14 - Rewriting The Rules: A Mum’s Plant Story with Jess Peros.

Ever felt judged for choosing a vape over a wine? Or wondered why mothers who take c*nn*b!s still get side-eyed while wine o’clock is seen as self-care?

In this episode of Canna Curious, I sit down with Jess, a mother, grower, educator, and lifelong plant lover, to talk all things womanhood, wellness, and rewriting the story we’ve been told about cannabis!

From her first joint at 14 to microdosing with intention, Jess shares how her relationship with the plant has shifted through the wild years of growing up, raising kids, and working on the frontlines of patient care.

We talk about:
✨ How motherhood changed her ritual and made it more sacred
✨ Unlearning the belief that cannabis is for everyone
✨ What most people get wrong about mothers who use the plant
✨ Tolerance breaks, terpenes, and making the method match the moment
✨ Why we need less ego and more connection in the  c*nn*b!s  space

This one’s for the women who use the plant not to check out, but to check in. To calm the chaos. To reconnect. To heal.

It’s raw, reflective, and rebellious in the best way. Whether you’re new to the plant  or have been using it for decades, Jess reminds us what conscious use really looks like.

You can find jess @thegreenroom.hq

Mentioned

Dr Jeffrey Hergenrather https://www.drjeffhergenrather.com/

Transcript

Hi, Jess. Welcome to the Canna Curious podcast. Thank you for coming on today. Thank you for having me. So excited we finally get to sit down. I know. It's taken us a while with the.

The parenting and the school holidays, it's always hard to get together. So I wanted to start off right, let's go right back to the beginning and I wanted to talk about your origin story with the plant. So talk me through, you know, when you first were introduced to the plant, how you felt about that. Let's start there. Yeah. Well, all those decades ago, right,

I was an early starter for sure. I consumed my first amount of cannabis at 14. I guess probably around that age where you're starting to push the boundaries, you're seeing substances being passed around, alcohol, you know, always the choice usually for young teens, cigarettes, all those types of things. So all the things, right? So when you kind of.

going through that phase of working out who you are. You think you know it all, especially in young teen years. And I had a group of friends that were a little bit older, so they knew that drinking wasn't their thing. They were probably maybe 16, 17. And where we live, beautiful place, but, you know, by the beach, it's a real high socioeconomic area.

lots of, I don't know, let's say lots of kids able to do kind of whatever they want. Yeah, yeah. You know, they're roaming the street, they're driving mum and dad's cars, we're having beach parties and as fun as it was, I definitely took a liking to the plant. So after sharing my first joint and realising that, oof,

This is actually the feeling that I enjoy. Now, that was when I was 14, probably on and off, just weekend parties, and I kind of became the girl that was like the wee girl. Like I wasn't necessarily the drinking girl or the drugging girl or, you know, the party hour, although that all comes later in those early years.

Immediately at 14, as a young teen, I knew that cannabis was kind of my choice. That's interesting. Not everyone does that when they're young. So, you know, alcohol is a heavy topic, unfortunately, at that age. But, yeah, because, I mean, for me, I remember doing it, like, with alcohol. Definitely, definitely not just the canna.

in your early days doing it with alcohol. Yeah, and I write sick as a dog and then you're like, oh, it's the cannabis. It's never the alcohol. The alcohol didn't get blamed, but it really was the alcohol. Yeah, definitely. So do you, and now for you with the plant now, like how has that journey changed for you over your life? Drastically. I reckon I've had a few death and rebirths of my relationship with cannabis over the years. Honestly, even this year,

If I was to tell myself a year ago where my consumption would be at now, I probably wouldn't have believed it, to be fair. So I've been everything from, you know, like 14-year-olds smoking joints and bongs and greening out in, you know, the back shed of your ex-boyfriend's, you know, parent's house to going through high school when I studied, but I left.

and moved to far north Queensland in my early 20s. And that was definitely like a wake and bake series of life, you know. I do love a good wake and bake. I don't at the moment because I don't have the, let's say, the freedom of such with such little kids in a busy life. Oh, yeah.

but I do yearn for it some days, that feeling of just waking, doing this in my head, it was like doing some sun salutations, having a nice clean bowl, going for a swim, going out for breakfast, like kind of real freedom of just letting the plant kind of hold your hand through the flow of life.

