CREDIT: Year of the Tigress portal led by artists @lauramagicweyl @parvati_slice @theredbunny at the Woman-owned CBD-Dispenary @popped.nyc
Over the winter holiday I reconnected with my college roommate who introduced me to weed. I was born in California and smoked a bit at parties in high school, and yet was generally under the impression that weed was a “drug” and drugs were bad. By college, I had just quit my anti-depressents cold turkey mid-battle with a terrible eating disorder when said roommate offered his bowl. He was a Yale Math grad that decided to become an artist like me and there we were, getting wavy in a magical tent occupying most of his bedroom. At the time, I was making tons of ‘heartbreak’ art and screaming out car windows or into pillows, because, feeling my emotions was hard. I also new that the drinking that seemed to accompany all socializing with my peers just didn’t work for me! Eventually, THC unofficially became my natural mood-stabilizer and social-skill enhancing go-to of choice. Over time, I would play with dosage and strain. While I made a few mistakes here and there and always believe in “less is more” and periodic time-off, overall I find that the benefits of moderate cannabis use, for me at least, seem to far outweigh the risks. But let’s be clear – not all product is created equal.
CREDIT: Ice Cream Cake @flowerhouse_ny
EFFECTS: Relaxing, heavy body high, drowsiness
FLAVOR PROFILE: Sweet, creamy and nutty
Like anything, your weed could be laced with mold, allergy-inducing pesticides or other cost-saving additives/fillers that negatively effect the body over time. Now that weed is legal in NYC, there’s a new dispensary on every corner, many dressed up with luxurious vegetal window splays and enticing product discounts, but don’t be fooled by the flashy come hither greenery! Recently, I picked up some gummies I had never heard of before at the corner store thinking well, isn’t this convenient? I don’t know what was in those gummies but I went from feeling too damn good to pretty damn BAD… Long story short, I’ve decided to be more discerning of my source. I bought a pre-roll recently that felt a lot like smoking saw dust. What was in it? I’ll never know. Moral of the story, make sure whatever you’re putting into body is vetted and verified.
Where to start? How about with an acknowledgment that more and more, privileged, largely white and upper middle class folks are getting rich selling a substance that poor, Black and Brown people have historically been imprisoned for smoking and selling. As activist Adrienne Maree Brown writes in PLEASURE ACTIVISM: The Politics of Feeling Good, “Yes, legalize, but also liberate and invest in those street entrepreneurs who have kept this medicine accessible through a prohibition.” (1) With legal flower sales projected to grow into a billion dollar industry, Malachi Garza enforces that progressive cannabis-users must factor social-justice into their high. This includes everything from reparations for the “war on drugs” which lift up the Black community to wealth redistribution and other forms of “self-determined community building power” redirecting industry-profits to families and communities of color most-impacted by criminalization (2). It’s no secret that the war on drugs put a generation of Black fathers behind bars, but your recreational use of ganja need not perpetuate white supremacy.
PHENO: Jealousy Kush Mintz @flowerhouse_ny
EFFECTS: Peaceful, positive, relaxing
FLAVOR PROFILE: Bright and upbeat strain with notes of earthiness alongside mint and lemon.
As a yogi, social-justice advocate and lover of Rasta culture, I’m also aware that the word “ganja,” derived from Sanskrit, is colloquial for weed because Rastafarianism emerged from a part of agrarian Jamaica mainly populated by East Indians brought to Jamaica by the colonial British. From 1834 to 1916 the British took close to half a million East Indian people to work as indentured laborers in the plantations of the Carribean and South America. Today we see this reflected in the music and culture of Rasta legends like Bob Marley, whose ritual use of ganja mirrors Shaivite devotional practices in India, where Lord Shiva, the “Wild God,” (Lord of Ecstasy and medicinal healing plants) wears his hair in matted dreadlocks. His devotees smoke ganja to seek release from mortal coils and worship Creator/Destroyer Black Warrior Goddess Kali (3). Looking for a more authentic yoga experience? At Urbana Asana, the first Black-female owned yoga studio in Crown Heights, they not only offer BREATH & BEATS yoga sessions with live music, but some special events include an herbal pre-roll!
CREDIT: Urban Asanas of Crown Heights, book a class Here .
Why not purchase from a BIPOC or female-owned retailer? FlowerHouse New York, a BIPOC-owned company with decades of cannabis expertise operates on a 40-acre property along the Wallkill River up in Walden, New York. One of the largest cannabis cultivators in the state, FlowerHouse’s 55,000-square-feet of greenhouse space has the capacity to yield as much as 25,000 pounds of cannabis per year. It’s where the outfit develops their cutting edge, delicious new strains like “Ice Cream Cake” and “Jealousy Kush Mintz.” All year long FlowerHouse delivers high-quality diverse cannabis flower to premier NYC dispensaries including Housing Works Cannabis Co., Smacked Village, Union Square Travel Agency, and Good Grades.
Learn more at Flowerhouseny.com
Follow on Instagram @flowerhouse_ny
CREDIT: CBD Body Butter | 500MG Regular Strength Formula
If your goal is more pain-management that is psychedelic fancy-free, I recommend CBD. Try it at the Women-Owned POPPED NYC, a CBD-Dispensary gracing Manhattan’s Lower Beast Side. I’ve not only used their products for years, but enjoy occasionally hosting art and yoga events in the space. I recommend their 500MG CBD Body Butter, but if you stop into the store, you can usually sample the products until you find your sweet spot! Stocking everything from edibles to pre-rolls and more, Popped NYC is a guaranteed pleasant trip. Another company led by women, their business practices not only respect the Earth, but support local communities making up our dynamic and diverse human eco-system here in NYC.
Find it Here .
Cleansing your lungs during cold season? Some say edibles are the healthiest form of cannabis-consumption. I recently discovered a killer brand that has redefined the market! Green Herbal Care’s vegan, gluten-free, low-sugar content Delta-9 Live Rosin gummies offer mild, elegant, sweet euphoria. No lethargy, weirdness or hangovers the next day! Packed with 10mg Delta-9 content per gummy, these treat are perfect for relaxing at home, enhancing a chill evening with friends or diving into any creative practice. It felt so good to turn to my homegirl and offer her one of these chewy, soft, sweet golden gummies as we celebrated 2024. With no artificial colors or preservatives, only the highest quality ingredients are used to produce Green Herbal Care’s non-GMO, pesticide-free natural gummies. Creating a world where wellness and healing converge, Delta-9 gummies are derived only from fresh, premium, and uncured hemp. Just like the raw Rastas and yogis like it. Gummies come in Indica, Sativa or hybrid varieties; so that you can curate your chill like the discerning, conscious, healthy consumer you are.
Find it Here.
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CITATIONS
1. “WEED ON, WEED OFF” in PLEASURE ACTIVISM: The Politics of Feeling Good, Written and Edited by Adrienne Maree Brown (AK Press) 2019, p. 241
2. “EXPERIMENTS IN CANNABIS FOR THE COLLECTIVE” Malachi Garza, in PLEASURE ACTIVISM: The Politics of Feeling Good, Written and Edited by Adrienne Maree Brown (AK Press) 2019, p. 258-260
3. Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting: Afro-Asian Connections and the Myth of Cultural Purity by Vijay Prashad Boston: Beacon Press, 2001, p. 87
