[UPDATED] Get Ready For The Cannabis Cup Arizona: People’s Choice Edition

High Times, the most recognizable name in cannabis, announced today that Arizona will be the next stop in its series of Cannabis Cup: People’s Choice Edition competitions, with crowd-sourced judging beginning in December. The events, which began this spring in response to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions on large gatherings, seek to identify and acknowledge the best cannabis products available in states with legal marijuana.

The Cannabis Cup Arizona: People’s Choice Edition will be presented in partnership with Tempe-based Harvest Health & Recreation. To comply with current regulations, the event will feature medical marijuana products only. All products must be grown and produced in Arizona at a facility licensed by the Arizona Department of Health Services and be in compliance with all AZDHS rules.

The High Times Cannabis Cup Arizona: People’s Choice Edition will feature products from 10 different categories, including indica, sativa, hybrid, and sun-grown flower, pre-rolls, Non-Solvent Concentrates & Solvent Concentrates, vape pens & cartridges, and edibles. Entry quantity requirements are 228 one-half gram units of flower, 228 pre-rolls, 228 vape pens or cartridges, 228 quarter-gram units of concentrates, or 60 units of edibles under 100mg THC and 2oz net weight. Entry fees are $500 for one entry, $250 per entry for two entries, and High Times will waive all entry fees for three or more entries. A deposit of $500 will be held by High Times Productions, Inc from the contestant for each entry that the contestant plans to enter.

The event will be the first-ever Cannabis Cup that is open to the Arizona public and will see the largest pool of judges in the state’s history, providing an ideal way for brands to get their products into the hands of discerning medical marijuana patients. Because the event is not a blind competition, it allows entrants to submit their products with the same branding, packaging, and information customers will see in the dispensaries. And with a pool of judges from across the state, competitors will have the opportunity to receive valuable product feedback directly from consumers.

Judging For Cannabis Cup Arizona: People’s Choice Edition Begins In December!

Competitors will be able to submit their entries for the Cannabis Cup Arizona: People’s Choice Edition during the intake period in Phoenix from June 1st to June 4th. Judging kits will be available to registered medical marijuana patients at select Harvest dispensaries across Arizona on June 12th. The competition’s winners will be announced via a digital awards ceremony scheduled for Sunday, August 15th, 2021.

The Cannabis Cup Arizona: People’s Choice Edition won’t be the only chance for members of the state’s cannabis community to make their opinions known this autumn. On November 3, registered voters in the state will have the opportunity to approve Prop. 207, a measure that would legalize marijuana for use by adults. 

High Times announced in March that it was taking its series of cannabis competitions online in response to the coronavirus outbreak. The inaugural High Times Hemp Cup, which had been scheduled to take place as a traditional in-person event in Austin, Texas, was instead held online on April 4, recognizing winners in eight categories. The events have continued through the summer, making additional stops in Colorado, Oklahoma, and Illinois, where results will be announced on September 27. Judging kits for the Cannabis Cup Oregon: People’s Choice Edition, delayed by the fires that have been ravaging the West Coast this summer, will be available in late October, with results scheduled to be announced on December 8.