MAROONED IN PARADISE                    BY STEVEN HAGER

6 LUCKY CASTAWAYS PICK THE CANNABIS CUP WINNER  

     Silent Conspiracies create secret monopolies.  That's what I learned watching Richard Hatch systematically eliminate the competition in the debut of Survivor on CBS.  While developing the first HIGH TIMES reality-TV show, the last thing I wanted was to reward the sort of backstabbing treachery that had flourished on Survivor.  Instead, I wanted a show that encouraged cooperation and consensus, qualities celebrated by the counterculture.

     The search for the Cannabis Castaways started with an article in the November 2000 issue and readers had only a few weeks to respond.  By the time the deadline passed, 114 videotapes had arrived.  

     Two contestants were picked on creativity:  Jet, who had submitted an original rap/pop/ song, and Dan, who had created a 45-minute opus that included a spoof reality-TV show, a mock version of the Cannabis Cup Awards and loads of improvised comedy skits.

     Two contestants, Jeff and DJ Nitro, were picked based on knowledge of cultivation.  Even so, they had created well-produced videos with  high production values.  Jeff was a medical marijuana patient who'd survived an auto crash, and DJ Nitro was a fledgling record producer.

      Two women were selected out of less than a dozen who entered:  Katie, an activist from the Northwest, and Aime, a college student from England.  Although highly educated, Amie was the least knowledgeable about cannabis and the youngest member of the group.

     Jet, Dan, Katie and Nitro arrived in Amsterdam first, and were shuttled off to the houseboat where they were supposed to live for the next three days.  They were given three strains of pot, all numbered, and told to pick the best of the three.

     Nitro quickly established himself as the power smoker of the group.  Not only could he do the biggest lung-busting bong hits, he sampled all three initial strains faster than anyone.

      About an hour later, Amie arrived.  She seemed a bit distressed to discover she was on a boat with no doors (except on the bathroom), no privacy and only one bed and three couches for six people.

"I'm going to be the first case to overdose on marijuana," predicted Dan gleefully, while wearing a giant afro wig, a green sweatshirt and a huge medallion around his neck.

      Jeff arrived last, rolling onto the boat in his wheelchair.  After smoking a few hits, he launched into the story of his accident.  "We were doing ninety miles an hour  in the pouring rain... three days out of tenth grade... couldn't wait for summer... right at the beginning... ruined the summer,"  he began.  "Toyotas are made for bamboo and bonsai, not Michigan oak trees.  Anyway, went off the road, bounced off one tree, hit another, demolished the car, two guys died in front of me.  No complaints, life is great, n, I'm in the 'Dam, being a judge, what more can you ask for?  Life is good."

     "Yeah,," agreed Katie.

     By 9 PM, all six Castaways had sampled 15 different varieties selecting five finalists for the next round.  After absorbing more cannabis than anyone else, Nitro had to get off the boat.  An escape hatch had been planned for such an eventuality.  Any Castaway who needed a break could come to Mission Control, where a private bedroom was reserved for meltdown.  Nitro wobbled over, suffering more from motion sickness than cannabis intoxication.  But after a night's rest on stable land, he was back in the houseboat, firing up more lung-busting bong hits.

     However, by that time, another Castaway had melted down     

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