So from my twenties, being able to freely use.

as I wanted, as I wished in circle with friends on my own, whether we're meditating, fire twirling, yoga, like all the things, all the hippie things loved far North Queensland. It really brought out that vibe. But the first time I consciously gave up cannabis was when I felt pregnant and I never, you know, on and off in the teen years, but.

you know, an everyday user in my twenties. So I thought I'd actually struggle with that. And I didn't, I had, um, quite severe nausea. I didn't enjoy the first few months. So it actually was quite easy for me. My body told me it's not for you. If I look back now, I personally probably would have stuck with a CBD just to help.

In saying that, so my first child, Indica, she came at 2017. So the medical model in Australia really had only just kick-started. Still very expensive, still very hard to get. Obviously no one's going to prescribe CBD for a, you know. Pregnant woman, anything to do with pregnancy, which is very, very frustrating. It is very frustrating, especially.

When you and I and other women know that CBD could really be a tool that's used in the toolkit for dealing with those symptoms. Even for me, I actually support THC now in that. in that time if needed whereas i didn't before but now that i i spent a lot of time listening to jeffrey hergan rather and if i'll put it in the in the show notes but it's a very interesting one to go and have a look at and there is some research available because women the the things that you're given over the counter by the gp for nausea they cause a whole lot of side effects and birth defects but the plant can actually help and you only need to use it in a very very

light way and see, you know, again, being able to start with CBD would be absolutely fabulous for nausea. Yeah, definitely. If I look back now, I wish I had my volcano in a volcano bag and maybe a balanced flower and a micro inhalation to just get that insane nausea down and just be able to. Yeah. So it's definitely, you know, in hindsight, we learn now.

But I think, and then I had another back-to-back baby. So I had some time off the plant for sure. But when I had finished breastfeeding and it was my time to return, I kind of ran a high-grade store. So I was able to use it on a daily basis, but to the level that enabled me to still function. I still needed to work.

We ran a business. I had babies. Now in this day and age, honestly, it's probably a full spectrum CBD oil in the day. Maybe a balanced gummy. I've got some pretty strong gummies at the moment. So I just bite mine in half. That's just a nice afternoon dose. And then like I used to love smoking a joint and I still do every now and then, but I find just my mighty medic plus on my volcano.

of an evening once the kids are in bed, it's just that nice wind down as the edible waiting or the gummy's waiting to kick in. Yeah, yeah, similar. I'm similar. Really conscious of my... Conscious consumption, yeah. I mean, I'm big around that too. I think that you need to take...

the the the dose that's needed for whatever you're trying to treat rather than you know excess well and look i've been in that point too i still have greened out i've still you know leaned on the plant heavily when i may not need to so intentional use is very very important and just being aware of aware of those things what do you think something is that people misunderstand about women who take cannabis

Perhaps that I found that a lot of feedback from other mothers is that if I take it, it means that I can't cope. So it's like a coping mechanism. And I don't believe that. I know it's not true for myself. I use it as a supplement almost. Yes.

Yeah, like an elevation of where I need to be. So whether I need to quieten down the noise just so I can focus on literally playing Barbie dolls. Yeah, same, same. I can't do, I'm not a good play person. I don't play very well. But the plant helps me play and lose that adult kind of thing and it helps me connect with those kids, absolutely. Yeah, so I think using it like, oh, you can't cope as a mother if you feel like you've got to go.

smoke or ingest or use cannabis and i'm like nah that's there's the people with the drinks and the valley i'm telling us that because that's acceptable and i get it like coping mechanisms we can't fall back on them all the time there are many other um there are many other things that we can do but it is just a tool in the toolkit and it plays its part so yeah it is and look i find that you're right it's

Women who have children like we do and take the plant are judged more harshly than anyone else because of, you know, it's misunderstanding. And being able to not be stressed, not yell at the kids, you know, and to me is a much better way of managing than, you know. 100%. Yeah, yeah. So it's quite interesting. And for me, because I take the plant for pain, if I'm in pain, I'm an asshole.

