Cannabis Nurses: What are they and what do they do?

Happy Nurses Week! I’m extremely proud to be a cannabis nurse, but it’s not a path I ever expected to journey down. In fact, a little over half a decade ago, when I was a hospice nurse, I didn’t even know cannabis nursing existed.

If you had told me then, about the American Cannabis Nurses Association (ACNA) –a REAL nonprofit professional nursing organization, recognized by the Nursing Organization Alliance (NOA)–I probably would have laughed. Years later, I’m on the Board of Directors.

Like many healthcare professionals, I discovered cannabis nursing by becoming a patient first. In the beginning, I was VERY hesitant to try medical cannabis–a lot of that resistance I blame on my training as a nurse and the inaccurate information I was previously taught about cannabis.

When I finally tried medical marijuana, I experienced remarkable results. I knew I had to share information about this medicine with others, and that’s when I began my journey into cannabis nursing.

The world’s most trusted profession is transforming cannabis, and I”m honored to be part of it.

What is a cannabis nurse?

A cannabis nurse is a formally educated, licensed nurse who has received specialized training in cannabis therapeutics. Cannabis nurses have a working knowledge of the endocannabiniod system and understand the nuances of utilizing cannabis as a medicine.

The ACNA has officially defined the scope and standards of practice for cannabis nurses.

The document states, “Cannabis nursing is both a learned skill and a practiced art, where the cannabis nurse builds upon expertise from previous experiences with healing and nursing while enacting reflective practices to support growth toward expertise.”

How Do You Become a Cannabis Nurse?

First, you need a nursing license. If you haven’t been through nursing school and taken the boards, that’s the first thing you need to do. LPNs, RNs, BSNs, NPs, DNPs, etc. can all become cannabis nurses.

The most important thing a cannabis nurse needs after their nursing license, is specialized education in cannabis therapeutics.

There are a many of ways to learn about cannabis therapeutics. Online programs offer ease of access. Radicle Health offers an excellent online cannabis course. The course was created by the ACNA’s current President, Eloise Thiesen.

Pacific College of Health and Science offers a more formal structured cannabis education program specifically for healthcare professionals.

Unfortunately there’s also a lot of junk cannabis training programs available so use caution before choosing one. Remember, there’s no official cannabis certification. If a course promises to certify you, it’s a marketing gimmick.

Take Radicle Health’s Course: Advanced Science and Therapeutics

Medical conferences are another great way to gain cannabis knowledge. The Cannabis Nurse Network Conference and The Cannabis Care Conference are excellent places to learn about cannabis and to network with other cannabis nurses. There are a variety of other cannabis and science conferences: The Cannabis Science Conference and CannaMed are excellent conferences to attend.

Is there a certification for cannabis nurses?

There is currently NO official certification for cannabis nurses. However, the American Cannabis Nurses Association is actively working with the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) to deem cannabis nursing an official sub-specialty and to create a formal credentialing process. We DO expect a formal cannabis nursing certification in the future.

We’ve seen positive signs of cannabis nursing becoming more accepted by our governing agencies. Questions about cannabis nursing are not currently included on the state nursing boards, however the National Council of State Boards of Nursing’s (NCSBN) has released official guidelines regarding the nursing care of a patient using medical marijuana.

Currently, most formal nursing education programs do not include cannabis therapeutics in their curriculum, however the NCSBN has released guidelines encouraging schools to teach future nurses about the endocannabinoid system and the basics about cannabis therapeutics. Medical Marijuana Education in Pre-Licensure Nursing Programs.

What do cannabis nurses do?

Cannabis nurses serve in a variety of capacities. Let me start by saying, finding a career exclusively in cannabis nursing can be challenging. There aren’t a ton of direct hire cannabis nursing jobs. Cannabis therapeutics is still a developing area of medicine.

Many cannabis nurses are forging their own path, and some continue to maintain their regular nursing careers, while they gradually segway into the cannabis industry.

I work in cannabis full time. Personally, most of my work as a cannabis nurse, is done here on my site, MarijuanaMommy.com. A lot of my workdays are spent writing and completing the back-end details that go into running an online health resource.

I also write about cannabis and health for a variety of publications. My work’s been seen in places like Cosmopolitan, Entrepreneur, and The New Jersey Star Ledger. I consult with cannabis companies and my favorite work is coaching new cannabis patients. I’ve created an online course for new cannabis patients and offer tele-health consulting services to patients.

One of the most important roles of the cannabis nurse is to educate other healthcare professionals. I love teaching cannabis-focused classes and workshops for other healthcare professionals.

But the job opportunities for cannabis nurses expand beyond that.

Cannabis nurses like Jessilyn Dolan, have started their own cannabis-focused businesses. Dolan is co-founder of NurseGrown Organics a premier CBD company out of Vermont. Hemp is legally sold in many areas; many cannabis nurses have forged a career selling CBD products.

Cannabis nurses like Stephanie Reifkind Kahn, have started their own cannabis dispensaries. Takoma Wellness Center is a beloved family run dispensary in Washington DC. Other nurses are employed by dispensaries, offering them the opportunity to interact with patients at the point of sale. (I want to add that most of the nurses I know working in dispensaries, unfortunately have taken a paycut to work in the cannabis industry full-time.)

Other cannabis nurses have opened their own consulting practices. Cannabis nurse, Kebra Smith is the founder of CannaHealth where she certifies new cannabis patients in CT. The GreenNurse Group is doing excellent work in Massachusetts. Cannabis nurse, Janna Champagne has built a successful international practice in Oregon.

Many cannabis nurses dedicate their time to advocate for legalization. Cannabis nurse, Ken Wolski, is founder of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana – New Jersey.  Wolski has been a monumental force in the fight for legalization and patient rights.

Cannabis nurse, Heather Sobel, created a networking organization exclusively for cannabis nurses, The Cannabis Nurse Network.

The possibilities for cannabis nurses are endless but may require creativity and bravery to embark on the journey.

How do I find a cannabis nurse?

There are two professional organizations focused on cannabis nurses. If you’re a nurse you should join us. If you’re searching for other cannabis nurses, these are great places to find them:

American Cannabis Nurses Association

The Cannabis Nurse Network 

Conclusion

Cannabis nursing is a fast-growing (unofficial) sub-specialty of nursing. As legalization continues to sweep the globe, it’s becoming more important for nurses to become educated about the details of cannabis therapeutics. We expect demand to grow rapidly in the coming years. Cannabis nursing is a cutting-edge industry that offers nurses a chance to make real impact. If you’re interested in this sub-specialty, now is an ideal time to get involved and become a cannabis nurse.

New to cannabis? Read my Beginners Guide to Medical Marijuana 

 Trending Now

Tracy Ryan is an overall cannabis wonder-woman. Most poignant is the story of how cannabis preserved her young daughter’s life in the battle with childhood cancer. Tracy is the founder & CEO of CannaKids, the CEO of CK Sciences, and the founder of SavingSophie.org. Her family’s story is featured in the illuminating documentary, Weed the People (which is coming to Netflix on 4/20/19). Watch us chat and hear more about her story and the life-saving cannabinoid research she’s working on and hear how Ricki Lake brought cannabis into her life. Watch or read the transcript below.

“Ricki Lake brought me weed and, honestly, it’s a good thing she did!”

Get 40% Off the Cannabis Nurses Network Conference!

February 28th – March 2nd 2019 in San Diego, CA

• Visit: https://www.cannabisnursesnetwork.com/cnnc
• Use discount code CNNCVIPGuest4668

Tracy Ryan Bio:

Tracy Ryan is the founder & CEO of CannaKids, a California-based brand with a focus on supplying medical cannabis oil tinctures and medical cannabis products to patients of all ages.  She is also the CEO of CK Sciences whose sole focus is to execute pediatric human trials using cannabis medicine both in the U.S. and around the world. In addition, Tracy founded the 501c3 non-profit, Saving Sophie Inc (SavingSophie.org). Their mission is to provide educational resources and financial support to families whose loved one has been diagnosed with a serious disease.

