The 2014 Cannabis Cup has gotten off to a rough start this year. For reasons which are still unclear the city of Amsterdam’s mayor order the event be relocated yesterday, which effectively has delayed the Cup by a day. And if certain tweets are to be believed not only was the expo delayed but the Cannabis Cup was raided by police.

So despite decades of the cannabis-enthusiasts most high of holy days going off without a hitch or problem a sudden legal snag delays the event, and has even prompted police interference. While event organizers have been scrambling to salvage the celebration, this delay has severely impacted attendance. None of this of course has stopped participants from enjoying their herb anyway in private coffee shops, but the last minute nature does seem very curious.

Of course this whole thing could have been worse as High Times reported yesterday, “This morning we were informed that if were to proceed with the Cannabis Cup Expo the event would be shut down and all participants would be arrested.” Fortunately a complete shutdown was avoided, but certain additional restrictions were placed on the event.

These four new rules are:

1) Expo attendees and those working the booths will only be allowed up to 5 grams of personal cannabis or hash.

2) Security will be on hand to search bags and back bags and will confiscate amounts over the 5 grams.

3) Solvent-based cannabis extracts are not legal under Dutch law. You will not be allowed to bring shatter, wax or torches into the Expo.

4) Vendors are not allowed to distribute or share cannabis or cannabis-related products with the attendees. The mayor’s office is strictly enforcing this NO cannabis distribution law — to smoke at the Expo you will need to bring your own.

Details are still incoming so I think it would be irresponsible to recklessly speculate as to what could have possible prompted this frankly bizarre last minute action by the city government, the reasons given for this unwarranted delay, in one of the most otherwise liberty-oriented cities will be interesting.

While there isn’t a whole lot we as non-attendees can do we could all attempt to show some support who have spent their time and money to attend a normally great event. With a great clearance sale I’d recommend purchasing some Green House clothing out of solidarity and support for those who have to weather the storm of the real Amsterdam’s government.