Yeah. Yeah. My kids know that day that I get that ovulation pain for me, it's just that 48 hours. And I know I had to cancel on you once before, but when that overwhelming sense of one, my hormones are all over the place as well, but the pain and it's just clouding my mind and they know.

that mum just needs to get her dose cap in her Mighty Medic to just dial it down for an hour or two so I can still continue on being the best version of mum I can in that moment. Yeah, exactly. And it's not good. Like those things when we're in pain, it's not good for anybody, certainly not for ourselves and certainly, you know, not for the family. And when you've got...

chronic pain or chronic issues, sleep issues, you know, to me that's really difficult on the whole family. What do you think has been the hardest thing that you've had to unlearn about the plant? Kyla's throwing out the big ones today. I've had to unlearn. I didn't, I don't know if I've had to unlearn it or it's just shone more of a light on it.

It's that my time working in clinic, in the cannabis clinic, being in like the patient trenches, speaking with them after they've been prescribed and started their journey, that it really isn't for everyone. And it's not that I thought everyone can benefit. I did. I did. I kind of did. Do you know what I mean? Then I hear the negatives and I'm like, what? Yeah, I'm like, everyone.

It's so good. I mean, CBD, I think it should be in our water. I really do. For CBD, I think everyone should be taking because we all have an endocannabinoid system. But, yeah, THC is definitely not for everybody, is it? No, no. And even with the minute amount of THC, so we're talking not broad spectrum, like a full spectrum, like maybe a 50 CBD and a 3 THC in comparison.

To like a CBD isolate. Now, where is placebo? I saw CBD isolate take its place, right? So props where that was due. That's probably one of the biggest unlearnings. I remember walking into clinic being like, you might as well give them water. Oh, that's me. I'm still in that place, babe. So there you go. I've got wafers. So I do take an isolate when I'm desperate. And I do. So I do do it now. It does work.

It does, and it has its place. So working with the pediatric neurologist certainly has its place. We did actually have some great outcomes with kids taking a CBD isolate. And, you know, there's many other cohorts of patients, but I found that, and the elderly as well. It just, it really depended. Sometimes I did think there was a bit of placebo effect in there, but that's proven to work as well.

neither here nor there if it's helping someone. But probably, yeah, I'm learning that it's for everyone when it really isn't. There are just some patients I worked with alongside doctor for months. It just wasn't for them and they didn't want to take a even broad or full spectrum oil, the driving laws, like you're in Queensland, I'm in New South Wales, we're in the same boat. But what it taught me is that

It was an entry and a gateway for some to play around with cannabis, start breaking down that stigma and judgment when they felt they could participate but without having the intoxicating THC or worrying about their drive. their workplace and i was like good this is a soft landing for you then but um i did think cbd isolate was like water and i do hold my own opinions on it it's not my we can talk about our opinions on this podcast my opinions are again you're mucking around with the plant yes it has its place you know the people that it works for then that's fabulous but it's not something that i go to and again i had to change my mind because i'm taking these wafers and they are an isolate

But when I do get really high anxiety and I'm out and I need it to be quite instant and I don't want to vape a CBD, it does do that job. And because they're 50 milligram a wafer, I can get 200 milligrams in really quickly because I am of the belief that we do need those higher doses of CBD and there is research to support that. So I'm currently doing 600 milligrams a day.

Oh, that's expensive, isn't it? That is expensive. Oh, that costs a fair penny. But the difference in my anxiety, my hormones, my arthritis is huge. And I've been reading about it and the doctors don't want to hear about it. They're like, no, no. And I'm like, here's the research. They don't see it. No problem. That doesn't surprise me, honestly.

on the trenches with, I think we ended up with like 4,000 patients, everything from pediatrics to first responders that were highly PTSD, a lot of pain to geriatricians, sleep specialty, all under one umbrella. And the common theme is that usually 1.5 mil seems to be the max, let's say on like a CBD 100. And then obviously now there's more formulations, but.