Connect with Tracy

CannaKids: https://cannakids.org/
Donate to Saving Sophie: https://savingsophie.org/donate/

Find Tracy on social media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MyCannaKids/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/mycannakids/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MyCannaKids/

VIDEO RECORDING TRANSCRIPT:

Jessie Gill :                           00:06                     Hi, I’m Jessie a cannabis nurse and the founder of Marijuana Mommy, and you’re watching Patients are the Proof where we talk about the real benefits of cannabis. Today, I’m talking with Tracy Ryan. Tracy is the founder and CEO CannaKids, a California based brand with a focus on supplying medical cannabis oil, tinctures, and medical cannabis products to patients of all ages. She’s also the CEO of CK Sciences whose sole focus is to execute human pediatric trials using cannabis medicine, both in the US and around the world. In addition, Tracy founded the 501c3 nonprofit Saving Sophie. Their mission is to provide educational resources and financial support to families whose loved ones have been diagnosed with a serious disease.

Jessie Gill :                           00:52                     Hello Tracy.

Tracy Ryan:                         00:55                     Hi, how are you today?

Jessie Gill :                           00:56                     Great. You are busy.

Tracy Ryan:                         00:59                     You have no idea. That’s only part of what I have.

Jessie Gill :                           01:03                     I know. It is. That’s just the little scratch of the surface.

Tracy Ryan:                         01:09                     I like to be busy. What can I say?

Jessie Gill :                           01:10                     It’s good. It’s good. And you know the industry needs it, right?

Tracy Ryan:                         01:13                     Absolutely.

Jessie Gill :                           01:15                     Thank you so much for talking today. I’m so touched by your story. I’m really, really excited to share it with my readers and my viewers. And I’d love to just hear in your words a little bit about how you got involved in the industry.

Tracy Ryan:                         01:30                     Sure. So my story really starts over five years ago now. My daughter Sophie was diagnosed unfortunately with a brain tumor at eight and a half months old. It’s a low grade tumor called an optic pathway glioma. It’s a tumor that follows the optic track behind the eyes and therefore squeezes the optic nerves and one of the side effects can be blindness of this amongst many other things that can happen, like Hydrocephalus, early onset, puberty, issues with the chemotherapy and so on. But we have been very lucky with Soph because only after about two weeks post diagnosis we were connected with Rikki Lake and Abby Epstein and many of you are in my age range, will know that Rikki was a talk show host top 10 years and was in movies and was on dancing with the stars and is a household name for my generation. And her and abby had begun filming a documentary called Weed the People. We’re super excited about this film. It is wrapping up a theatrical release. They’ll be available on itunes at the end of January, around January 22nd and it’s premiering on Netflix in April.

Jessie Gill :                           02:36                     Oh on Netflix? That’s excellent. That’s wonderful because people need to see it. It’s such a remarkable film.

Tracy Ryan:                         02:46                     Absolutely. And we’re working on getting it all around the country. We’ve got about six or seven screenings coming up in Canada next week. The British parliament brought ricky and abbey over for a private screening. It’s becuase of this film that I found cannabis. Ricki Lake brought me weed! And honestly it’s a good thing she did because there had been a lot of people on social media that we got connected with through my husband’s old roommate who lived over abroad and they were messaging as saying you should use cannabis for Sophie. And we thought they were all stoned out of their minds are on some kind of crazy drug because we were by no means ever going to give our child something. people traditionally smoked just to get high and have a good time, so it was the one thing we really didn’t research. And then Ricki & Abby came into our lives and I had tried for a natural birth with Sophie because of the film The Business of Being Born, which helped revolutionize how women look at childbirth. And I trusted them, and I’m so glad that I did because it has changed my life, my daughter’s life, my husband’s life, my sister’s life because she works for me, and all of my friends who now have been employed by us some, some for as long as nine years.

Jessie Gill :                           04:05                     And way more than that, tracy. I mean, you are impacting the world on a massive scale, sharing your story and it’s so, oh gosh, it’s so, so desperately needed. So how is Sophie doing now?

Tracy Ryan:                         04:15                     She’s amazing. We just recently had an issue with her vision. Her vision has gotten very, very, very poor. It’s not even from the tumor right now. She had to have a brain tumor surgery on April 23rd of this year to debulk the tumor. Her tumor has a 90 percent survival rate, but an 85 percent recurrence rate. That’s why she’s still in chemotherapy with chemo. Just to kind of explain what that means and why she’s still one of the chemotherapy, but why is she’s ok. With chemo, it only goes after dividing cells will. When you have a slow growing tumor, the cells don’t divide that often. So if when the chemo goes into her body, those cells aren’t dividing at that very moment, then it’s only going to in the best case scenario, arrest development of the tumor. Well with cannabis in correlation with the chemotherapy, we have shrunk this tumor more than what any doctor could have ever expected many times. And she’s been a miraculous healer throughout this process since she first got on cannabis. Her first, miraculous healing event was when she had nine blood transfusions her first nine months on chemotherapy. And then the last four months of treatment she just stopped needing them, which is medically impossible. The way she healed from the brain surgery on April 23rd, she should’ve had two black eyes visible swelling because they cut her from here on top of her head to the bottom of her ear. She should have had all kinds of swelling in this area. She had no bruising on her entire face, not one bruise. She had no signs of visible swelling. She was supposed to be in the hospital for three to five days, was released in less than 48 hours, was told she would not be able to go back to school for one to two weeks, but was told she could go back to school for one in one to two days and what it did for her pain was so profound. Not only did the nurse chart it. I had to go and get her so she could see the difference between how Sophie was and how he was once the cannabis kicked in, but then she also passed the information onto the next nurse. The next nurse could know and be aware of what she had witnessed with her own eyes. So once. Sophie had this brain tumor surgery, a post surgical cyst formed the size of my fist formed inside of the tumor, so the cyst kept getting larger and larger and larger and fortunately, but oddly enough, started pooling on the side of her face right here. The liquid was seeping through the bone plate where the surgery was, so it was somewhat of a blessing in disguise because otherwise she would have had to have a shunt put surgically into her head which can come with its own list of issues, infections being one of them. We were able to go back through this existing scar from her brain tumor surgery and the day before Thanksgiving she had 50 ccs of fluid drawn off and we think that becomes such a massive shift that occurred in her brain that it has now further damaged her vision. To meet her you would not know, just by talking to her and watching her get around, That there’s anything wrong with her. But if you’re standing more than three feet past her visually, she can’t see you. But she never complains and she’s so happy and she loves her life and she public speaks with me all over the country and I mean the is just.. So you know there’s been some challenges this year, but because of those challenges, Sophie’s brain tumor is now, growing and mice that pump human blood at one of the top universities in the country. Her immune system is being studied by the world leading research scientists in natural killer cells. Natural killer cells are what fails and causes us to have cancer in the first place, which is one of her major discoveries and now because of what we have found in Sophie’s immune system, which has helped us to now understand why she’s a miraculous healer. We’re now studying seven other CannaKids patients, two of which were supposed to succumb to their diseases three and a half years ago. One young man had 90 days to live with no chance of survival after his cancer recurred six times in three years on Western medicine. Three and a half years later, he’s still cancer free and his immune system mimics Sophie’s and their immune systems are functioning on such levels that it’s humanly impossible, so this research is not only leading to an expansion of our understanding of this plant and our understanding of how to treat cancer, but I’ve now also raised 55 of the $70,000 that I need in order for the surgical, the surgical process to occur so that we can now put our research scientists treatment plan into the brain of the mice that pump the human blood. Because we now know why Sophie has this brain tumor that won’t go away. She has no natural killer cells in her brain whatsoever, but from the neck down, they functione five times out of a healthy adults. So, we are now working on a cure for her. And I believe that this process will. This procedure will occur in the next six weeks. If it works. Not only would this be a cure for my daughter potentially, but the thousands, if not millions of other people that this could create a major breakthrough for could be absolutely profound. We’re very excited about what has come out of these tragedies and we are silver lining staple and we just keep trying to find the good and we keep finding it.

