HERB CORNER
What I Learned In My Year As A Budtender
ZDQWWRJHWD\HDUROGWRRKLJK7KDWFDQEHDOHJLWLPDWHO\WHUULI\ - ing experience for a rookie and they will be discouraged from trying new cannabis products that could provide them incredible relief. %XWEHVLGHVWKHVWRQHUVDQGROGIRONVWKHUHVWRIWKHFXVWRPHUSRRO was wildly diverse. There is not a single type of person that I did not encounter working in a dispensary. This included: • Cancer patients using cannabis to mitigate symptoms of their treatment—or even using cannabis as treatment itself. 0RPVDQGGDGVWKDWZHUHYLVLEO\GLVKHYHOHGZKLOHWU\LQJWRVXU - vive virtual learning who found cannabis made them a more patient, empathetic parent. • Veterans struggling with PTSD who have to pay for expensive cannabis out of pocket since the V.A. won’t cover it. • Individuals who were at one point incarcerated for cannabis that
BY MEGHAN THOMPSON
,IHOWVRPHZKDWHPEDUUDVVHGWKDWP\¿UVWMRERXWRIFROOHJHZDVDV a budtender. Not that I wasn’t grateful for such a cool job, but I held a grudge about graduating college into a global pandemic with a degree LQ MRXUQDOLVP WKDW ,ZRXOGQ¶W EH XVLQJ VKRFNHU , IHOW ,ZDV GLVDS - pointing my parents by not doing something more meaningful. A year later, having recently left my full-time job as a budtender for one in journalism, I have bittersweetly accepted that it was probably the most meaningful thing I will ever do. Though I am excited to use the degree that I went into debt for, I will desperately miss budtending and the responsibility that came with it. %XGWHQGLQJWDXJKWPHDORWDERXWQRWRQO\FDQQDELVLWVHOIEXWWKH complexities of the industry. What I thought was going to be an easy, relatively thoughtless job was anything but. I thought my career as a
stoner in college equipped me with the knowledge I needed to sell weed in a medical cannabis dispensary, but I was so laughably wrong. If you, like me, didn’t know this al- ready — cannabis is a wildly complex SODQW FRQWDLQLQJ GL̆HUHQW FRPSRXQGV that each contribute to its medicinal EHQH¿WV LQ GL̆HUHQW ZD\V 7KHUH DUH DERXWDPLOOLRQ DQGFRXQWLQJ GL̆HUHQW ways to consume cannabis and count- less strains to pick from, each eliciting GL̆HUHQWH̆HFWVRQLWVXVHU *RRGEXGWHQGHUV OLNHWKHLQFUHGLEOH coworkers who trained me, shoutout to +DUYHVW LQ 7RZVRQ ZLOO OHDUQ WKH QX - ances of each cannabinoid and terpene found in the plant and the best method of administration to achieve a desired H̆HFW 7KH MRE ,PLQLPL]HG DV ³VHOOLQJ ZHHG´KDGPHVWXG\LQJDIWHUVKLIWVWDN - LQJ QRWHV DQG PHPRUL]LQJ WKH QDPHV of terpenes: limonene, caryophyllene, SLQHQHP\UFHQHWHUSLQROHQH«
VWUXJJOHG WR ¿QG HPSOR\PHQW DV D UH - sult, despite now being able to purchase it legally. • Everyday human beings who struggled with everyday human prob- lems like anxiety, depression, general work stress, etc. (YHU\RQH KDG GL̆HUHQW UHDVRQV IRU using cannabis and in my book, every reason is valid. Because truthfully, it LVYHU\GL̇FXOWWRGLVWLQJXLVKEHWZHHQ “recreational” and “medical” use of FDQQDELV Even if someone was recommended cannabis by their doctor for some med- ical ailment, a lot of strictly medical pa- tients end up truly enjoying the process RI ¿QGLQJ WKH ULJKW SURGXFW DQG TXLWH frankly, enjoy getting high. 2Q WKH ÀLS VLGH KDUGFRUH VWRQHUV who come into the dispensary seeking the most potent products will learn about the medicinal applications of dif-
,TXLFNO\UHDOL]HGWKHLPPHQVHUHVSRQVLELOLW\WKDWFRPHVZLWKKHOS - LQJSHRSOH¿QGWKHULJKWFDQQDELVSURGXFWWKDWWKH\FDQXVHDVPHGL - FDWLRQIRUZKDWHYHUWKH\DUHVHHNLQJUHOLHIIURPLQWKHLUOLYHV%HFDXVH 0DU\ODQG LV D PHGLFDO FDQQDELV PDUNHW WKRVH ZLVKLQJ WR SXUFKDVH FDQQDELVQHHGWRUHFHLYHDFHUWL¿FDWLRQIURPDGRFWRU)RUWKDWUHDVRQ ZHFDOOHGRXUFXVWRPHUV³SDWLHQWV´DQGZHUHH[SHFWHGWRWUHDWWKHPDV such. %HFDXVH PRVW RI WKH SHRSOH FRPLQJ LQWR WKH GLVSHQVDU\ ZHUH XV - LQJ FDQQDELV IRU D VSHFL¿F UHDVRQ EXGWHQGHUV FRQVLGHUHG RXUVHOYHV XQṘFLDO SKDUPDFLVWV +RZHYHU XQOLNH WKH SKDUPDFLVWV ZH FRP - SDUHGRXUVHOYHV WRZHSOD\DELJUROH LQGHFLGLQJZKDW³PHGLFDWLRQ´ WR SUHVFULEH $QG EHFDXVH FDQQDELV WUHDWV HYHU\RQH GL̆HUHQWO\ DQG HYHU\RQHWUHDWVFDQQDELVGL̆HUHQWO\ DEXGWHQGHU¶VUHFRPPHQGDWLRQV must vary based on the customer. Of course, there were your textbook stoners. However, most of our patients were older than 60 who were rec- ommended cannabis by their doctors as treatment for a variety of dif- ferent ailments. A lot of your job as a budtender in a medical market is teaching cannabis newbies about their options, the corresponding EHQH¿WV DQG PRVW LPSRUWDQWO\²KRZ WR GRVH SURSHUO\ <RX GR QRW
ferent strains and end up changing the way they use cannabis. The same people who were initially just trying to get as high as possible are now asking for strains that aid with pain, focus, anxiety, insomnia RUZKDWHYHUVSHFL¿FUHOLHIWKH\UHTXLUH Like me, for example. I will declare, unashamed, I love smoking ZHHG,WKLQNLWLVVXSHUIXQIRUODFNRIDEHWWHUZRUGDQG¿QGWUXH enjoyment in both the selection and consumption process. I also use it to treat OCD, anxiety and the chronic inability to focus or relax— things I have struggled with my entire life — and found relief from in cannabis. I'm someone whose cannabis use falls in both the recre- ational and medicinal categories. $QGWKHPHGLFDODSSOLFDWLRQVRIFDQQDELVDUHWUXO\GL̇FXOWWRXQ - derstate. At the risk of sounding incredibly corny, cannabis really is a miracle drug. I served countless patients who were using cannabis DVDQDOWHUQDWLYHWRRSLRLGVIRUZKDWHYHUVXUJHU\LQMXU\FKURQLFSDLQ they struggled with. One of my patients had a severe spine condition and transitioned from a ridiculously high daily dose of oxycodone to exclusively cannabis, which provided the same pain relief without the groggy, disorienting, and potentially addictive properties of opioids.
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PATHWAYS—Fall 21—11
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