To get 600 milligrams in a day is probably a really good supplement but is very expensive. Very expensive. On the black market anyway because you can't get pure CBD. And it shouldn't be. It shouldn't be that expensive. So, you know, I mean it is something that needs to come down. Hopefully as we go it does come down in price. Do you think cannabis has changed how you relate to your body?

Oh, yes. Yeah, 100%. I think once you learn about your endocannabinoid system, so over a decade, and I guess it kind of correlated for me in the time of having babies, learning about my cycle and what's happening with my body. And it was just this awakening as a woman that this...

is meant to, especially when we talk about breastfeeding and the cannabinoids available in breast milk. So just, it's almost like it just started ticking the boxes of like, I knew that this worked for me, obviously from a really young age, but now I understand why it works for me. And it's up to me to monitor my relationship with it and evolve. And knowledge is power. The more I started learning about,

different ways to vaporise, different balances of flour. Terpenes are never spoken about. Like I've been in the legacy black market for 20 years. Yeah, and they've come along really quickly though because, like, I noticed that because I've always talked about terpenes. I've been doing Terpene Tuesday for.six years and I thought people won't understand it they do it makes me so happy because that's where it's at it's in the turps people funny because I would say the black market consumer or group or community if you're kind of got a finger on the pulse type thing like you can just be consuming and couldn't give a shit about what's going on in the cannabis world but when you were chasing

or learning about certain cultivars, what's the OG cultivars, new exotic strains, and we're wondering what makes the difference in these flowers or when I'm extracting it to david or whatever it might be. And then that's the next kind of unlocking of knowledge that you get. Well, what's the terpenes? What's...

What's in this that's making me enjoy this over that flower then? Over that one that doesn't work for me. And it's bizarre how it's so different for every single person, how, you know, the different flowers work on our systems. Have you ever felt judged for being too open or talking about your cannabis, taking cannabis? I'm trying not to. I'm changing my language around the flower at the moment. I keep forgetting taking cannabis.

Yeah. No, it's good. All the little changes make a difference for sure. Yeah, they do. Yeah, definitely. I am part of my purpose, I believe, here on earth, on this journey, Ron, is that I'm pretty black and white. I might martyr myself for the sake of certain causes. I believe that knowledge is power. Yeah.

I have been given this voice and a little bit of a sprinkle of I don't give a fuck. And I think it just enables the yes, I know, definitely judged, perceived in a certain way, but I actually don't care because it's kind of like, you know what?

Get to know me then make your decision or don't. And get to know the plant before casting your judgment. Yeah, and growing up, so we'll quickly touch on the fact that both my parents were police officers. Naughty, Jess. I know. So naughty. I had, I guess, an upbringing where, to be fair, cannabis wasn't.

you know, the evil thing. Mum would kind of be like, you know what, if that's the path you're going down, like let's grow it. She's like old school surfer, you know, understands the chill life, right? And we're both sober. My parents have both been sober for over 30 years. So that's amazing. That alcohol could cause. Yes. And I guess part of having police as parents, they realise.

What the fuck the reality is out on those. Out there. Yeah. So like your kids smoking half a joint, you know, they'll be worried about psychosis. I know that was a big thing. Yeah, it was. It was. Yeah. And look, it still is. That's where we kind of touch base on the people that shouldn't be consuming THC or THC. That's a real thing. But I think that.

There was a little bit of internal probably judgment from myself to myself coming from, you know, a policing parent background. Yeah, yeah. That was something that I shouldn't be doing. But like I said, I knew early on. But your parents were okay and they weren't telling you any horrible stories about it. Yeah. And I think, you know, that's, you don't find that often. No. Particularly with the plant. Yeah, yeah.