Jessie Gill :                           09:22                     You’re doing an amazing job of finding it, so how are you raising money for that?

Tracy Ryan:                         09:26                     So there’s a couple ways that you can actually donate to Saving Sophie and it’s through our website@ www.savingsophie.org. We also have fundraisers that we do throughout the year. You can contact us on social media and we can show you where our little campaign sites are as well. You can throw a little campaign on your own facebook page if you have a birthday and you can choose Saving Sophie as your organization of choice to have your birthday funds donated to in lieu of gifts. We’ve probably raised six or $7,000 in the last few months from just people donating their birthday money to us.

Jessie Gill :                           10:04                     Cool.

Tracy Ryan:                         10:04                     Yeah, it’s exciting. So we were really starting to try and get the word out in a very large way and we’re looking for philanthropists and supporters of the cause that would be willing to give anywhere from $5 to $5,000,000. No amount is too small or too large.

Jessie Gill :                           10:19                     I love that. It’s amazing. I mean you’re doing a remarkable job with it already. Just raising money so you have how far to go?

Tracy Ryan:                         10:27                     So we’ve raised 45,000. We’ve got another 25,000 to go on that. Awesome. Also very, very, very close to closing funds for our lab that we’re going to build. It’s going to be a research facility and will also allow us to release our research scientists test into the medical community that are predictive of when the natural killer cells fail. Thus helping us understand when a patient is at risk for cancer. So not only are we trying to get rid of cancer, we’re trying to prevent it from ever occuring.

Jessie Gill :                           10:59                     Wow. That’s so amazing.

Tracy Ryan:                         11:01                     Crazy. Because I literally just got dropped into the scientist’s lab, the ver thing that cannabis is doing to my child to make her this miraculous healer that she is, is literally the very thing that this woman is the world leader in.

Jessie Gill :                           11:17                     Wow. What a…

Tracy Ryan:                         11:19                     Coincidence? I don’t know. I don’t think so.

Jessie Gill :                           11:21                     That’s an amazing coincidence if there is such a thing. So, what else are you working on? I know you have a ton of projects.

Tracy Ryan:                         11:28                     Yes, we do. We have a lot. We’re working on a ton of projects right now. The research one is always going to be my passion and expanding the brand. What’s exciting about CannaKids is we are now taking on global expansion. We have licensed our brand and our product formulations to Australia. We should be closing in Canada this week, if not by Monday, We are working on Europe right now with an incredible team that we do believe probably by next week we’ll come to terms on, and we’re also in talks with China, so our. Our big, big, big goal is to get our medicine to patients globally because we know we’re getting such a better understanding of how to work with patients. We’ve got these incredible nurses that understand Western medicine, they understand cannabinoid therapy, they are trained to the utmost extent before even taking their first patient call with CannaKids. We make them go through the most rigorous training that’s available out in the market today and then they also train additionally with us based on our data that works alongside with our medicine. We are working on a national hemp line because we want to get our cbd out too quickly. Because believe it or not, it’s easier going to a legal country than it is to go to another state because you have to replicate what we do here in every state every single time, but in Canada, we just work with one person and can get all over the country same with Australia. So that’s why we’re going more global and focusing on hemp for national, since we’re now a midst the farm bill passing.

Jessie Gill :                           13:04                     Yes. Yes. That’s exciting.

Tracy Ryan:                         13:06                     We have that happening and then you know the lab. We also just won a license in West Hollywood, California.

Jessie Gill :                           13:11                     Congratulations. That’s amazing.

Tracy Ryan:                         13:15                     The goal is to open the very first ever have CannaKids Wellness Clinic. We’re very excited about this. Patients will be able to come in, they’ll be able to meet with a nurse, we’ll have a kids club where their children can be dropped off with a licensed care provider if they need to go to our cbd wellness spa or need to go next door to our cafe where we’ll have our line of products available for purchase because you can’t take a child where medical cannabis is being sold, so we’ll have a kid center for that. So we’re really excited about being able to bring extension courses, nurses, training, events, fundraisers to the West Hollywood community and the goal is really hopefully have the lab, CannaKids offices and the clinic in the same area or in the same building so that we can all work centrally together. So we’re building quite a large team right now to help me with all of these endeavors. I’m kind of the mastermind behind it, but I’ve got wonderful teams helping me execute on all the different projects and it’s exciting. We think that this is really going to be a banner year for us.

Jessie Gill :                           14:15                     It’s so incredible. I’m just so grateful for everything you do for everything you are doing and you’re speaking at the cannabis nurses network conference. Right?

Tracy Ryan:                         14:26                     I am. I’m very excited about that.

Jessie Gill :                           14:28                     Me too. I’m so excited about it. I’ll be there. I’ll be on one of the panels and I’m so looking forward to it. I mean, it’s amazing how many healthcare professionals are finally coming around and so desperately needed.

Tracy Ryan:                         14:45                     I mean if you look at where my husband and I were five years ago with the healthcare system and how nervous we were to have these conversations with our doctors and how nervous we were to give our child a dose of cannabis in the hospital when we were inpatient and where we are now and today where we literally have nurses, like if Sophie is inpatient, a lot of the nurses now in Sophie’s hospital, children’s hospital, have heard of CannaKids because we have so many patients that we treat there. And I have literally had nurses come to me and say, there’s a mom who I know wants to get involved with cannabis because she’s communicated it to me. She’s desperate, her child is dying. Would you be able to help them? And you know, I, she was like, I can’t have anything to do with it. If you bumped into him in the hall, that’s Great. I can’t tell you exactly who they are. But if she was willing to come to you, would you be open to the conversation? And I said, please send me anyone you have, any time you have them. I’ve got nurses begging me to get the research to go as fast as possible because these children are suffering from excrutiating pain. They’re refractory to opioids, the opioids are not working anymore through end of life care, which is a big passion of mine to try and get trials going in that field to not only help try and save their lives, but help them with transition if we’re not able to. Because the opiod epidemic and, and just opioids at large are very problematic, especially for a kid. Even when we go to change Sophie’s Chemo Protocol, because we constantly are having to adjust her protocol and try different medicines because of the way her tumor behaves. Even her doctor will bring in the list of drugs where there’s potential interactions and he’ll have me go through the list and make sure cannabis is not on that list.

Jessie Gill :                           16:31                     That’s great. A lot of healthcare professionals aren’t even aware of the fact that there can be drug interactions.

Tracy Ryan:                         16:39                     And that’s very true. And today, believe it or not, there are still doctors who don’t even know about cannabis because the medical professionals that have these rigorous jobs and keep them, you know, shift after shift doubles there. You know, when they, when they’re not working, they’re doing paperwork and when they’re not doing paperwork, or they’re spending time with their family. I’ve met doctors at top hospitals like MD Anderson before who are like I don’t have time to watch tv or read the news, I know nothing about what’s going on in this world. So that’s why every time we are inpatient at any hospital, anywhere in the country for that matter, because it has happened, we’ve had to be in a hospital in Portland, we’ve had to be in hospital when we traveled to Hawaii because of got sick on an airplane and we were worried that it was her brain tumor. We made it a point every where we go to the open and honest about what we’re doing, to communicate the research that we have going on and to take the time to educate anyone who is willing to listen and it’s paid off. We’ve really seen a huge shift, especially at children’s hospital where my daughter is treated.

