CHRISTOPHER WARD

ORIGINAL GREEN CROSS

1658 W CARSON ST STE C, TORRANCE, CA (310) 533-9363

ORIGINALGREENCROSS.COM

@THEORIGINALGREENCROSS OPEN 8AM-9:55PM DAILY

Family comes first for this happily married South Carolina native. With two kids at home and one on the way, he cherishes his free days to explore healing through plant medicine. Always busy at home, he still manages an annual escape for a reset in the desert at Burning Man.

YOU WORK AT ONE OF THE MOST REPUTABLE RETAIL SHOPS IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, SO WE KNOW YOU LOVE CANNABIS. DO YOU ALSO USE PSYCHEDELICS AS MEDICINE? Yes, I’m a firm believer in all plant medicine, and I’m not into prescription medicine, per se. Having grown up in a poor environment, being half-Black/half-white in South Carolina, it was a crazy road to get to where I am today. I have a lot of trauma and pain both mentally and physically – so, I microdose on psilocybin regularly. I actually had some with my eggs this morning. And then I like to do a big reset every six months or so – get away from the city to take myself out of where I am to put me where I need to be.

HOW DO YOU QUANTIFY THE TERM MEDICINE WHEN USING PLANTS? I see all the drugs my mother is prescribed by doctors and I don’t think it heals her, so I don’t accept that as medicine. Plants that come from the earth are what I find beneficial. I used to have an opiate problem and Cannabis and mushrooms have helped me get off of those to get well. Earth-based medicines allow me to be productive. Now I love being a part of the Green Cross family.

CAN YOU RECALL ONE BREAKTHROUGH THAT WAS IMPORTANT FOR YOU? Yeah. I remember I used to work at a place called Liberty Bell Temple, a Rastafarian shop in Hollywood. I was in a bad place in life (starts crying). One of my good friends whom I’d taken mushrooms with who knew I was having a hard time in life gave me some medicine at a festival and it became a big turning point for me. My work situation wasn’t very good at the time, and I quit the next day and started making some positive changes.

YOUR INSTAGRAM IS @MAR_BOBLY. DOES THAT MEAN YOU’RE A BIG BOB MARLEY FAN? Big one, my friend. I named my first kid Marley!