You know, it's great that they were able to support you, you know, through those years. Really important. And teach you more about the plant, really. Yeah, definitely. And I've been able to teach them a whole bunch, especially in my last 15 years when it came to, like, cultivating it, to consuming it, to introducing them to different cannabinoids. Just was.

my kind of duty back to be like thank you for you know not holding my hand through it but not discarding me and my usage as a young teen or as a young woman and not judging me for it because I certainly in my experience in my hydro shop days have had many conversations with mostly men but women as well who have been

completely shut out by their families due to their cannabis usage. It could be destructive cannabis usage. It could be falling on that cannabis use disorder. I, I certainly have been there technically on what cannabis use disorder is. I've been there and I kind of put back a little bit on it. And I'm like, guys, sometimes, you know, you want to mix up grammy to flowers and supplement with oils and do this. And then I'd be considered falling into that cannabis use disorder. But, um,

Yeah, really have seen the reality of what judgment for cannabis consumers and what that can bring. So, yeah. Yeah, it's very, very alive and well out there, unfortunately. Although, you know, whilst it's just that the law and stigma have not matched up together, have they? They haven't met up and gone, okay, this is fine. We've still got a lot of.

a lot of people coming through that need this education. But it's interesting that the pushback on it is not as great as I would have assumed. It's moving along. It's moving. It's not stuck. It's definitely on the up and up. The reality of it, there are millions of cannabis users that aren't on the medical scheme. So the fact that that...

kind of like correlates the two well we have the legitimacy and the access and we have science doctors nurses whoever going yep okay we can see that this is working for certain diagnoses and then you have millions of people that are using it on a day-to-day basis that know that it works for them as well so they don't know why it's pretty funny like when you speak to people they're not quite sure or they get you know when i speak to people on the on the black market they're like i'm not sure

Why I'm doing this. And then when you start asking the right questions, you work it out pretty quickly. Yeah. Yes. So I thought we'd tap a little bit into the culture. So cannabis culture is still very male. Yeah. Okay. Where do you see yourself disrupting that? Ooh.

I love the disruption of any. Yeah, we're disruptors, babe. We're disruptors. By doing this, we're disrupting. We are. We certainly are. I feel like, so I probably would say my role started probably in the hydro store, in the grow store side of things. Very mal-dominated. I think probably.

Three other female hydro store owners in the central, central coast, not on the central coast in Australia, to be fair. Growing isn't necessarily, you know, obviously we're dealing with legacy growers, black market. There's still a lot of illegality around it. That's not generally something that a woman takes on. I found it's a very.

Some seed is rebellious almost, sort of like a fuck you to the man. It is. Fuck you to the man. I love it. I'm all here for that. That resonates with myself. It resonates with myself. For us women that that kind of resonates, like how dare you tell me I can't cultivate, I can't plant that seed and rear that and care for it and look after it. A plant that was given to us by God. Literally. Literally.

I find that the disrupting started early in my hydro store days. I certainly used to work at Happy High Herbs as well as in my young 20s. So many of you that I speak to have been there. They're like, oh, I used to work at Happy High Herbs. I'm like, that's so cool. And what I loved there was that that was female dominated. Yeah. As far as working there, right, just that kind of relational, really nurturing spirit. And we're dealing with plant medicines there of all different types in a very male dominated customer base, right? They're the ones that kind of like need to take that edge off at the end of the day. I worked in a very...

heavy like FIFO region as well. So I get it. Like the men are out there doing their thing. They're exhausted. They don't necessarily want to drink or drugs. So being able to tap into that and I found, okay, this is the start of me being able to use my voice as a young female that doesn't always get listened to, right? Especially in your young twenties. So then moving in my mid twenties into the hydro store realm, that definitely was the first

kind of angle of disruption where instead of it being, you know, this disruptive, anti-authoritarian style of grow, I started to bring this, say, of nurturing, of looking after the plant. She is this divine entity that when we bring this

where respect is due in the cultivation of her, I felt like I was disrupting the narrative that had always been, you know, indoor hydro psychosis, biking run, criminals, like just this roomie and I just popped in there and went, well, that's not the reality. No, no. And then that led me into disrupting the medical side of things. Yeah.

