How A Stroke Took Me On A Personal Journey to Entrepreneurship
Photos Courtesy of Author
My name is Adam Beltran and at the age of 30, I had an intracerebral hemorrhage due to an arteriovenous malformation.
To put it simply, I experienced a stroke.
It is common to overlook the importance of how profoundly a negative experience can impact us. With a long road ahead filled with challenge and struggle, I never would have thought cannabis was my future.
The residuals of the stroke and my involvement in the cannabis industry both came around the same time. While engaging in reading exercises for therapy, I came across articles that discussed individuals utilizing cannabis products to aid in addressing their personal difficulties. Intrigued by these accounts, I embarked on a personal journey to discover my own potential for success.
How A Stroke Changed My Mind About Cannabis
To begin, I want to finish the story that started my cannabis quest.
The stroke occurred in October 2016 while I was driving on the freeway. I observed that my left arm was experiencing fatigue, so I made the decision to switch to my right arm for steering. However, I discovered that my right arm was lying to the side of me and unable to move it. Quickly, I took the nearest available exit and parked. I became confused; I couldn’t communicate verbally, and the vision in my right eye kept fading in and out. Nonetheless, I still possessed functionality in my right leg up to my knee.
Amidst my confusion, and with the complete will to just get back home, I proceeded back onto the freeway and drove 30 minutes through rush hour traffic to get home, where my girlfriend took me to the hospital.
The residuals of the stroke were numbness, fatigue, weakness, and a cloudy, forgetful mind. Using physical, occupational, and speech therapy assisted with fatigue and weakness but did very little for my mind. When speaking, I occasionally encountered difficulty in recalling words mid-sentence. Although I possessed knowledge of these random words, my mind seemed unable to access them. My goal became to find a product that targeted that problem specifically.
Previously, cannabis and I did not see eye to eye. I experimented with it twice during my high school years but I had no preference for it. Half of it stemmed from my own bias against its use and the other half was due to the feeling. Today I know I was probably using too much.
Exploring the Plant's Potential: How Cannabis Assisted Me with a Side Effect of My Stroke
Approximately two months after my stroke, I began my search. I ventured into the cannabis market in California at a time when numerous shops operated without permits and the atmosphere inside was filled with smoke.
Initially, I lacked knowledge regarding appropriate consumption quantities and the distinctions between different products. I took the initiative to test various products, utilizing myself and my relatives as experimentation subjects to assess the effects. In an attempt to gather insights, I conducted online research, familiarizing myself with key terminologies and striving to differentiate available products from each other. It soon became evident that proper dosage was of utmost significance, as I mistakenly consumed too much. To mitigate the effects, I ate, drank water, slept it off, and took note. Nevertheless, I persisted in sampling a range of products to enhance my personal understanding of their variations.
After experimenting with dozens of products, I finally had a breakthrough moment. A specific tincture from the company Select finally provided me with some relief. I noticed a decrease in my tendency to forget words throughout the day while using it once per day in the morning. This positive effect persisted as I continued to use the tincture. In comparison to before, I experienced word recall issues roughly a quarter as often. However, when I ceased using the tincture, my word recall problems resurfaced more frequently.
It is important to note that I cannot provide any research or laboratory data to support these observations. Based on my own personal experience, I believe there may be additional benefits of cannabis products beyond just getting high.
Now, I am using my experience, research, and personal revelations to create a platform for individuals to showcase their purpose behind using cannabis products.
Cannabis Intention: Medicinal and Therapeutic Product Reviews in Cannabis
When conducting an online search for reviews that aligned with my specific criteria, I found that recreational reviews congested the review boards, making it challenging to find any review that correlated with my intended search purpose. Furthermore, I encountered duplicate product pages with contradictory information, and when I visited dispensaries and cannabis shops, I found a scarcity of medicinal and therapeutic recommendations. My dream is to remedy that.
Drawing from the inspiration I discovered throughout my recovery process, I developed a prototype website for my concept and shared it with approximately 100 dispensaries. The response was overwhelmingly positive, as both dispensaries and customers expressed keen interest in the idea. Thus, the foundation of my project, "Cannabis Intention," took shape.
In order to gain a deeper understanding into customer needs, I secured employment at a prominent cannabis dispensary in Beverly Hills, where I worked in sales associate and delivery driver positions to have as much customer interaction as possible. This experience solidified my vision for creating a non-recreational product review and key aspect information platform.
Despite having a major stroke and losing just about everything at the time, I consider myself fortunate to have discovered a unique opportunity. My bias against cannabis and the biases of family members, such as my grandmother and parents, were changed based on the fact of learning how to properly use cannabis products. It takes patience, some effort, and being open-minded.
Cannabisintention.com (ci.reviews) was created to bring non-recreational reviews to every customer for easier shopping and to every budtender to relay information. The information provided is to highlight the key aspects so that you understand what you need to know for more efficient and more successful shopping.
Our main objective is to present key aspects, enabling customers to make informed decisions and optimize their shopping experience. The cannabis industry is home to many exceptional individuals, and I hope that with this resource, I can support everyone involved and welcome newcomers to the community.