If you ever get a chance to go to a Haunted Mansion party, go! More specifically, if you’re ever invited to Advanced Nutrients head honcho BigMike’s Haunted Halloween party at the Marijuana Mansion, you definitely have to go.
I mean, the party had its own app.
The sun was setting as we headed up into the Hollywood Hills, comfortably packed into Escalades from the parking lot meeting point (where I had to give a secret password—it was Z-O-M-B-I-E). We pulled up at the Marijuana Mansion, and people poured out of the cars, joining throngs of thrilled partygoers at the Halloween extravaganza.
A Budtastic Bash
Sipping champagne, a guest declared to me, “This is the sickest party I have ever been to.”
Delicious food and drinks abounded. There was no shortage of prerolls. Harry Resin was offering “Dabs in the Dark,” and a stationary dab bar was staffed by Day of the Dead-costumed budtenders. All sorts of elegant acrobats, dancers and familiar horror characters mingled with guests. My favorite was a startlingly noisy chainsaw-wielding clown who ran through the crowd letting ‘er rip!
Marijuana Mavericks
While admiring an ice coffin filled with seafood, I ran into celebrity UFC fighter and personality Chuck Liddell. He was on hand to support the cause behind BigMike’s Haunted Halloween party.
BigMike is a benevolent cannabis king—it’s clear to anyone who speaks with him that he really cares about the industry. Woven into the center of BigMike’s party agenda were the Marijuana Maverick awards, honoring his peers who have made great strides in cannabis.
When I spoke with BigMike, he told me that honoring these people is important to him because they’re “the ones out there getting things done.”
Among the award recipients were former NFL star Eben Britton, who is at the vanguard of exploring cannabis business opportunities for Californians, and High Times alum Ed Rosenthal, who was taking questions about his long history of growing and striving for the best possible products. Others included Jeff Malinovitz of Nameless Genetics, Dave Crockett from Crockett Family Farms and OG weed rapper turned legit cannabis businessman B-Real.
Pot and Politics
Earlier in the day, before the party, BigMike hosted a private fundraiser for Lieutenant Gov. Gavin Newsom and a small group of political and cannabis leaders. At a time when we are on the cusp of fully legal recreational cannabis, this political influence marks what one attendee called a “coming-out party for the cannabis industry.”
Wayne R. Johnson, the chief financial officer for Advanced Nutrients, shared with me that all had gone smoothly at the fundraiser: “We deal with political candidates all the time, at both the state and federal levels.”
As much as this may be all in a day’s work for Advanced Nutrients, hosting a politician like Newsom is a huge symbol of how far cannabis has come. In many ways, we have BigMike, Advanced Nutrients and the Haunted Halloween Marijuana Mansion to thank for that.
Check out our gallery from the Haunted Halloween party!
Harry Resin, Dr. Dina, Dougie Baldwin (Netflix, Disjointed) and guests