I'm really thankful that I was given the opportunity to learn that world. Yeah. Because I came with it with, you know, over a decade of real world knowledge and that enabled me to disrupt to a degree the medical side and realise that, well, hang on a sec.

These types of cultivars or these balance of terpenes or this particular formulation over here, let's like, let's mix it up a little bit. There's a lot here that we can tap into. Yeah, there's a lot. It just wasn't on their radar. And the way that, let's say, a med rec patient could come through.

And instead of putting them in a box and going, all right, well, you already do this and you take this scrammage and you're spinning it with tobacco and you're smoking bongs or whatever it may be, be able to disrupt the narrative of, well, hang on a sec, why don't we try them on like a balanced oil? Let's see if we can bring down flour usage. We can save them some money. They're wanting to stop the combustion method anyway.

And just being able to be a voice in, let's say, like the meetings with the brands, like the big brands in Australia and beyond sitting in, you know, where we're trying to get volume and margins and we're making deals because that's the reality. That's the reality. Of vertical integration as well. It's not all bad. I see there's many good sides to it, actually.

kind of get the blinders on for whoever's making the decisions. So to have someone that understands the culture, the plot, the nuance, the history of it and bring like shine that light, I found for some they didn't want to hear that. Their knowledge actually wasn't up to par. No, it's so funny, isn't it?

They think that they just came here and here it is. We just arrived here. But we've been here for a long, long time. There's a lot of women that have been here for much longer than the medical industry and there's a lot of knowledge there. And that knowledge is very, very, very important. Yeah, it really is because when...

Like in a clinical sense, we talk about like the best patient outcomes and that's across the board, whether you're in the medical scheme or not, you want the best outcome for yourself. So to bring that wealth of knowledge, to be fair, it wasn't there. So that was maybe like, let's say three or four years ago where the voices such as ours weren't given the credit perhaps or the platform. Yeah.

you know, it could be a downfall of mine. And I've learned as I've got to be older to soften the edges because when it comes to the plant, I have this internal responsibility. Like this is my plant. This is your plant. Like this is ours. So I'm going to come in here and.

maybe not be transparent or you're not going to give a full breadth of information just because you want my clinic to sign that product. And I'm going to jump in and kind of counter that with you or ask the questions that as a consumer I feel is important because the clinic isn't always taken into consideration. The patients are definitely not taken into consideration in a lot of cases. That are getting there.

But it is getting there. And it's nice to hear, like yesterday I spoke to a lady who her naturopath had recommended that she take CBG. I was so happy. You just don't hear that. I'm just like, that person's amazing. Like they were like, you must take CBG for that particular thing. And they were completely right. And so it takes all of us. It takes the patient knowledge. It takes.

healthcare professionals across the board. And look, I think we've definitely come a long way in the past, well, since 2016. And, you know, doctors have come a long way. But, gee, it's a huge change compared to where we were. It is a big change. And these things, you know, do take time. What do you think that the cannabis world in Australia needs more of or less of right now or both?

It probably needs less infighting. Oh, yeah. And like that could be wishful thinking and I'm sure every industry has it. It's a little bit different, I think, in cannabis where. It's quite small. It is quite small. It is. Yeah, it's quite a small industry. And I think that the players in the game, I'd like to see more transparency.

I don't think there's enough transparency and the infighting. And accountability. I want to say accountability. Yeah, definitely. So for me, I take this notion of that cannabis is a tool that brings us together, right? I know it sounds like. I think so. No, it's not. It's absolutely true. The women I have in my life, including yourself, the plant has brought me here. Nothing but that.

Absolutely, it is a connector. So even last weekend, flew to Western Australia. Yeah, I saw that. Oh, it's amazing. Talk about one of the most beautiful curated patient consumption spaces. Yeah. Amazing. Hats off to the team, for sure. I'd love to hear Sasha on here one day. She just brings a wealth of knowledge and a really beautiful vision. But in saying that.

