In the Weeds

PICTURE A PLACE in the forest where there are women—only women—everywhere. In tents. Around the fire pit. Feasting from a limitless bounty of snacks. Doing yoga, belly dancing, and hula hooping. Making flower crowns, wreaths, and paintings. Talking about affirmations, sexuality, and body positivity.

The phrase “good vibes only” isn’t a cliché here; it’s law.

That’s what a weekend at a Ganja Goddess Getaway, a three-day-long camping retreat with a choose-as-you-go series of fitness workshops, craft projects, and panel talks, attended by 200 or so women from all over the planet looks like. Oh right, and there’s

an all-you-can-handle cannabis bar with flower, dabs, joints, bongs, and vaporizers. Think a cross between the mythical, no-men-allowed island of Themyscira that created Wonder Woman, an all-girls summer camp, and an episode of Broad City.

Ganja Goddess Getaway is part of the booming marijuana tourism industry in states like California, Oregon, and Colorado where recreational marijuana is legal. The legal cannabis industry, according to Arcview, a cannabis market research firm, raked in $6.7 billion in 2016 and is estimated to become a $22.6 billion market by 2021. But, for many women, it’s more than just a vacation. It is how, and where, they seek self-care. The act of getting high while in bucolic surroundings has become part of wellness-inspired routines, providing women a way to reconnect with themselves, to be present, to recover from the stresses of real-life.

According to findings from a survey of 1,530 North American women conducted by the female-centric cannabis lifestyle company Van der Pop and released earlier this year, consumption of cannabis, for women, is most often for wellness-related reasons: pain alleviation, relaxation, stress relief, and anxiety reduction. Retreats like Ganja Goddess Getaway promise all of that in the form of an opportunity to immerse yourself in nature, sisterhood, and unlimited weed smoke.

Similar events range from the more practical, like Cannabliss Retreats (guests stay at scenic estates where they get lessons in cannabis and cannabinoid medicine, including history, cultivation, and cooking); to the more woo-woo like the women’s-only cannabis yoga retreats hosted by Ganjasana Yoga studio in Boulder,

Colorado (“we use the tools of yoga, meditation, and mindfulness to learn how to deeply connect with the cannabis plant spirit. It’s a very hands-on experience,” explains founder Rachael Carlevale); and Twisted Sister Yoga (“we incorporate the ganja into the yoga classes,” says owner Shelly Jenkins, “to explore your Dharma, your purpose. Cannabis allows you to be less inhibited and see limitless potential”).

“There's less pressure when you're outside because we're not in a public place, we're not sharing space with anybody else,” explains Ganja Goddess Getaway co-founder, Deidra Bagdasarian who created the retreat series in 2016. “It allows intimacy when you get to connect with nature. Humans have been gathering by the fireside forever, telling our stories and bonding and there is something about that experience that's tribal in nature and that causes you to let your guard down.” The cannabis helps, too.

For many women, the all-natural setting (and high) creates “transformative experiences” that resonate through their lives. “It’s not just a weekend weed fest,” Bagdasarian says. “It's like, I’m having lasting repercussions from having sincere connections and authentic experiences.”

IF THE WORD STONER makes you think of some aimless, too-chill dude out of Half Baked, then you don’t know Jen B. Jen, 44, is a busy meeting planner from Berkeley, California, whose work for a tech company takes her to far-flung

places like Dubai and Malaysia. She’s also a competitive open water swimmer, competing in the Pacific Northwest as part of the United States Masters Swimming Association. And, for the last five years, a medical marijuana user.

For Jen, fitness plays an essential role in how she incorporates cannabis in her pursuit of wellness in the wilderness.

Before races and swim practices, Jen takes a small “kind of mint or Smartie” from local dispensary Berkeley Patients Group that’s a blend of THC and CBD. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) are the two main cannabinoids, or chemical compounds, found in marijuana. THC is psychoactive and delivers that heady high. CBD is non-psychoactive and works as an anti-inflammatory and antidepressant—basically helps you feel good and chill.

“It really helps my muscles relax—I can be really tense and it helps me to set my intention a little bit better,” she says. Cannabis also helps her manage post-workout pain and soreness. “I don't take Advil or Tylenol or any of those things; that's just off the agenda.” Same goes if she’s doing some sort of outdoorsy activity like, say, hiking. “It enhances my experience and my enjoyment because, you know, my back

isn't hurting and I'm not taking an Advil, which would make my stomach hurt and so now I don’t have to take something else because my stomach hurts—this is just much more holistic.” Jim McAlpine, founder of 420 Games (a cannabis-friendly outdoor athletic event series) blames “the propaganda and the stigma that's been built up from the Prohibition era,” and movies like Dude, Where’s My Car?, for the “stupid dumb stoner stereotype.” “It’s not true,” McAlpine says. “It would be analogous to be like, ‘Anybody that drinks wine is a drunk.’” McAlpine, who describes himself as “a high-level athlete” and lifelong cannabis user, founded 420 Games to try to change that perception. The series, which hosts events in cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Denver, looks like your average wellness festival: yoga, massages, food trucks, a Lagunitas beer garden, and, naturally, a 4.20 mile run that kicks off the day. There’s also an expo featuring dozens of cannabis companies. Participants aren’t exactly encouraged to smoke—it’s a family-friendly event—but self-medication isn’t frowned upon.