Jessie Gill :                           17:38                     Wow, that’s amazing. I’m so eager for that to come to the east coast were so far behind you guys over here in New Jersey to go.

Tracy Ryan:                         17:51                     Slowly getting there.

Jessie Gill :                           17:51                     That’s true. Slow. Slowly but surely. Before we finish up, I’d love to hear what you say to parents who have kids who are very interested and have children who obviously need it and could benefit from it, but they’re scared of the stigma.

Tracy Ryan:                         18:12                     One of the things that I say all the time to people I meet everywhere, if everyone could just jump inside my brain for five minutes and know what I know, no one would question the efficacy or safety of this plant. That’s number one. Number two, don’t trust me. Read the research. If you go to savingsophie.org, we have a whole section called cannabis studies where we have all kinds of research that’s published that we are constantly updating, whether it be articles about new discoveries or new papers that are being published or stories of survival. We have all of all of those there and we’re constantly adding more all the time. We currently have them in three categories, cancer, autism and epilepsy because those are our three big fields of focus. But there are articles in there that pertain to everyone that’s education on the endocannabinoid system. Why and how it works, you know, as, as far as what we know today. So don’t trust me. Read about it and watch the videos. I was on the TV show, the doctors, this past year, which is a nationally syndicated, a emmy award winning television show, and these guys are grabbing onto these stories because they too believe cannabis can help. National Geographic has been following us for five years, We’ve been photographed for basically on every major event I can name and even when we were working up to Sophie’s brain tumor surgery and I was getting the tissue ready to go to the hospital, and then the tissue being then taken to the research facility that was all photographed by national geographic. These people would not be following us, if there was not something to this plant. And watch our film. You cannot walk away from this movie after seeing these five families battle with cancer and you see onscreen what this plant does for these children. Not to mention they interviewed the top research scientists around the world Dedi Meiri, married from the Technion being my partner by the way. Year two of his research right now. A dear friend and business partner. Raphael Mechoulam is on there, Christina Sanchez. I mean there’s all kinds of brilliant minds, that are showing you firsthand in their research where cannabis is eradicating disease in their machine and animal models and how desperately we need to push this into humans. And you also learned about the propaganda. You learn why cannabis was made to be illegal in the first place and when you really start to understand how far back this plant dates, which they have, they have post dated it like around 8,000 years post the written word. That’s how far back we’ve known that cannabis has been used. And if you look at the medical books and the apothecary books and the pharmaceutical tinctures that were being sold across the country before Harry Anslinger and William Randolph Hearst in the thirties went on this trail of, of um, really just confusing the population at large as to what this plant is and does. Even the American Medical Association when against these gentleman and said, do not put cannabis on schedule. I we have all kinds of diseases and issues that this plant works for and we don’t have a replacement, but it was all about money and power.

Jessie Gill :                           21:25                     Thats a great point, because I think a lot of people miss that, that the American Medical Association was pro cannabis and during the 1937 marijuana tax act, they testified that they did not want it banned and they did not want prohibition. A lot of people don’t realize that. They’re like, oh, it was just bad.

Tracy Ryan:                         21:42                     They used to use cannabis on women during childbirth. That’s how safe the medical associations believe this plant to be all the way up until the thirties, so if you start there and then work your way forward, I feel like it’s a lot easier to really have an open mind to it. Once your mind is open, it can’t be closed.

Jessie Gill :                           22:02                     Yeah, that’s beautiful. I love that. Thank you so much tracy. It’s such a joy, such a pleasure to talk to you. I’m such a big fan of all you do and I truly, truly am grateful because it’s stories like yours and like Sophie’s that is really changing the face of this medicine.

Tracy Ryan:                         22:20                     Thank you for all you do and I cannot wait to meet you in person.

Jessie Gill :                           22:23                     I can’t wait to meet you either next month, so if there are any nurses watching this, you need to go to the cannabis nurses network conference at the end of February, so definitely go check that out and I’m gonna link down in the description to all of your sites as well.

Tracy Ryan:                         22:38                     Great. Thank you so much.

Jessie Gill :                           22:40                     Thank you. I’ll see you the next month..Trending Now

New Cannabis User Guide

1. Cannabis Changes Lives

Chances are you’ve already heard that cannabis changes lives and that’s how you stumbled upon this page. While the FDA maintains its absurd stance that there are no health benefits to cannabis, people are reporting significant therapeutic results.

Cannabis is not a magical cure but it is a tool that has changed many lives Here are a few patients happy to share their stories:

• Pamela Hadfield: Migraines 
• Nina Simmons: Pediatric Epilepsy 
• Tracy Ryan: Pediatric Cancer

Aside from remarkable symptom management, there are more reasons to consider cannabis, here are several little-known benefits of marijuana.

2. Not All Marijuana Is Equal

First, you should know cannabinoid medicine is complex. It’s not as easy as smoking a random joint and feeling better. It’s important for patients to know, not all marijuana is equal.

I can’t stress this enough. Each strain of cannabis causes a different physical and mental reaction. On top of that, cannabis medicine is very individualized, so you might react very differently to a strain compared to your best friend’s reaction.

For patients, this means if one strain of cannabis doesn’t help relieve your symptoms, please try another. Patients often need to try several different strains before finding the ideal one. A lot of health professionals encourage new patients to start with a high-CBD, low-THC strain the first time and to slowly increase their THC levels.

Think of cannabis like other medications. Patients often have to try several different pharmaceuticals before finding one that works best for them.

3. Whole-Plant Medicine vs Isolate

Where you live determines your access to different types of products. Products generally fall into two types: Whole-plant medicine vs isolate.

To understand why cannabis medicine varies so much, you need to understand the basic chemistry of cannabis. Cannabis is an organic material made up of more than 400 different molecular compounds. Like most plants, marijuana contains polyphenols, proteins, esters, etc. In addition, cannabis also contains cannabinoids, highly active molecules that interact with our endocannabinoid system.

The most popular and most researched cannabinoids are THC and CBD. However, in addition to these major cannabinoids, there are a hundred-and-something minor cannabinoids that we must not forget about. Each minor cannabinoid can have a profound physiological effect. It’s the ratios of these minor cannabinoids and the terpenes that make each strain of cannabis so different.

Whole-Plant Medicine

Different ratios of cannabinoids (major and minor,) plus different terpenes, create different health effects. Whole-plant, or full-spectrum, medicine refers to using the entire plant to address the symptoms. This frequently involves vaping or smoking the flower, cooking with the flower, and extracting oil & concentrates directly from the flower. Whole plant medicine utilizes the plant’s natural terpenes, polyphenols, and ALL of the plant’s cannabinoids, both the major cannabinoids and the minor ones. I am a passionate believer in whole-plant medicine.

Cannabis Isolates  – THC or CBD

Isolates, on the other hand, refer to utilizing the isolated cannabinoids, usually just THC and/or CBD. Researchers often prefer to use isolates because it decreases the variables and makes the research more consistent. Unfortunately, using isolates exclusively is not always as effective for every patient. Most patients benefit greatly from all of the natural cannabinoids and terpenes found in cannabis.

The medical marijuana programs in some states only allow access to isolates, so not all patients have access to whole flower.

Isolates are common in dispensary edibles (especially candy because they’re easy to spray on). Isolates are also often used in oils, tinctures, and carts. Vapable Carts/Oil Cartridges are often made from THC/CBD isolate with added terpenes.

There can be benefits to using CBD isolate in addition to whole-plant medical marijuana.

4. How Should I Take It?

After you choose a type of medication, you’ll need to choose a method of consumption. There are many different types of cannabis products. Depending on how the product is prepared, you can smoke it, eat it, use it as topical, take it as a suppository, absorb it under your tongue, swallow a capsule, and more.