I was able to fly to Western Australia with people that I hadn't met in real life, right? We'd Zoomed, we'd chatted, we're on Insty. We are part of the community and the culture. So whether that's legacy culture or in the medical realm, we'll wear the hats. We take the hats off for the night. And to be able to be there with one another of all different walks of life, different religious backgrounds, different genders.

different opinions, political opinion, whatever it may be, and to sit around that table and be looking at our flower, to be laughing, to be healing, to be kissing. Sharing knowledge. It's a beautiful space. And I think it's lacking that a little bit, and I guess that's just because of the way the structure of the legal medical side is, is that I find it's very,

Can't have too much fun. We can't put the wellness of cannabis too high. No, it's not allowed. Not allowed. So I really can't wait for the day where that's also accepted and that those that are dealing with severe diagnosis and symptoms that are really sick that then are able to get the relief from cannabis can join that in real life because human connection.

especially in this day and age. In this day and age, so needed. It's so needed. Yeah. And she does. She brings us together. Less inviting. Less inviting. More connection. More connection.Which is how it is happening though. Like as you said, you flew to Perth. There's a space there now. We're able to do this. We can, you know, things are getting there and I think that's exciting, especially when it's women. I'm always happy when it's women because we do unfortunately, you know, sort of get left behind in some spaces and it really needs a female touch. The plant, she has been.

kept by us over the years of prohibition underground women used it to medicate their family and their communities when it was still you know illegal we play a very very important role in the decision making uh we just bring beautiful balance to it yeah we we do um do you i know that cannabis is part of your purpose

And, you know, it's very much a part of your life. What's the ritual with the plant when no one's watching? It's a good one. How's your ritual with your life? I have started to, I don't know if I call it blessing, but just setting some gratitude around the plant, literally being in front of me, knowing what it's about to help and assist me with because not everyone has access.

Some can't afford it. And when I say some, I'm probably thinking more it's the women for sure. It's just not acceptable for them or they may not just even, it might not even be a thought in their head. But when I know I'm about to evoke a certain outcome with this plant, I'm really thankful for it. Yeah. Yeah.

So my ritual has become my gratitude practice. And that comes with every hydration sip I try. Every time I can feed myself good nutrient dense food. Every time I can jump under the ocean or in the river, like just actual gratitude. And I'm so thankful that the plant kind of chose me.

that I have a system that enables that to just work like fireworks with me. Yeah, absolutely. I can understand that. So how do you protect your own relationship with the plant while running a cannabis-facing business?

I think just having that healthy relationship with it as well. Obviously running any business, let alone one that's kind of, you know, predominant, is busy and you've got to be kind of on the ball as well. You've got to get your shit done. Some days I like to be more in flow and, if possible, not do all of the things.

Yeah, just a healthy relationship with it, an honest relationship with it. When am I using it as like, not a crutch, but when can I use my mindfulness or my conscious power to be like, you know what? Sometimes hard things are good. Challenges are good. Yes, I know, aren't they? Discipline. Discipline is good for our brain.

You know, look, taking tolerance breaks too for women that can, not everyone can, you know, for me I find that that always gives me that, you know, reflection and to ensure that when I go back to it I am ensuring that it is intentional. Yeah. Yeah, it's really, really important, I think, to be intentional with taking it.

And it's something I don't think that the doctors have. They don't have enough of you and I working with them to be able to educate that into patients, I think. The doctors just don't have the time. I know it sounds crazy because they're like, you know, you could have a five-minute longer consult, but I've seen it in real life where I'm like it's a lot for a patient. Like I have mostly a specialist.

pathway being in clinic. So I get it. There's a lot of, you know, test results to go through and questions to be asked and, and especially if they're cannabis naive, not kind of knowing it's a whole world of information to take on. But what I really take my hat off to the team and where I was able to step in is to have these types of conversations. Like what is your intention behind it? When are we using it? Where can we tweak this to make it more effective?

