November is one of the best times to visit Arizona, where triple-digit temps are the norm, if you don’t want to get baked by the sun. The Grand Canyon State has a lot to offer, particularly this weekend as you gear up for Thanksgiving and Black Friday.

On Nov. 2, 2010, Arizona voters enacted Proposition 203 to legalize medical cannabis. Ten years later, Proposition 207, the Safe and Smart Act, was approved by voters on Nov. 3, 2020 and legalized cannabis for adult use.

This weekend is packed with activities, including seeing legends of rock ‘n’ roll live, or sampling the best pot that Arizona has to offer. Scroll down to learn more about what’s going on in Arizona this weekend.

The Grand Canyon, South Rim

“I know a spot.” How about having a sesh at the best spot? September through November is the ideal, not peak season at The Grand Canyon National Park when there are more reasonable waiting times. Summer peak months are usually overcrowded at the South Rim at Grand Canyon Village, the side that it is recommended to visit with better amenities. The Visitor Center building and information desk are open daily from 10 am to 4 pm, winter hours, the website explains.

Grand Funk Railroad with Jefferson Starship

See legends Grand Funk Railroad with Jefferson Starship at Gila River Resorts & Casinos, Wild Horse Pass in Chandler on Nov. 18. Fun fact: Grand Funk Railroad added the words “reefer” and “nickel bags” to their 1969 cover of The Animals’ “Inside Looking Out.” On the other hand, Jefferson Starship formed in 1974 with Jefferson Airplane’s Grace Slick and Paul Kanter, who once tried to smuggle LSD into the White House to dose Richard Nixon. It sounds like a great time all around with so many memories.

Monument Valley

Does this view look a bit familiar? Many films with a backdrop of the valley’s red sandstone mesas and buttes can be found in Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, which occupies land spanning across both Arizona and Utah. This includes movies like Forrest Gump and Lone Ranger. Take the 17-mile-long Valley Drive from the visitor center to see some of the Arizona side’s most popular destinations.

Lake Havasu

Crack open a cold one and visit Lake Havasu to enjoy water activities at one of Arizona’s top destinations for boating, water skiing, fishing and swimming. You can explore hidden coves accessible by kayak and see its London Bridge, which was relocated here from London, England in 1971. At this time of year, it’s in the pleasant 70s in Lake Havasu, and the water is fine.

Rat Rod Addiction’s 4th Annual Car Show

Want to check out some vintage hot rods and the people and restorationists behind the wheel? Come out to Rat Rod Addiction taking place on Nov. 18 located at 3715 E Sage Brush Ave in San Tan Valley, and join the show for good music, food, and family for the 4th annual car show. 

Phoenix Reptile Expo

The Phoenix Reptile Expo takes place Nov. 18-19, at the Mesa Convention Center in Mesa. Adults are $12 and children are $5. Beardie lovers can browse through multiple colors of bearded dragons, as well as iguanas, snakes, chameleons, turtles, and practically every other slithery creature you can imagine. Get all the food and supplies you need as well.

Harvest Festival

Stoners love harvest time more than others. The Harvest Festival at Encanto Park’s Enchanted Island on Nov. 18 and 19 in Phoenix provides family fun like carnival games, bouncy jumpers, pony rides, corn box, petting zoo, pumpkin golf, and bowling, or ride a hayride through the historic Encanto Park neighborhood. Encanto Park neighborhood was the first community development in the valley, going back to 1939. It’s $17 per person for unlimited access to the Harvest Festival and $32.75 per person for unlimited access to the Harvest Festival and amusement park rides. 

John Fogerty

Fogerty is one-fourth of the legendary band Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR), who helped shape the sound of ‘60s rock ‘n’ roll. He’s performing Sunday, Nov. 19, 7 to 11 p.m. at the Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale. Despite being among the best, CCR had the No. 2 curse—the same curse that afflicted Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen—as several of the band’s songs rose to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, but suddenly stopped there. Fogerty himself said that he smoked “a little” pot, but not as much as his bandmates.

Dane Cook

As part of The Perfectly Shattered Tour, comedian Dane Cook will perform live at Arizona Financial Theatre on Nov. 18, and the next day Nov, 19. Cook just got married to Kelsi Taylor last September in Hawaii, so he’ll be on high terms and ready to make you laugh. His wildly popular tours catapulted him into fame.

Ganja Flow Rooftop Yoga

We discussed the weekend, but what about mid-week seshes on Wednesday? Join Elevations Nation on the 5th floor SkyDeck for Ganja Flow rooftop yoga, where you’ll be treated to breathtaking Phoenix sunsets and the freedom to partake. Free your mind through slow yoga flows, cannabis, breathwork, and meditation. It’s every other Wednesday at The Clarendon Hotel and Spa in Phoenix.

High Times Cannabis Cup Arizona: People’s Choice Edition

Or you can sample Arizona’s best cannabis by becoming a Cannabis Cup judge, with Judge Kits dropping this Saturday, and it’s open to the public. We’ve got brands like Alien Labs, Baked Bros, Sol Flower, and Noble Herb on deck.

