Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas. The event culminated in an over the top Awards Ceremony hosted by comedian Rachel Wolfson and Modest Jones with a very special performance by Cypress Hill at Light Nightclub on Oct. 12. It was the first-ever CBD sales, distribution and sampling event and cannabis exposition at an MGM property that sought to pay homage to the world's top Budtenders and cannabis culture.
Sponsored by Canna Paid and Clover Leaf University, organizers selected 45 finalists from over 700 publicly nominated candidates with five nominees for each of the nine award categories the Budtender Awards created: community; social acceptance; personality; creativity; medicinal; overall knowledge; CBD; concentrates; and edibles.
The nine well-deserving winners are in:
Medallion Award (Community) Sponsored by Canna Paid
Rocky Hernandez (Planet 13-Las Vegas, NV)
Ambassador Award (Social Acceptance) Presented by SkinnyWeed & High Times
Tara Berger (Atrium-Woodland Hills, CA)
Spotlight Award (Personality) Presented by Medicated Marley
Riley Travers (805 Beach Breaks-Grover Beach, CA)
In the Arts Award (Creativity) Sponsored by Lowell Farms
Jazziymn West (Captain Jacks-San Bernardino, CA)
Dr. Cannabis Award (Medicinal)
Joe ”SleepyJo” Nelson (Buddha's Wellness Center LLC-Port Orford, OR)
Mastermind Award (Overall Knowledge)
Brandon Scott (Mission-Chicago South Side, IL)
CBD Award (CBD)
Zulema Lino (Essence Dispensary-Las Vegas, NV)
710 Master Award (Concentrates) Sponsored by Guild Extracts
Alex Almadova (Apothecary 420- Sherman Oaks, CA)
Dazed & Infused (Edibles)
LaRain Miller (Kind Leaf Pendleton-Pendleton, OR)
In addition to these nine, the Budtender Awards awarded special “your choice” audience awards as well as a previously unannounced Budtender of 2019 to William Brown (Harborside-Oakland, CA), pictured above. The awards additionally honored legendary hip-hop group and life-long cannabis advocates Cypress Hill with a lifetime achievement award.
Special guests from celebrities and influencers included Cypress Hill, The Real “Freeway” Rick Ross, Koala Puffs, Mariza Villarreal, Silenced Hippie, Medicated Marley and Jackey_420.
Thousands of other members of the cannabis community took to Mandalay Bay including sponsors and delegates from Canna Paid, Clover Leaf University, Alternative Medicine Association, Canna Hemp, Dr. Greenthumb, Hillhouse Reserve, Remedium CBD, Royal Blunts, Rove Brand, and Skinny Weed. They were treated to neon donut walls and nitrogen popcorn in addition to education tracks on topics ranging from social media to career building and beyond from Brant Pinvidic, Brian Blatz, Dan Herer and others. A full schedule of happenings can be found here.