We’ll briefly discuss the two most popular methods:

• Inhalation
• Oral consumption

Inhalation (Smoking/Vaping)

When possible, I urge new cannabis users who are using cannabis for the first time, to start by vaping the whole flower (vaping concentrates is much stronger). Vaping offers the same immediate benefits of smoking, but without the carcinogenic effects of smoke. If someone doesn’t have access to a vape, they can smoke with a water pipe which can help filter out some of the carcinogens.

When you consume cannabis by inhaling it, it takes effect more quickly and wears off more quickly than oral consumption. This is good for the occasional new patient who dislikes the feeling.

There are a variety of vaporizers on the market, in a variety of price ranges.

The Best Portable Dry Herb Vape on the Market is The Mighty Vaporizer

The Mighty is the highest-quality portable vape made by the legendary company, Storz and Bickel. This is the best dry herb vape on the market.

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The Pulsar Flow is my good dry herb vape under $100.00:

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Some individuals desire the immediate benefits of cannabis but struggle with vaping or smoking. For example, even though cannabis has been historically used to treat asthma, some people just can’t tolerate inhaling the hot air. These individuals often benefit from a Volcano vaporizer. which allows the hit to cool in a bag prior to inhalation.

READ: 9 Tips for First Time Vapers

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Some Consumers Prefer

A less effective, but more affordable alternative to the volcano vaporizer, is a bong with an ice pinch. The ice can help cool the smoke prior to inhalation. (You fill the top of this bong with ice. The smoke is filtered by the water at the bottom of the beaker. Then the ice cools the filtered smoke before the person inhales it.)

Edibles are another popular alternative.

Oral Consumption

Eating cannabis is the most convenient way to utilize it. Patients often choose this method as a way to avoid the smell of marijuana.

Patients need to realize that the effects of eating cannabis are different (sometimes very different) than vaping or smoking it. In many people, the intoxicating effects of edibles tend to be more pronounced compared to inhalation. It also takes longer for edibles to set in and a lot longer to wear off. Even regular cannabis users, who strictly smoke or vape, should start edibles with a low dose.

Patients should also keep in mind that edibles don’t work for everyone. Occasionally, digestive systems just don’t properly process cannabis consumed orally.

In some areas, like San Francisco, dispensaries sell accurately dosed cannabis edibles, capsules, tinctures, and more. Having access to accurate pre-measured doses makes managing cannabis medicine much simpler.

Making Edibles At Home

Unfortunately, not all regions sell edibles, in many areas like NJ, we make our own edibles at home.

The good news is, even though making edibles at home can be time-consuming, it’s not too difficult. Here’s how to make a small batch of cannabis oil at home the old-fashioned way.

If you’re looking to save time, there are a few devices that make preparing edibles significantly easier. The Magical Butter Machine makes cannabis butter, oil, and tinctures at the touch of a button

Decarboxylating

Before you can prepare and utilize your cannabis, you need to decarboxylate, or decarb, it. To do this, you cook the cannabis flower at a very low temperature. Proper decarboxylation is essential for effective medicine.

Here’s a basic explanation of what happens during decarboxylation: Raw cannabis contains low levels of THC, but contains high levels of THCA (the inactive precursor to THC). THCA needs to be heated at a specific temperature for a specific period of time to properly convert it to THC. The cannabis will not be effective if it’s not decarboxylated.

The cheapest way to decarb is to cook the flower, covered in the oven, at 220-240 degrees for 30-60 minutes. You probably notice the large range in temperature and time in those instructions. The truth is every plant is a little different and there are a few different methods. This makes it hard to decarb perfectly. Decarbing in an oven is effective but not completely efficient.

If you want perfect decarboxylation, you need the NOVA Lift Decarboxylator. This little device makes perfectly potent edibles. Ardent sent me one to test and I’m blown away. My medication is significantly more potent using this device.

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Topicals

Cannabis topicals are often forgotten about but can be extremely effective for some types of pain. I use cannabis topicals regularly. If you’re fortunate enough to live in a state with an expansive product selection, you’ll have plenty of ready-made options.

If you don’t have access to a commercial product, you can still try cannabis topicals by making them at home. You can use infused cannabis oil directly or you can use the infused oil to make a homemade cannabis topical recipe.

5. Will Medical Marijuana Make Me Feel High?

Patients often want to know, “Will cannabis make me feel high?” It all depends on the THC content, but in the beginning, yes, cannabis will probably make you feel a little high. However, most patients adjust quickly as their THC tolerance builds. Usually, after a few days-to-weeks of consistent use, one or two puffs does not make the user feel cognitively altered.

This is not unusual with medication. Many pharmaceuticals come with warning labels informing patients “not to drive or operate heavy machinery until you know how this medication affects you”. The same is true for cannabis.

READ: How long will I feel high?

6. How Much Should I Use?

First, let’s acknowledge that using too much cannabis, too quickly, can cause anxiety and panic attacks. Overconsumption is responsible for the majority of bad experiences while using cannabis. Start at a low dose, and increase your dose VERY slowly.

Proper dosing of cannabis is challenging.

Keep in mind, there’s also a genetic component to cannabis metabolism which means everyone is different- different people require different dosages and different frequencies.

How much to start with, depends on what type of products you have access to. I’m a believer in whole-plant medicine. Many healthcare professionals recommend patients start with a low dose, for example, one puff of a low-THC flower, and wait a while to see how it affects them, then increase it from there.

If starting with edibles, new users can start with 2.5 mg and wait 2 hours before trying anymore.

7. Are There Risks of Using Cannabis?

Like all substances, there are risks associated with cannabis use because both, THC and CBD have side effects. A lot of research suggests medical marijuana is significantly safer than most pharmaceuticals. Some experts argue that marijuana is safer than Tylenol.

Still, like coffee or alcohol or even Tylenol, patients should be aware of the minor risks associated with cannabis use. Cardiac patients should know that cannabis can affect the heart. It’s also important for patients taking other pharmaceuticals to know that cannabis can interact with some medications like antidepressants and antibiotics, and blood thinners. Usually, these interactions are usually minor and rare but it’s important to be aware of the possibilities.

8. Know the Laws

The most dangerous thing about cannabis is the law. Being arrested for cannabis destroys and derails lives. No one has ever died from a cannabis overdose, but countless lives have been destroyed by cannabis arrests.

Go out of your way to understand and respect your local laws to make sure you are protected (or as protected as possible). The unfortunate truth is medical marijuana patients trade rights for medicine.

Because medical cannabis is not legal everywhere, some very ill patients are forced to choose between their health and following the law. My heart aches for those in that predicament.

7. Should I Tell People?

I’m often asked by patients if they should be public about their cannabis use, or if it’s something they should keep to themselves. This is a very personal decision.

As an advocate, my heart wishes for everyone who benefits from cannabis to scream out their truth. BUT as a human who understands the purveyance of the negative stigma and it affects, I understand why most people hesitate. There are societal risks associated with cannabis use because of federal law and the stigma.

Most states do not have employment protections so, unfortunately, many cannabis patients risk losing their jobs if they come out publicly.

If you do decide to tell your loved ones about your cannabis use, try to come from a place of understanding. Be patients. The brainwashing is intense and many don’t believe the medical benefits until they witness it firsthand. Educate yourself and go into conversations with knowledge and resources.

As a parent, it’s extremely important to talk to your kids about cannabis (even if you choose not to divulge your use) because kids are NOT learning facts in school, they are still learning propaganda. Parents who are medical marijuana patients have a special obligation to prepare their kids to face the negative stigma because they will face it eventually.

If you do decide to go public, here are some tips.