The High Times Cannabis Cup Arizona: People’s Choice Edition is back and it’s been refined to be bigger and better than ever before, presenting Arizona’s finest cannabis. People’s Choice means that anyone can participate in the judging process regardless of expertise and background. Arizona will be the last stop of the 2023 year for Cannabis Cup: People’s Choice Edition competitions, with crowd-sourced judging beginning soon.

Judge Kits go on sale on Saturday, Nov. 18, and Judges can login to the Judging Portal and critique products based on flavor, bouquet, potency, burnability, and so forth. Judging deadline is Sunday, Jan. 21. Winners will be announced via a digital Awards Show on Monday, Feb. 5.

The event will be the second Cannabis Cup that is open to the Arizona public after going virtual in 2021, and the event will host the largest pool of judges in the state’s history, providing an ideal way for brands to get their products into the hands of consumers in the state. This year’s event is recreational only, and all products must be licensed by the Arizona Department of Health Services (AZDHS). 

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Ukraine’s Health Minister Viktor Liashko announced on June 7 in a Facebook post that the government advanced a medical cannabis bill for approval, even as the country is in the thick of war. A draft bill was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers and heads to the Ukraine Parliament for approval.

“We understand the negative consequences of the war on the mental health camp,” Liashko wrote. “We understand the number of people who will require medical treatment in the last breath.”

Kyiv Post reports that a 2021 draft bill was reworked and the government intends to move forward and legalize medical cannabis. “And we understand that there is no time for a check,” he added.

“Cannabis drugs are not ‘competitors’ to drugs, and measures to regulate their circulation are completely different. Medical cannabis contains cannabidiol, which has no pronounced psychoactive effect, so it’s not suitable for recreational use,“ said Liashko.

A bill would strictly control the cultivation, production, and sale of medical cannabis products, as well as authorizations and licenses for the cultivation and scientific research. It would also provide a medical cannabis tracking system in order to provide information for all the stages of products’ circulation.

“To that, at the same time, we were prepared by the legislator for the preparation of a new cycle of production of preparations based on cannabis in Ukraine: from the development of that processing to full production,” Liashko added.

Meanwhile, cannabis companies right here in the U.S. are activating to help Ukraine amid war. Helmand Valley Growers Company (HVGC) was founded by United States Special Operations Veterans (Marine Raiders), and adopts a huge focus on veterans (and civilians) battling PTSD. They provide flower, cartridges, and 100% live resin.

Last April, HVGC launched a Chillum program with proceeds going to World Central Kitchen to help Ukraine, as well as Battle Brothers, a 501c3 charitable organization that empowers veterans, to study how cannabis can help military veterans living with PTSD. That project is wrapping up with a new Ukraine-focused effort to do what they can.

“During this summer, we’re planning to develop Chillums and help benefit an organization called The Mozart Group,” HVGC President and CEO Bryan Buckley tells High Times. “They are in Kyiv right now. It’s my former regimental commander while I was a former Marine Raider. His name is Andrew Millburn. It’s about 100 former special operators from America, UK, and Australia, and they’re training Ukrainians on medical and military tactics.

“This thing is going to rage for a long time,” Buckley adds. “Talking to Colonel Milburn, who is retired, he said that the Russians are ‘worse than ISIS’.”

With PTSD affecting Ukrainians of all types, the time is now to enact medical cannabis legislation.

On June 7, Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers approved a draft bill “on regulating the circulation of cannabis plants for medical, industrial purposes, scientific and scientific-technical activities to create the conditions for expanding the access of patients to the necessary treatment of cancer and post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from war.”

The bill would expand medical services to include medical cannabis and promote research on the plant. It would expand patient access to cannabis with over 50 qualifying conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), HIV, cancer, neurological diseases, and neuropathic pain. Epilepsy, glaucoma, psoriasis, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis are also on the list.

Medical cannabis will be available via prescriptions or electronic prescriptions, but the Health Minister acknowledged how cannabis can’t be regulated the exact same way as pills. He also dismissed some of the myths about CBD.

Liashko seemed to compare people who dismiss medical cannabis as the same as people who dismiss the benefits of yoga that are now widely accepted as proven by science. He kind of has a point.

“Communication campaigns against drug abuse in cannabis have been shown to reject the faces on the basis of yoga and cannabis, which are in illegal practice, with the method of ignoring the value of yoga as a medical science and discrediting the very idea of ​​yoga medicine.”

Under the bill, a central executive body would determine the percentage of THC in cannabis through laboratory tests conducted by enterprises, institutions, and other organizations.

Ukraine Congress member Kira Rudik tweeted that the medical cannabis movement in the country was originally spearheaded by the Holos Party in 2019.

The bill now needs to be approved in the Ukrainian Parliament by at least 226 votes. A medical cannabis draft bill—bill No. 5596—failed to be approved by the Ukrainian Parliament on July 13, 2021, and was sent back for revisions.

Activists of the Patients of Ukraine organization and other organizations rallied outside the Ukrainian Parliament demanding the approval of bill No. 5596 regulating use of medical cannabis in Ukraine in Kyiv on July 13, 2021. The bill was considered in Parliament on that day, but it failed to get the necessary approval from MPs.

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