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POMEROY, Ohio (WCMH) -- An Ohio cannabis festival launching in the state's first full year with recreational marijuana has picked its highly paid judges for a joint rolling contest.
Stargazer Cannabis Festival previously announced in June that it was looking for joint-rolling judges to be paid $100 an hour for its July 27 event. Contestants, who organizer Chad Thompson said would be allowed to use their own homegrown recreational marijuana, would submit rolled joints in either the classic or artistic competitions.
Thompson revealed details about the judges picked for the contest to NBC4 on Wednesday, including that his team received around 11,000 applications for the openings. Some submissions came from places including Alaska, Hawaii, Colorado and Australia.
"We had over 7,000 applications come in the first three days," Thompson said. "The notifications were just coming constantly, it was really overwhelming. … It's all we could do for a couple weeks was, you know, browse through and find the best candidates we could."
One application that stood out came from Los Angeles. Thompson said that Rana Samarghandi -- also known as "Ranagade PerRana" on social media -- had been an easy pick for one of the judge positions. Samarghandi has been earning a salary employed as rapper Snoop Dogg's full-time, professional blunt roller since 2016, according to her interview on the Kyle and Jackie O Show.
"Have you ever seen the Elon Musk, Joe Rogan episode where they smoke a blunt? That was her blunt," Thompson said. "She's actually from Ohio. … Really amazing woman still rolling professionally today, so we're very honored to have her as a judge. She's also going to host our award ceremony on Sunday."
Samarghandi was the sole judge Thompson name-dropped, as two other veteran judges from Michigan -- holding experience from the Clio Cultivators Cup and the High Times Cannabis Cup -- recommended that he keep the rest private to ensure the integrity of the competition. But he described another judge as an Ohio scientist who ran one of the first testing labs for the state's medical marijuana program.
"Although he didn't have any real professional experience or judging experience, we felt his scientific analytical approach to the process was very impressive, and so we hired him as well," Thompson said.
The group of chosen judges is rounded out by another professional joint roller locally based in Ohio. Thompson said picking him was a "no-brainer." Similar to Samarghandi, he was getting paid to roll joints for people in the state.
"We had to go to like Instagram to look up some of the like the pictures of the joints that the professional roller had described," Thompson said. "And when we did, it was just, we were in awe. … I thought to myself, if he is not a judge and he enters the competition, he's a shoe-in to win."
Raw, the rolling papers manufacturer, has also thrown in prizes for the winners of the contest. Thompson said those would be kept secret until the festival's start as well.
As Stargazer draws closer at the end of July, Thompson also shared an update on tickets available to buy on the festival website. He noted that his team was almost sold out, and a price increase is looming for the ones remaining.
"There is only a few hundred tickets left, so we are going to be raising the price the week before the festival. The ticket prices are going to go up to $100 each for general admission," Thompson said. "It's going to be at the current price of $80 for a very limited time."
Stargazer wasn't the only event planned in the state for recreational marijuana's inaugural year. A separate Pennsylvania company, Zick Productions, planned the Ohio Cannabis Festival for the end of August at the Summit County Fairgrounds. But local government officials and Zick disputing compliance with the state's cannabis laws saw it canceled in June. Neither of the events' organizers said they would allow vendors to sell recreational marijuana, as the state's Division of Cannabis Control still navigates the approval process for a select group of businesses.
Thompson, however, has previously said Stargazer will allow the use of personal marijuana. And vendors will be able to sell cannabis seeds, legal even at the federal level, which customers could use to legally grow their own plants in Ohio.
