DON’T GET YOUR HOPES UP TOO HIGH FOR A “BOSTON CANNABIS FESTIVAL” NEXT WEEKEND

The alleged organizers of “cannaBOS,” aka “Boston’s First Cannabis Festival,” are promising “Great Live Music,” “Cold Beer,” “Giveaways,” and “Cannabis Related brands … on site!”

If you consume cannabis in the Commonwealth, then there is some chance that you or one of your cronies has RSVP’d for something called the Boston Cannabis Festival (scheduled for this coming Saturday, May 8) on Facebook. As of this writing, more than 4,000 people have expressed their interest in the event, which, I’ll cut to the chase, is not a real thing that is actually happening. Not next weekend or any other.

The alleged organizers of “cannaBOS,” aka “Boston’s First Cannabis Festival,” are promising “Great Live Music,” “Cold Beer,” “Giveaways,” and “Cannabis Related brands … on site!”—all of which are so preposterous, particularly considering current pandemic protocols, that I won’t waste your time or mine by further explaining why they indicate that this thing is a fraud.

That’s all, I guess. I tried contacting the hosts (to no avail), and will leave it at that. It appears that the same clever troll pulled a similar stunt in 2019. I’m not sure if it’s a stupid prank, a marketing stunt (since the owner(s) of that page can now connect with 4,000-plus people who presumably like weed), or something more sinister, but its existence irked me enough to post about it, so here it is.

Meanwhile, you may want to check out this post about real cannabis events that are happening all over this region in the coming months.

CHRIS FARAONE

A Queens, NY native who came to New England in 2004 to earn his MA in journalism at Boston University, Chris Faraone is the editor and co-publisher of DigBoston and a co-founder of the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism. He has published several books including 99 Nights with the 99 Percent, and has written liner notes for hip-hop gods including Cypress Hill, Pete Rock, Nas, and various members of the Wu-Tang Clan.