We get you off the bongs. Yeah, method, method. I just did a podcast last week on that, method. It's so important. Method of consumption is just like the Mighty Medics in the volcanoes, they're wild expensive for the majority of people. They're wild expensive. But they're great. They are great. I do, like I've never looked back since I've got my Mighty. Yeah, in store, all of the stores when I was allowed to. That's before the vape laws came in. I'm going to get a bloody battery now. These bloody assholes, honestly. Ridiculous. It is ridiculous. It's another roadblock that.

People don't need to go through. When people have got epilepsy, I've seen it. They've got epilepsy and they can't find a battery. Like, come on, man. Like, this is not okay. We shouldn't have to go through hoops to get a battery. It's just so wild. See, they need us in there. Tweaking the rules. Tweak the rules, people. That's all you have to do. Ask the right questions and you shall have answers. Now I'm going to finish this off today on asking you a little couple of questions. Do you prefer a joint, a gummy or a vape? At what time of the day though? I know, right? I left that wide open. I enjoy a...

Oil or gummy if it's during the day. And then I love, I love a vape because it's on the go. I'm like an on the go, you know, consumer as well when needed. But a joint, if I get to like sit by the fire or in the bush and just consume at my own pace, yeah. That's my rec. That's my rec. Like I'm like when I'm recing, I'm jointing. Yeah, yeah. But if I'm medicinal, I'm totally, you know, with the vape and the oils and the gummies. It's funny, isn't it? Although, yeah, I don't know. It just depends. It's like, you know, drawing the tools in the toolkit. There's a time and a place for it all. There is. And even though I don't, I don't.

publicize this a lot even i'll even have a cone every now and then when the kids are away and i've got the bathroom to myself you'll find me in there with a glass water pipe i have not had one in so long and there's a little canna girly on instagram and i see her having one and sometimes i'm like oh

I just love a beautiful from a nice, big, clean billy with some ice cream. Big, clean, glass, lush, dotty. Oh, God, I just really love it. But not the cleaning afterwards. And I'm like, oh, now I have to clean this machine. Yeah. Do you prefer a day sesh or a night sesh? Probably in this phase of life, a night sesh. Yeah. Yeah. I don't like winning my buzz.

No, I don't. The kids, I start going, oh, my gosh, oh, my gosh, am I supposed to be doing something? Go do it. I forget to make dinner or something. Yeah, I've got to make dinner and then it's always fun. Do you have a song that you have to hear when you're partaking? Oh, I have, like, full playlists, but one that just is ingrained in me forever is Ganja Babe by Michael Franti.

Yeah, Michael Franti, eh? Yeah, that was, I was. I've got to use that one on my reels. I haven't used that one. Yeah, well, that is a classic. That is one of those kind of inflow when the weed is just hitting right and, yeah, that gets you in the vibe for sure. What is your dream blunt rotation? Ooh. Oh.

Starting with like a beautiful like terpy-rich balanced flower just for kind of like that full body kind of relaxation. When that's wearing off, I would say blood rotation. So definitely a nice heavy indica with like a lot of mercine in it. Yeah, that's my go-to always.

Myrcine, for sure. I don't know where it's mating that much. It's kind of going between two. Yeah, that's it. I'm always interested to hear what people like because it's always very different, isn't it? Yeah, yeah. So, no, definitely that, just something that's delicious, tasty, myrcine dominant. But after, after a balanced flour, I really, really, really enjoy a balanced flour.

Yeah, look, and I, again, going through a different stage of life now, I really need that higher CBD. Like even if I have to take an oil first, that helps clear the pathway for the THC to do its job and the terpenes as well. I love it. See, we all have our own little, you know, routines and combinations and that's where it's so important to play around and have access to all the different types.

Yes, and keep a journal, ladies. Keep a journal. I say that all the time, but honestly, it's the way that you learn which cultivar works for you, which method works for you, the timing, you know, and, you know, as we've discussed, it can change with your hormones, et cetera, et cetera. Thank you for coming to talk with me today. It's been lovely having you. Thanks for having me. Always a pleasure.