• Be educated and prepared to present facts and resources–often.
• Expect people to confidentially tell you that they use cannabis too (you’ll be shocked by how many do and by who it is!)
• Expect to encounter people who are brainwashed and will simply never understand cannabis use unless they experience it firsthand. After more than 80 years of propaganda, it’s impossible to convince everyone of the truth. Here’s how I deal with cannaphobia.

Conclusion

Cannabis is a new medication and trying it can be a little scary at first. Be patient, listen to your body, and learn, learn, learn. Not everyone experiences incredible benefits from cannabis, but I can tell you first hand, for many, medical marijuana is life-changing. I hope your results are as remarkable.Trending Now

The Misinformation About the Word Marijuana

In the early 1900’s, white supremacists began a war on cannabis in the United States despite objections form the American Medical Association.

Due to this war, there is a lot of misinformation still believed about cannabis. This includes myths like cannabis being a gateway drug, myths that it’s deadly, and even myths about the origins of the word marijuana.

Today, there are renewed calls to banish the word “marijuana”. Some cite the negative stereotype associated with this word, while others claim the word has racist roots. BUT, what most people don’t realize is that the attack on the word “marijuana” is deeply rooted in white supremacy and can be traced to the American Medical Associaton.

We can illustrate the origin of this argument because it’s officially documented in our US historical records.

READ: 8 Little-Known Benefits of Smoking Pot Regularly

The American Medical Association was Pro-Cannabis?

Yes. In 1937, the American Medical Association was pro-cannabis and against cannabis prohibition.

Before 1937, cannabis was a common medication. A variety of cannabis tinctures were available at the local pharmacy. Doctors routinely encouraged use and the American Medical Associaton wanted cannabis to remain available.

But they DID NOT want it called “marijuana”.

READ: How to Use Marijuana for Pain Relief

The AMA Attacked the Word Marijuana During the 1937 Congressional Hearings

Most people think the fight against the word marijuana is a modern-day argument, but the truth is, the argument to stop using the word marijuana, and use only the word cannabis, began in 1937 and is well-documented.

Let’s keep in mind, the country was even more blatantly racist than it is today. [For reference: This was decades before segregation ended. Black people (and women) were only granted the right to vote in 1920 (a right that wouldn’t be legally protected until 1965). Other immigrants weren’t granted the right to vote until 1943 with the passage of the Magnuson Act.]

Becuse of the social circumstances, government documented racism is not shocking.

During the 1937 congressional hearings, Doctor Woodward, representing the American Medical Association, stated, “The term ‘marihuana’ is a mongrel word that has crept into this country over the Mexican border.”

READ: Medical Marijuana and My Latina Mother

“a mongrel of a word”

This was pure racism. The position of anti-prohibitionists was racist. It’s not surprising, society was horrifically racist at the time.

Because of this, pro-cannabis doctors who wanted cannabis to remain a legally regulated medication wanted only the word “cannabis” used to describe the plant.

WATCH: Patients Are The Proof: Migraines with Pamela Hadfield

“Cannabis” Derives from Latin. “Marijuana” Derives from Nahuatl.

People who wanted the plant to remain legal, insisted only the word “cannabis” be used. Cannabis is derived from Latin. Marijuana is derived from Nahuatl (the language of the indigenous people formerly residing in what is now Mexico).

While cannabis tinctures as medicine were common in the early US, the practice of smoking of dried cannabis flowers came directly from Mexico where they called it “marijuana”. Smoking marijuana became more popular socially during alcohol prohibition (1920-1933).

Mexican immigrants brought many words to the English language – words like avocado, chili, coyote, and marijuana are some of the few remnants of the Nahuatl culture brought to the US by immigrants from Mexico.

I asked Claudio Lomnitz, Professor of Anthropology at Columbia University in the Department of Latin American and Iberian Cultures, via email about the term. He told me, “That is how marihuana has always been known in Mexico, and there is no racist or pejorative undertone or overtone in the use of the term in Mexico or in Spanish generally.”

However, in the 1930’s, anti-prohibitionists felt associating the plant with the Mexican culture was a bad image. This was colonialism and white supremacy.

READ: Cannabis for Migraines vs Traditional Medications 

Anslinger was Not So Bright

It’s been argued, the Papa of Prohibition, Henry Anslinger, intentionally used the word marijuana instead of the word cannabis, to play on the fears of racist society. But this theory gives Anslinger way more credit than he deserves.

Anslinger didn’t call it “marijuana” to be sly–he wasn’t that smart– he called it marijuana because he didn’t know it was the same plant as cannabis. This became clear in the fury of birdseed industry who only discovered “cannabis” and “marijuana” were the same plant days before the congressional hearings to outlaw it.

Some cite the spelling differences of “marihuana” and “marijuana” as evidence of racist intent, but the truth is, the illiteracy rates of the 1930’s were exceedingly high. Even the “educated”, were not very well educated or insightful. Plus, there was zero cultural awareness of pronunciation differences and google translate hadn’t been invented yet. Americans heard what someone with an accent said and spelled it however they thought it sounded.

This is similar to what happened with the surnames on the ship manifests for immigrants arriving at Ellis Island at the time. Those errored manifests were then used to create official documents and the new name /spelling was indelibly marked–these new names are still being used by descendants today. The same thing happened to the word “marijuana”.

The Trump of the 30’s

Henry Anslinger was the Trump of the 1930’s.

Trump didn’t invent the “wall” and Trump didn’t invent the “birther movement”. Instead, he found mob-like opportunities to manipulate.

This is what Anslinger did too.

Anslinger was a racist puritan who did not engage in alcohol. He was a former alcohol prohibition agent and after the failure of alcohol prohibition (which ended in 1933), inventing cannabis prohibition was his new career. He desired an all white, religious, puritan United States–these skewed ideas were popular at the time.

But, Anslinger didn’t invent the fear and propaganda surrounding cannabis–that actually began in Mexico and is closely linked to the Catholic church.

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Cannabis Prohibition Started in Mexico

The campaign against marijuana migrated up from Mexico. Much of it was related to the overwhelming influence of the Catholic church at the time on Mexican politics and society.

17 years before cannabis was outlawed in the US, it was made illegal in Mexico. Anslinger simply copied what the Mexican government had done.

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Propaganda Also Started in Mexico

People often give William Randolph Hearst credit for inventing Reefer Madness with his yellow journalism. Sure he made it extreme, but the truth is, he also simply copied Mexico.

The book, Home Grown: Mexico’s War on Drugs, cites headlines from old Mexican newspapers that profess the fear of marijuana.

Negative headlines targeting cannabis, appeared in Mexico years before the US campaigns began.

And in reality, the propaganda against cannabis (and against all natural medicines) actually began hundreds of years earlier on another continent.

The Attack on Natural Medicine Originated in Europe

In Midevil Europe, the Catholic Church determined that the use of plants in healing was the work of the devil. The penalty for it was death.

The Catholic Church controlled all of Europe at the time.

READ: 50 Cannabis Gifts for Under $20

The Spanish Conquests Brought the Attack to Mexico

From 1519-1521, the Spanish Conquests occurred. During this period, the Catholic Church sent conquistadors from Spain to North America where they murdered Aztecans, destroyed the native civilizations, and force-evangelized the remaining population.

Nahuatl, the native language of the Aztecan people, did not have a written language. Because of this much of the language and Aztecan culture was lost — including a rich medical knowledge of native plants.

The Word Marijuana Migrated North from Mexico

Oral traditions attribute the word marijuana to the Nahuatl culture, but the lack of written history combined with centuries of religious-induced stigma and propaganda make it impossible to fully trace the word.

The exact etymology of the word marijuana is filled with speculation. What we know for sure is, by the 1930’s marijuana was a common word in Mexico. It then made its way to the US, along with the practice of smoking dried cannabis flowers. The word, along with this new method of consumption, left a powerful and beautiful mark on cannabis history in the United States–despite prohibition.

