Faces in the Field: CJ Hagan from Green Xtrax

FACES IN THE FIELD:

CJ Hagan from Green Xtrax

BY IAN STUART

CJ Hagan is a Maine-based caregiver who owns and operates Green Xtrax located in Southern Maine. CJ grew up in the Garden State of New Jersey, playing sports year round, a healthy and happy four-season athlete. As an energetic and focused young man who excelled in long-distance running, it was clear that he was headed toward his lifelong dream of an athletic scholarship.

CJ’s dream of a collegiate scholarship was tragically cut short after an unfortunate diagnosis; at 18, doctors found a tumor the size of a cantaloupe growing on his spine. “I went from practice to emergency surgery in a day,” CJ lamented during a phone interview. With the tumor being as large as it was and located where it was, CJ’s doctors were not sure they could operate on him. He was warned that not only would he never walk again, there was also a chance he wouldn’t live through the surgery. So, at 18, CJ went through a full 24 hours of surgery. The surgery was successful, but his future was uncertain. Determined and unwilling to succumb to his medical diagnosis, CJ pushed himself as hard as he could, and within a year he had amazed his medical team. Not only had CJ taught himself how to walk, but he had also started running again. Defying all odds, he began practicing with his team, determined and aiming for his dream of an athletic scholarship.

“I didn’t know it then, but it was a pipe dream. About the time I started practicing again, I went in for a routine check-up. The tumor was back. I needed another surgery.” Crushing news. CJ was angry. He had done everything his doctors had asked, he had pushed and worked hard to get where he was, and the tumor was back. The second surgery was successful but had put CJ in a tough spot emotionally and physically. His doctors loaded him up on pain pills and other medications that left him feeling half alive, “a shell,” he said. He was lost after high school, his dreams of a scholarship shattered.

The medications were weighing on him, making life more difficult. He began to research cannabis oil as an alternative. With the help of the oil, he was able to wean himself off the pills he was prescribed. He was able to eat and sleep better, and his strength was returning. As he began to feel like his old self, CJ decided to enroll in a local community college but was arrested on campus for making edibles. With three arrests in three years—all simple possession charges—it was time to move to a place that was more cannabis-friendly.

CJ and his girlfriend Haley packed up a little van and moved out west to California to work on a commercial marijuana farm. Their time there was short-lived. After a few events occurred that were out of their hands, they decided it was time to move again. They were invited up to Maine by a friend who happened to be a caregiver with a garden. CJ, continuously educating himself on cannabis oil, began to process extracts. “Right place at the right time.” CJ was able to work with a number of local caregivers and continued expanding his knowledge of extracts.

A year after moving to Maine, CJ started Green Xtrax. With a focus on extracts, they began to perfect their full-spectrum concentrates. CJ talks about his Rick Simpson Oil (RSO) and concentrates bringing relief to a number of people, including his own grandmother. “It helped her out. Grandma took it until the day she died. She was able to get her off her medication,” CJ explains.

I’d like to point out that it’s not just concentrates where Green Xtrax excels. They grow some absolutely gorgeous, tasty, and potent flowers. CJ and I begin to talk about what he is currently excited about in his garden. “Diesel Cake is my current favorite. It’s an indica-leaning hybrid. We hunted the pheno from seed; it’s a beautiful plant in the garden, and it smells like fuel. We are also proud of our Pennywise, which is a 1:1 CDB:THC strain. It has the best terps from almost any cannabis I’ve tried, and it’s incredibly medicinal.”

I was lucky enough to get my paws on a sampling of their powerful products. Their concentrates and RSO were simply amazing, irresistible, and mighty. I was getting stoned like a witch in a rock garden. Their flower selection was versatile and intriguing. Their Wedding Crasher was one of my favorites—effective and robust, it was also expertly grown, cured, and trimmed. Their Afgroovy strain sparkled with trichomes that glistened like broken glass in a Die Hard movie. Tasty and hearty like a warm meal, it was a perfect strain to settle down with while compiling my notes from the interview. Their I95 x Ghost Cookies strain was a perfect strain for an intense wake and bake the following morning.

With New Jersey recently passing a recreational cannabis law, I asked, “Have you ever thought about going back?” CJ laughs, “I don’t think so. It’s called the Garden State, but they won’t let you grow your own.” We talked about the strength of the independent growing scene in Maine and the number of humble and knowledgeable growers in the area. “The craft cannabis scene is great, and the state has their caregivers set up for success. I was living in a van when I first got to Maine. Now we are thinking about opening a dispensary,” CJ says.

I was writing this article last night, trying to find a way to end it when CJ texted me out of the blue: “Hey, if it’s not too late, there’s something that’s been on my mind since we got off the phone. I should have said it when you asked if there was anything I wanted to add at the end of our conversation, but I didn’t have a good answer off-the-cuff, so I gave you some stupid sales pitch about our terpenes. But as soon as I hung up, I realized there’s something much more important than that shit: my team. I wouldn’t be shit if it weren’t for my teams. Whether it was the team of doctors who saved my life, my sports teams growing up, my family, the community I grew up in, the Green Xtrax team, our patients, the community of Maine caregivers past and present, etc. I’m one ambitious and determined motherfucker and that drive has certainly helped me along the way, but the truth is that teamwork really makes the dream work, and they deserve just as much credit as I do for supporting me on this incredible journey.”

I looked at the text and thought to myself, “well... there’s the ending.” You can fight, you can love, you can win, and you can lose, but in the end, good or bad: it ain’t shit if it’s not shared.