June of 2020 I went on a road trip with the express purpose of heading to Colorado to buy cannabis and experiment with it to find out if I could manage chronic pain. I’d celebrate my 59th birthday on the trip and gave myself two months to be in a legal state to try things out.
I smoked a few times when I was a teen in the 70s. I didn’t enjoy it because I got the paranoid experience people worry about. At that time, I had no idea about dosing, smoking certain amounts or strains to get different effects. The main thing I experienced that bothered me was a feeling like I wet my pants.
Now I know that was more likely a different feeling. A rush of energy to my vulva that, at that time, I also had no idea what to do with. Hindsight right? Women understanding their bodies is such a cultural taboo…that needs to change too.
There are so many podcasts right now featuring women in cannabis. It’s fantastic and I’ll list two I’m listening to consistently that I’d recommend, at the end of this post.
For the Colorado trip I car camped with my almost 15 year old vizsla, Copper. Always up for any trip, even at that age he, his previous companion Sammie who died the year before at age 15, and I traveled almost all over the US over the years. When my kids were young, those trips were our vacations, they were wonderful.
I’ve dealt with over eating and alcohol abuse during my life, and this choice was the safest best next step toward figuring out whether cannabis would be part of a healing experience or one more substance that would soothe me short term.
As soon as I crossed into Colorado, I made an appointment at The Spot 420 in Trinidad dispensary and buy my first legal weed to begin my experiment.
I bought edible gummies and two pre roll joints. The edibles were Wana brand blueberry indica and the pre rolls were one chem crush sativa hybrid and one durban poison sativa pre roll. I headed to Crested Butte.
I knew I’d be safe and fine with any experience, even if I overdid it. One important thing I had going for me was something I later heard explained on How To Do The Pot podcast in their Weed Words first episode where they talk about the paranoia people experience, and that’s having confidence my experience would be safe, limited, and somewhat what I made of it. One of the greatest benefits of age.
The first gummy I ate was too strong, I ate half of 10mg. I had something I called skipping, like skipping through tv shows with a remote. I’d think of something then my brain would skip to another thought. This kind of experience happened once, and I slept through it just fine. When I figured out to take small doses and go up from there, my experience was fantastic and the gummies gave me some of the best sleep I’ve had in years.
With that first dose behind me, I tried one of the pre rolls, durban poison, the next day and wow. It was wonderful. While in the experience I sat outside with an amazing river view and my old man dog happily sunning alongside me. I wrote myself notes through the whole experience. I started with three deep drags from the joint and let it take its course. I spoke some of the kindest words I’ve ever said to myself in my life. I definitely had moments of paranoid thinking that were short lived and I stayed present in the moment, but the overall experience which took almost 3 hours, was one of gentleness toward myself that I have loved experiencing a few times since.
Over the two months I spent on my trip, I bought weed from two shops I want to shout out. The Spot 420 in Trinidad, noted above. And The Canna Farmer in Silverton. I knew I was going to be fine with whatever I bought, and chose shops that were rated well, and both experiences were great. The tenders in both stores were patient and took time explaining what I was buying and answering my questions. I stayed in Silverton for an extended time so had the chance to try two strains: Citrus Sap and Tangie. Tangie was too intense for me, Citrus Sap was an excellent experience of a strong high where I felt comfortable and present the whole time with a small dose each time. The Tangie experience most likely was because it was my first time with that strain since the THC in Citrus Sap is higher. I’m not an expert - so the only way I’ll know is with future experiments.
Ellen Scanlon, the creator and host of How To Do The Pot podcast asks women to send their stories around buy legal weed for the first time. It’s a great series, so I sent mine in and it is on their November 4th episode, take a listen.
I hope to make cannabis a constant part of my life in the future, unfortunately I don’t live in a legal state but will plan to travel to legal states so I can keep experimenting.
Here’s to everything good this plant will bring to our lives with the very important understanding of the injustices of how skewed this country’s legal system has handled Black cannabis users, people of color and marginalized communities-which is why both of the shows I mention below are at the top of my listening list: they give platform to Black women and women of color who are leading in the cannabis industry.
Cannabis podcasts with a focus on women
(All descriptions are excerpted from the show websites. I’ll update with shows I want to share with you.)
The Canna Mom Show - Created to help crush cannabis stigma by sharing the voices and stories of the womxn breaking barriers and building businesses in the emerging cannabis industry. Host Joyce Gerber talks with women from across North America who are leaders in the cannabis caregiving and business revolution. Why I love it: see my post The Canna Mom Podcast | Joyce Gerber
How To Do The Pot - demystifies cannabis for women through storytelling and informed recommendations and advice. Host Ellen Lee Scanlon brings you compelling narratives from women across the U.S. Why I love it: So far Ellen has had guests that are leaders in the cannabis space for all her episodes, with this season’s show she’s including us everyday women who are beyond happy to find information that focuses specifically on women’s experiences. It is a special show.