READ: Every Strain of Cannabis Causes a Different Physiological Reaction

US Cannabis Culture was Built Around “Marijuana”

I imagine Anslinger hoping for cannabis to be eradicated from the earth. Fortunately, and ONLY thanks to brave lawbreakers and freedom fighters, cannabis knowledge is more abundant than ever.

But for 80 years, most users remained silent about the benefits out of fear for the stigma and law. For a long time, most users weren’t brave enough to contradict social norms by speaking out. Except for a brave few.

These few tended to be individuals who routinely ignored all standard social cues. These were the people who dressed differently, spoke differently, and behaved differently than how society demanded. These individuals were often chided as “stoners”. And because they were the only ones talking about marijuana, their refusal to follow standard social cues became linked to the plant as part of the negative stigma.

However, it’s only thanks to these brave souls that the knowledge of the plant was kept alive until today. These “stoners” protected marijuana from a government seeking to eradicate it. To them, I am eternally grateful…we all should be.

Attack the Stigma Not the History

Some believe, that if we just call it cannabis, we’ll convince more people to accept the plant, but the attack on the language is misguided.

It’s not just the word marijuana that turns people off–it’s the plant itself. It’s the shape of the leaves. It’s the smell of a joint. It’s the site of a bong. People have a negative association to ALL things associated with cannabis, not just the word marijuana.

The good news is because of neural plasticity, people are capable of changing their association to words simply by creating new positive associations—this is one of the reasons I strive to use a variety of words to describe the plant.

So, whereas I understand the negative stigma associated to the word marijuana and the challenges it presents, I will continue to use it, because I will not support a cause that was born from white supremacy. I will not support a movement that tries to bleach away culture and history because it’s inconvenient.

Instead, I’ll respectfully continue to use all the words, while thanking and honoring the cultures and people that brought them to us. And while I do that, I’ll focus on attacking the negative associations to the plant itself.

Conclusion

If you’re uncomfortable with the word marijuana, no worries, don’t use it. But PLEASE, before attacking the word, keep in mind, it’s been documented that this argument was born from white supremacy in the 1930’s and myths have been propagated to propel it.

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What is a Cannabis Family Vacation?

If you had told me a few years ago that I would need to plan a cannabis family vacation, I’d think you were bonkers. But now, as a medical marijuana patient, all our family vacations have to be planned around accessing cannabis, hence this crazy new search term: cannabis family vacation.

First, let’s be clear about what a cannabis family vacation is NOT. A cannabis family vacation is not a stoned, stupid, or irresponsible party time.

A cannabis family vacation simply means an ordinary family vacation that includes access to cannabis so that medical marijuana patients can be accommodated.

The thing is, cannabis isn’t available in most places and medical marijuana patients are not allowed to travel with their medicine.

Fortunately, there are a variety of great places that accommodate cannabis tourism. Medical marijuana patients can plan a cannabis trip to Colorado, Vermont, Washington, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, DC., Jamaica, Uraguay, Canada, and more.

Here’s a long post about our Cannabis Family Vacation to San Francisco & Santa Cruz, CA–the weed related things, and the ordinary.

If you’re visiting San Francisco, be sure to check out my Directory of Cannabis Lounges.

Cannabis Friendly Hotels in California?

Do you know an officially cannabis-friendly hotel? If so, please tell me, because I have not found a truly cannabis-friendly hotel anywhere.

Most hotels have strict no smoking policies (and I expect that includes vaping). NOTE: I would never try to smoke in a hotel, but I may have vaped in hotel bathrooms using this Smoke Buddy Personal Carbon Filter.

Knowing most hotels are not cannabis-friendly, I carefully planned and booked our accommodations MONTHS beforehand. I found an Airbnb which allowed me easy access to a place I could vape cannabis. Unfortunately, Airbnb broke my heart and ripped apart my faith when TWO WEEKS before our trip (which was booked months in advance) Airbnb CANCELED my July 4th week reservation in San Francisco.

Forced to rebook last minute, there were no reasonably priced Airbnbs available that could accommodate us during the holiday. Similar places were going for quadruple the price of what I booked. Sadly, Airbnb offered shoddy customer service and a measly $200 credit (boo Airbnb, that wouldn’t even cover the cleaning fees).

We ended up being forced into an over-budget hotel and only spent half our trip in San Francisco. For the rest, we headed south to Santa Cruz which was honestly an absolute delight!! (And I’ll never rely on Airbnb again.)

Getting Marijuana in San Francisco

Getting weed is easy for adults in CA thanks to glorious recreational marijuana laws!

Unfortunately, it’s waaaay harder for single parents to get cannabis. Poor planning on my part! So be warned!

For the first two days in San Francisco, it was just my son (age 11) and I. My daughter (age 21) joined us later.

I counted on having cannabis delivered because in CA, minors are not allowed in dispensaries. What I didn’t realize is that many places only deliver to medical marijuana patients.

Thank heaven, for NuggMD. If you need a medical marijuana card in NY or CA, I highly recommend this telehealth service! I love them so much, I’ve partnered with them to promote their service because it really saved me when I desperately needed them.

If you need a CA or NY medical marijuana card, check them out. They are fast, easy, & 100% online.

GetNugg also offers cannabis delivery which varies from dispensary to dispensary; some still only deliver to medical marijuana patients. Whereas, any adult 21 & over may purchase cannabis in the dispensary.

Unfortunately, it took hours for me to figure all of this out and I went too long without medicine. Next time I travel, I’m considering bringing opiates and valium as a backup. I haven’t needed them in over two years, since I became a medical marijuana patient, but not having access to any medication was tough. (This is a such a stupid decision patients have to make. #legalize)

Finally, at 11 pm after waiting nearly 18 hours of my muscle spasms seizing in full swing– I finally had a bag full of meds.

California Cannabis Products I Love

Lemon Tree Life Resin

These Plus gummies were my favorite!! They’re all natural, and each only contains 5 mgs of THC which makes them ideal for microdosing.

Live Resin – Strawberry Mamba

Om Edibles

Everything Kiva is amazing.

Kanha Treats by Sunderstrom

Platinum OG

1:1 Gummies by District Edibles

Family Volunteering in San Francisco

While we were in San Fransisco, we spent the day volunteering at Glide. Glide is a remarkable meal service providing food and compassion to those in need.

My son said to me, “Mom, I’m glad we went, but it seems like an odd time. Why did we volunteer on vacation?”

I explained how important it was to give back to the community we were enjoying.

And honestly, volunteering at Glide was one of the highlights of our trip. We served nearly 700 meals in less than two hours and met some amazing humans who will leave a lasting impact on our lives.

Before our trip, I didn’t realize how large the homeless population is in San Francisco. I spend a lot of time in New York City and we have a significant amount of people who are homeless…but San Francisco it’s far more tragic. I’ve read about it. But I really didn’t realize until I saw myself.

Family Things to Do in San Francisco

If you only have a day or two to see San Francisco, a Big Bus tour is an ideal way to do it! We did the two-day tour and the night tour and we really enjoyed it.

On the Big Bus, you can hop on and off at all the major tourist attractions. There’s also a recorded or live tour guide depending on the tour.

Walk up and down Crooked Street

Ride a Cable Car.

I loved the Full House House, my son watches Fuller House with me and he loved it too. My daughter hasn’t seen either show and had no idea why we were so excited about a random house.

The Big Bus offers multiple views of The Golden Gate Bridge

And the chance to drive over the bridge.

The night tour offers stunning sunset views!

After a few days in San Francisco, we headed down to Santa Cruz.

Family Things to do in Santa Cruz

The Coastal Redwoods were my favorite part of our trip. I could sit among those magnificent trees for forever.

