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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

The Oregon State Fair is featuring award-winning weed [npr.org]:

Whether you're in Maine or Michigan, state fairs have their own smell — a mix of hot oil from the curly fries, and that unmistakable livestock tent. One exhibit at this summer's Oregon State Fair [oregonstatefair.org], though, has a particularly distinctive funk. It's the one introducing a new crop: marijuana.

"It was this year that the state legislature designated cannabis as a farm crop. And the general public should know what it's all about," says Don Morse, the head of the Oregon Cannabis Business Council. And the tent — which has a strong piney, somewhat skunky smell — features nine prize-winning marijuana plants. They're the first live pot plants that have ever been shown at a state fair.

The judges used a number of criteria, says Morse: spatial noding, leaf structure and aroma. To be clear, the judges at the fair in Salem, Ore., didn't actually sample the finished product. And the health and appearance of the plants don't necessarily translate to their potency, or how much of the psychoactive compounds are in the end result. But still, there's some glory to be had, says Mandy Seybert, one of the competitors.

"We've never shown anything at a state fair — it would be like my husband's dream to be able to show some of our cattle or his pigs or stuff," she says. "So it's a pretty big deal for us." Grower Seybert's livestock is back at the farm, but her cannabis plant took second place for the Indica variety. She's been fielding questions in the tent all day.

Also at Vice [vice.com]. The nine plants shown at the Oregon State Fair were the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners [vice.com] in the Sativa, Indica, and Hybrid categories at the Oregon Cannabis Growers' Fair earlier in August.

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