IT’S WORTH NOTING THAT cannabis doesn’t magically transform you into a professional

Think a cross between the mythical, no-men-allowed island of Themyscira that created Wonder Woman, an all-girls summer camp, and an episode of Broad City.

athlete. According to a 2017 Sports Medicine Australia report that examined 15 published studies on the effects of THC and exercise on the body, “none showed any improvement in aerobic performance.” There were some potential downsides like chest pain and reduced strength. But the ways in which we respond to cannabis isn’t the same for everyone. “The effects that cannabis has on individuals is really heterogeneous,” explains Dr. Ryan Gregory Vandrey, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University whose research focuses on the behavioral pharmacology of cannabis. “It depends on the individual and the dose, and there's some accumulating evidence that it might depend on the product that they're using.”

One of the most reliable side effects of THC, Vandrey says, is the body’s cardiovascular response. “It increases heart rate, and not just a little bit—we see increases of 30 to 40 beats per minute,” he explains. “So if you have somebody who has a heart condition and they're taking a drug that's substantially increasing their heart rate and then you add vigorous exercise on top of that, you could be putting people at risk for a cardiac event.”

For Jen, however, cannabis calms the lingering adrenaline rush that follows a swim. “Practice is from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m., so my adrenaline is still going at 9 p.m. or 10 p.m. because I’ve just exerted a lot of energy.” Cannabis calms her down enough to fall asleep. Cannabis helps Dahlia Martens, the 42-year-old founder of Mary Jane’s Medicinals, a cannabis-infused skincare company

in Telluride, Colorado, to “quiet down” in an energizing way. It heightens her senses and her experience of the outdoors: “You tend to notice and appreciate things a little bit more. Smell might be a bit richer, colors might be a bit richer, it enhances my hearing. I hear the rustle in the trees a little bit more.”

“When we have these moments in nature, it is really important to take that time to be present. And cannabis helps with that,” continues Martens, who enjoys hiking, camping, paddleboarding, and skiing while high.

Each day after work, Martens smokes sativa (an energizing strain of marijuana)—she prefers smoking the flower with vape pens or vaporizers, like the Volcano, a device that resembles some sort of tiny rocket launcher that turns marijuana smoke into a cool, easier-onthe-lungs steam—to help get her out the door on a long walk with her dog. “It’s uplifting,” she explains, “so it makes me want to power walk after a long day of work. It gives me a little bit of a boost to get out there and walk further, a little faster. And enjoy it a little bit more.”

The thing about stigma is it doesn't go away quickly.

“Marijuana, for many people, can really help unlock what's called ‘flow state,’” McAlpine says. “The zone where your mind and your body become one and you're just kind of flowing, and as an athlete that's when you're performing at your peak.” Cannabis can help you stay attentive to your environment, so much so in fact that you might push yourself to go harder or further in your workout. “In a less scientific sense,” McAlpine continues, “it just makes things fun.”

AS WITH MANY THINGS, there is a weed gender gap. In a study released in July 2016 by Headset, a cannabis industry intelligence and analytics firm, data suggested nearly 70 percent of cannabis users are men. (Researchers looked at the makeup of customer loyalty program memberships at dispensaries to estimate.)

One reason, perhaps, is lingering stigma associated with the drug: 70 percent of the women surveyed in Van der Pop’s 2018 report believe that cannabis consumption carries a stigma and 66 percent say they hide their usage.

“The thing about stigma is it doesn't go away quickly,” explains Sheigla Murphy, the San Francisco-based director of the Center for Substance Abuse Studies at Institute for Scientific Analysis. “Women in particular, for example, if they're in the midst of raising young children, are pretty reticent to talk about their marijuana use even though it is legal.” Murphy points out that anxieties surrounding being open about cannabis use also differs by class and race. The War on Drugs has disproportionately affected people of color and fed into harmful stereotypes of criminality and delinquency, so non-white smokers still have reason to fear getting caught, legal or not. That said, Murphy says, “in general, I think that there's a softening.”

It’s perhaps no surprise then that women of all ages, ethnicities, and abilities are turning to the outdoors—away from judgement, not to mention to-do lists and breaking news alerts—to take cannabis for themselves, as a form of relief, escape, and exploration.

“When you're in nature you can align more quickly to your truth and your center, and get more inspired,” says Melissa Jones, a freelance publicist from Los Angeles who currently works with Cannabliss Retreats. Before joining the team, Jones attended a retreat in Joshua Tree, California. “My big joke was I left the event feeling like I had joined a new cult,” Jones says. “I had a new guru and her name was cannabis.”