I loved Henry Cowell State Park. We went INSIDE a giant Redwood.

We had the best time at Natural Bridges State Park.

Natural Bridges State Park has the most amazing tide pools. We could have spent hours exploring them.

Tide Pools at Natural Bridges State Park in Santa Cruz.

We saw humpback whales on the Monterey Bay with Sanctuary Cruises.

And otters, and seals, and pelicans. 

My son’s highlight of the trip was mountain biking with Santa Cruz Bike Tours. I have not been on a bike for over 4 years since before my neck injury. The nerve damage in my neck makes it painful to ride & impossible to navigate a bike, but my son LOVES mountain biking. Fortunately, I found Marty at Santa Cruz Bike Tours.

Marty took extra care to choose a comfortable ride for me, and took us on a beautiful tour of the Redwoods that offered remarkably gentle spots for me to ride with no navigating, and also offered my son mountain biking trails to play on. Let me tell you—my kids were SO proud of me. They had little faith that I could hang! …ok honestly, I didn’t have much faith either. And it wasn’t easy. I walked that bike quite a few times, and I went downhill like a snail, and it did hurt quite a bit, but some experiences are worth the elevated pain levels. My kids loved it, it was my son’s favorite CA moment, and it was a remarkably joyful experience. I’m so grateful for CA’s cannabis laws because high-quality medicine is the only reason I was able to do this.

Visit Santa Cruz Boardwalk.

See the Pacific Ocean.

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San Francisco’s cannabis lounges are a highlight if you’re a cannabis tourist. All medical marijuana patients are cannabis tourists. Cannabis tourism can mean a variety of things. It can refer to a cannabis-centric grown-up trip to the Cannabis Cup, or it can refer to a simple, family vacation that includes access to medical marijuana. If a medical marijuana patient can’t obtain their medicine at a location, they often can’t visit.

Sometimes, even when medical marijuana patients are able to obtain meds, they still can’t find a safe place to smoke or vape cannabis while traveling.

I recently took a cannabis family vacation to California. Thanks to California’s glorious recreational laws, ample meds are available, however, public smoking is not allowed. Most hotels are non-smoking locations. Fortunately, in the city of San Francisco, there are many places where you can legally smoke or vape cannabis, in the form of cannabis lounges.

I recently reviewed over a half dozen of San Francisco’s cannabis lounges. Here are all the details and some of my faves!

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About Cannabis Lounges in San Francisco

Vaping is allowed in all cannabis lounges. Only some cannabis lounges allow smoking. Cannabis lounges must obtain a permit for onsite consumption. An open flame permit must also be obtained to allow smoking. There are regulations governing the filtration systems installed in San Francisco’s cannabis lounges.

All of the cannabis lounges listed are also dispensaries. Some of them require a purchase in order to use the lounge Others allow you to bring your own weed to smoke or vape as you please.

Some lounges require you to sign a membership agreement and/or release.

Many lounges offer dab rigs, bongs, rolling trays, or volcano vaporizers to help you consume cannabis.

Cannabis Lounge Directory – San Francisco, CA

Urban Pharm

122 10th St, San Francisco, CA 94103

Impression: My favorite. I could live here.

Website: Urban Pharm

Steampunk & super cozy. My first trip to Urban Pharm was so enjoyable I returned for a second and third…yes, even though I was visiting nearly every other cannabis lounge in San Francisco. I loved Urban Pharm that much. Maybe because it’s the spot of my first real dab, from Teagen at Urban Pham’s dab bar.

I’d vaped concentrates before but I’d never dabbed from a rig. Teagen offered tons of gentle guidance and didn’t abandon me when it took eons to finish my dab.

Urban Pharm happened to be holding “comedy night” when I stopped by. Catch it if you can; it’s highly entertaining.

Unfortunately, due to new regulations starting July 1, 2018, cannabis lounges are no longer able to sell individual dabs, however, you can purchase a concentrate from the dispensary and use it at the dab bar.

sparc – SF

1256 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA

Impression: Zen – Minimalist, Sleek – this could be my happy place. 

Website: sparc

My second favorite place was Sparc Patient Collective. Their Mission Street cannabis lounge is located in a wide airy space with high ceilings and tons of gorgeous natural light. It smells amazing.

Sparc quickly became one of my favorite lounges with its zen-esque vibe. I purchased a gram of Cherry A- 47 and I was fortunate enough to have Jeremy teach me how to use the volcano vaporizer. Jeremy was a joy, if you need a volcano tutorial, I highly recommend a visit. If my trip was a grownup trip, I could have spent hours in the sparc cannabis lounge working on my laptop and happily vaping.

Clients can use their own vapes or borrow a kit to use Sparc’s volcanoes. Leave your ID at the front desk for a kit. Sparc also features “smoking hour”. On Friday to Sunday, you can smoke cannabis after 4:20 pm in Sparc’s Mission Street cannabis lounge.

There’s no purchase required but you do have to agree to house rules and sign the membership agreement. Only the Mission Street sparc has a cannabis lounge.

Barbary Coast

Impression: Luxurious Sports Bar Vibe

952 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94103

Barbary Coast is rich and luxurious filled with leather and deep wood, it’s a gorgeous space with a sports bar sorta feel. Barbary Coast offers cozy booths that could make a nice cannabis date spot. Go here if you’re looking for a secluded nook to tuck away and smoke or vape.

I had a lovely visit with Nate who was manning the dab bar. Again, dabs are not sold at the dab bar, but you can purchase concentrates and carry them over to the rigs to use. Be prepared to sign a waiver. The budtender explained, “you have to sign a release that says if you noodle it’s not our fault.”

Harvest on Geary

4811 Geary Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94118

Impression: Ultra Lux – Leather and Chandeliers

Harvest on Geary offers an ultra-luxurious industrial chick cannabis lounge. The lounge features free wifi, outlets, and water. It’s an elegant space where clients can smoke or vape cannabis.

There’s no time limit or purchase required but you must become a member which may involve a $20.00 membership fee (but that also get’s you a 5% discount on purchases.)

Harvest does not have vapes available, but they do have rigs to loan out. Only the Geary location of Harvest has a cannabis lounge.

The Bloom Room – Vapor Only

471 Jessie St, San Francisco, CA 94103

Impression: Your friendly local lounge spot.

The Bloom Room was the most cheerful dispensary I’ve visited and it was filled with friendly locals. The decor is a bright and cheerful. Surf music plays and a dog water bowl sets by the front door. A big black lab enters and who’s clearly familiar. He heads straight to the bowl for a giant gulp. The Bloom Room is small, but it’s a great spot place to stop by for a quick vape.

Melissa checked me in and explained the house rules. No purchase is required to use the lounge at The Bloom Room, Clients can use a personal vape or use The Bloom Room’s volcano vaporizers. Melissa explained this model, “gives people a safe space” to use cannabis. The bloom room offers a TV and complimentary water. Clients have a 30-minute time limit.

Re-Leaf Herbal Cooperative

Impression: A quick stop. 

Re-Leaf Herbal Cooperative offers a small smoking lounge and vape lounge for customers only. No tobacco allowed and there are outlets available.  They used to have a dab bar but new regulations don’t allow it. If you want to dab in their lounge, you can, but you’ll have to bring your own rig or vape.

The Green Door

843 Howard St, San Francisco, CA 94103

Impression: Could be a fun place to smoke (when it’s open). 

The Green Door Lounge was closed during my cannabis trip. During my tour of San Francisco, I heard several locals rave about The Green Door Lounge. I stopped by and chatted with the Director of Operations, A.G. Melendez, who explained due to the new regulations they had to apply for a new permit.

There’s no ETA on the opening but when it does open, the lounge features a TV, pool table, and Pub Tables. The Green Door hosts local organization meetings and holds events.Trending Now