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How to navigate this new world

The Boomer’s Guide to the New World of Cannabis

Marijuana used to be purely recreational, now it’s a key part of our health plans. Here’s how to navigate the brave new medicinal world

BY RICHARD STOCKTON

In the fall of 1968, I listened to Dr. Timothy Leary speak on the Merrill College quad at UCSC. “If you do not make your life an experiment, it will be wasted,” he said, and that’s the one thing I learned in college that I actually applied to my life.

There is an old hippie joke that goes, “People accuse us of experimenting with drugs. We’re not experimenting, we know exactly what we are doing.” But, it turns out, not really! We changed, society changed, and certainly the drugs have changed. You’ve got to experiment just to dial in the indica/ sativa mix that fits your needs.

For some people my age—even those with plenty of recreational experience—the brave new world of marijuana as medicine can be intimidating. What strains have what effect? What is a microdose? How do dispensaries really work?

I don’t have enough space to get too much into the technical aspects here, but my hope is to give even the completely uninitiated who are considering cannabis as a medical option enough confidence to stride right into a dispensary and learn more. » »

Cannabis is about experimentation. Start low, go slow, learn to grow and pass the dutchie on the left hand side.

«« A couple of caveats: one, I have no certification or training to be your guide except my own past experiments and experience. Two, cannabis does not work for everyone. But it works for me, and has for a long time. Hopefully, this can help you determine if it can be your friend, too. You have answerable questions, I have questionable answers.

FROM PARTIER TO PATIENT

I’ve been a heavy cannabis user for more than half of a century. I’ve seen my cohorts go from tripping to healing, from seeking enlightenment to seeking sleep. In the very beginning we felt it was about mind expansion, and I was such a dedicated seeker that I once tried smoking dried banana peels. As the ’60s came to an end, we shifted to the pursuit of euphoria and physical pleasure. Pain relief was not in the equation, because we were young and felt no pain. Drugs were just plain fun.

But 50 years later, it has become about maintenance. Back in the day, I was trying to look like Keith Richards. Now I am trying not to look like Keith Richards.

WHAT YOU NEED

When we were young, our bodies took care of us. Now we take care of our bodies. There are indica strains for your body and sativa strains for your head.

Indica bud produces a strong physical body high that may make you sleepy or super relaxed. Use indica to treat anxiety, body pain, headaches, spasms, sleep disorders, zzzzz …

A sativa high is more energetic and uplifting. Many use the creative powers of sativa to paint, play music, make love and get inspired. I hope sativa opens my creativity enough to finish this article.

BOOMERS GO SHOPPING

I asked Khalil Moutawakkil, one of the founders of Kind Peoples Collective in Santa Cruz, how millennial cannabis use differs from that of baby boomers. He tells me that millennials want the highest possible potency of oils and flowers.

I remember one time a millennial invited me to get high with him. This guy pulled out a blowtorch to heat dabs—wax balls that have many times the concentration of THC. Fifteen minutes later, I was flat on my back on his floor, listening to ocean waves crash—and we were in Sacramento.

When I told Moutawakkil that story, he laughed and said, “Getting high is a whole new ball of wax.”

He says most of the boomers who visit his stores are trying cannabis for the first time (I was not aware that such people existed.) “Boomers come for their specific need,” says Moutawakkil. “They don’t want to smoke, they want edibles. They don’t want to be hit by 9 Pound Hammer. They want low potency THC for pleasure, CBDs for health.”

SMOKING VS. VAPING VS. EDIBLES

Many people love the taste, the ease and the rush of smoking. The first hit is the best, the rest chase that rush. For some that might be the answer—microdose with one hit.

I have smoked so much pot that my allergist says my lung capacity is restricted, close to the level of low-grade emphysema. That got my attention, and I have switched to using a desktop vaporizer that lets me take in only the flower’s oil.

Vaporizing flower also gives you the rush, but with vapor you can keep going. Your lungs won’t stop you from hitting pure oil vapor again and again. You can get very high, very fast.

For some reason, I get a heavier high from the vaporized oils from pens. I prefer weed that makes you jump up and say, “I hear the call! I’m gonna paint this wall!”

Vaporizing still uses your lungs for filtration, albeit oil instead of smoke. Edibles are the cleanest way to go. And medical marijuana chocolates are the new M&Ms—they melt in your mind, not in your hand.

With edible cannabis you can max out your dosage. Last night, I don’t remember going to bed, but this morning there I was!

MEGADOSE OR MICRODOSE?

Some people report anxious experiences with edible overdose. I’m sure the psychedelic-nightmare overdose is no fun, it’s just that I do not have those kinds of overdoses. I like being high.

If you should take too much, the biggest impact on you will probably be that you take an unscheduled nap. Sleep has definitely made it onto my top 10 list of favorite things to do. Maybe top five. OK, I’m dozing off right now.

Generally, cannabis strains with high amounts of both THC and CBD are the best for pain. I megadose for pain, but some folks find that less is more, and they microdose for anxiety, depression, insomnia, nausea, improved focus and inflammation. Some take it like a multivitamin; maybe start with 2.5 milligrams, wait an hour and then check in on how you feel.

SAFETY CONCERNS

I’ve heard people say that Richard Stockton uses a lot of drugs. Not true. I use one drug a lot. To me, the worst thing about smoking too much pot is you run out. I’m probably a heavier pot user than anyone you know. I don’t go to sleep, I pass out. But cannabis dependence is psychological rather than physiological—I can forgo pot anytime I choose. I do not choose to.

All my life, I have heard the criminal justice industry call marijuana a “gateway” to more dangerous drugs. I’ve smoked my weight in cannabis, but have never used heroin or cocaine. Contrary to early anti-pot campaigns, studies show cannabis is an “exit drug” for those in recovery from addiction to opioids.

Which brings me to another point: access to cannabis for pain management is especially important for seniors, because opiates suck. If you have so much pain you need opiates, then cannabis can enhance their effectiveness and allow you to reduce the opiate dosage. A 2016 JAMA Internal Medicine study says that in areas where medical cannabis is legal, deaths from opiate overdoses have gone down by 25 percent. You can make a reasonable argument that cannabis is the safest pain medicine there is.

EFFECTS ON MEMORY

Wait, I forgot what I was going to say here. Oh yeah! Weed can affect your short-term memory. In my standup act, I talk about hitting a pipe and finding short-term memory elusive: “When I’m rushing on weed, ‘getting lucky’ is when I walk into a room and remember what I went in there for.”

First-hit rushes aside, I remember numbers and names better than ever. Whatever manifestations of decline I’m going through, a slipping memory is not one. Or maybe I just can’t remember how good my memory was.

GROWING OUR OWN

It’s so easy to grow weed that it’s called weed. Outdoors is easier and cheaper, but it does take looking after—there are molds, mites, deer, groundhogs and thieves to worry about. But once you find the strain that works for your needs, the beauty of growing your own medicine should not be missed.

To stay alive is to keep experimenting. Cannabis is about experimentation. Start low, go slow, learn to grow and pass the dutchie on the left hand side.

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