I Miss My Old Dealer
Written by Dan Russell
At the risk of sounding un-American, I’m going to complain about choices and having too damn many. Aren’t we taught from a young age how lucky we are to live in America and have the freedom to choose? I agree, the freedom to choose is amazing. Choosing our leaders is great. The choices often suck, but the freedom to choose is sacred.
That’s the distinction I want to make before continuing. The freedom to choose is awesome, but the downside is often ignored. There are often so many choices that it becomes difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff…or, in this case, the chocolate edible from the mint chocolate edible from the blueberry chocolate edible from chocolate taffy from the turtle from the….well you get the point. One of my local stores has 16 variations of chocolate edibles spread over about half as many brands. How is one supposed to choose? As a friend once told me, “When choosing candy, choose carefully, as you never know when it’s the last choice you’ll make.
Emotional Support Dad: How Cannabis Helped Forge a RElationship with my Epileptic Son
Written by Jon Cory
I was fully engrossed in an episode of History’s “Forged in Fire.” Four bladesmiths were challenged with creating a knife out of ball bearings and fish hooks using a canister Damascus technique. I took a drag off my PAX 3 vaporizer.
“That’s a rookie mistake right there,” my son, Greyson, said, jarring me from my THC-facilitated introspection. A brief moment of panic rushed through me. It still feels like I’m getting busted sometimes.
Useless Stigma
Written by Natalie Goldberg
I remember when Mom found my secret stash of weed. It was seven years ago and I was just divorced, so I had moved back in with Mom. One day, I found my glass bong out of his bubble-wrap protector, with my zip-lock bag of mystery-strain weed thrown about on the bed. I now understood why she ignored me upon my arrival home that day. How could she still be this judgmental?
The Birds , The Bees and Smoking Trees: How does Weed Affect Libido?
Written by Casey Renteria
These days, it seems that we can find a way to infuse just about everything with cannabis. Definitely food and tinctures, and of course lotion and beauty products. Did you know that we even infuse lube with cannabis? After my own experience exploring a variety of these infusions, I began to wonder…is there any research regarding what cannabis can do to your libido?
Can a Nurse Flourish in the Cannabis World?
Written by Natalie Goldberg
I am in the midst of a major transition. A few years ago, I took a job as a cannabis nurse. I felt burnt out by psychiatric nursing after having dispensed opiates and narcotics to patients that showed up monthly with little to no improvement in their health, despite years of trying. Feeling indifferent about being a nurse took over my entire attitude. At the time, I was living far from my hometown because of an attempt at living in a recreational-cannabis state. Unfortunately I ended up working in a non-recreational state. Inspired by my loneliness and defeat, I decided to look for work back home in Florida.
It was 2019 and Florida’s medical marijuana program had really taken off. When I found a clinical position for medical personnel, preferably a nurse, to provide treatment and education on the endocannabinoid system, I freaked out. I interviewed and they were excited that I was a fan of cannabis and that I could also give vitamin injections, so they hired me. I was in shock. My life changed in seconds as I began the transition from psych nurse to cannabis nurse.
Gateway Mary
Written By Natalie Goldberg
Having come from a strict Colombian family, weed was a sore subject in the ‘80s. My parents left Colombia before the Escobar days, but, the news portrayed Colombia as the drug capital of the world. My parents wanted to escape that image. One of the aspects to reject was the idea of marijuana being a part of us. So, naturally, they considered it vile, the devil!
The Best Dad is a Stoner Dad
Written By Daniel Crawford
Maybe I’m biased, but Stoner Dads are the best dads. Nothing against the great dads out there who do not consume cannabis, but there is a special power us Pothead Papas possess. Call it a special sort of curiosity mixed with adventure, and finished off with a sprinkling of Cheeto dust.
Cannabis: A Fearless Light in the Shadows of the Psyche
Written By Kaitlin Coghill
There is a fear of cannabis that comes from a place of not knowing. There is a “not knowing” of how the plant works, or how “safe” the plant is, or how illegal it is, or how it’s supposed to feel and look and taste. But greater than all of these “not knowings” is the “not knowing” of who we really are beyond our earthen layers. The biggest fear of cannabis is rooted in the fear of learning the truth about ourselves and our lives, and, even more terrifying, feeling that truth in our bodies.
A Bud to Pick with the Daily Trojan
Written By: Julianna Montano
It is always a positive to see more conversations about cannabis taking place at USC’s campus. I appreciate our esteemed publication, the Daily Trojan, for granting the real estate on their platform for such discourse. However, a recently published article entitled, “Summer is the time to abstain from smoking weed,” paints an unfair picture of cannabis consumption for our university’s community.
Pride Comes Once a Year…But At What Cost?
Written By Rian Kochel
Early on the morning of Saturday, June 28, 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar at 43 Christopher Street in Greenwich Village, New York City. While police raids on gay bars were routine in the 1960s, on this particular day the patrons at the Stonewall collectively decided they were not in the mood for protocols.
Cannabis: My Co-Creative Dreamweaver of Choice
Written By Kaitlin Coghill
When I began to engage with cannabis, my third eye opened wide, and the co-creative dream weaving commenced. I didn't realize this is what was happening - at the time I simply felt relaxed and inspired. But that's the way things of this nature tend to unfold. Our conditioned minds aren't yet able to fully process all of the transformations taking place within our bodies and spirits when we consume cannabis, and so they allow us to ease into the ultimate knowing that we are so much more than just really smart animals with accessories. We are life creators, dreamers, and unrestrainable forces of nature, and we are meant to be in relationship with plants.
Cannabis and Spiritual Practices
Written By Scarlet Weaver
It is no secret that cannabis & psychedelics have been a part of history for hundreds if not thousands of years. That brings up the question, how are psychoactive substances a spiritual tool? We have all heard of the ’60s-’70s, right? Psychoactive substances have a much deeper past than the days of recreational use. We know these things had a place in most cultures with an intense focus on spiritual connections. Shamanism anyone?