Acceptance of marijuana has grown with the President talking about it positively in his State of the Union address, Missouri doing over $1 billion in sales and 85+% of the population believing it should be legal in some form. If you are new to cannabis or an old hat though, bongs can make for an excellent experience. Here are the best reason for a good bong.
Some people find bongs inconvenient and apropos to a college dorm room, but bongs are effective in managing dosages and treating your lungs with a little more care than a joint thanks to the water filter. Technology has evolved over the years, with devices now available to help keep your space clean, are more compact and, most importantly, make the most of your high priced stash.
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Better grasp on your dosage
Consistent doses are difficult to achieve when smoking weed. When rolling a joint or a blunt, these can end up coming out in different sizes, containing different grams of weed. When packing a bong, there’s always the same bowl, which allows for consistency and keeping better track of how much you smoke without having to count the amount of puffs you take.
A cleaner space
The easiest way to consume is a vape or gummies, but a bong has advantages also. Smoking requires something for ashes, a strong smell and generally a bit more mess, a bong can be both attractive in the space and be cleaner.
An easy way to clean a bong is to use rubbing alcohol and sea salt. Soak it for a while and then jostle it around. Rinse really well, let dry and put it away until next time.
Bongs are more efficient when it comes to prolonging your weed. Since you consume so much smoke per hit, they tend to get you high faster, with less puffs than if you were smoking a joint or blunt.
Water used in bongs allows the hits to be smoother and gentler on your lungs, preventing irritation and filtering out some of the ash that occurs with combustion. There’s also no need to add tobacco or paper, both compounds that damage your lungs.
So if you invest in a good bong, you can go old school and have a great journey.
Like cheese, truffle, and aged beef, the process of prepping marijuana to be used it key…and has a lot to do with the journey. Whether for recreational or medical, it is step which enhance the plant. But sometimes things happen, it accidentally gets wet or when you get it home after the purchase…it feels moist. Luckily, here is how to dry out wet weed and make sure the THC and use is intact.
Before going and drying out your cannabis, be sure you’re not mistaking extremely sticky buds for yet too much wet. Sticky icky was likely cured perfectly, it’s just going to, naturally, stick to your fingers and feel suspiciously damp. But as long as it doesn’t squish when lightly squeezed, leave the sticky alone.
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If it’s just a little too moist, putting the buds in a paper bag and then closing it for a few hours could do the trick. If they’re a little more damp than that, rotate having the paper bag opened and closed every 8 hours or so until it crisps up to your standards.
Now if the weed truly was just harvested, the colors will be very vibrant and the plant will feel extremely humid from the inside out. If you’ve broken up a bud that’s wet through and through, it’s time to get your own cure on. Place the ripe nuggets into glass jars as stated above and also routinely open and close the jars.
Depending on just how wet the weed was, this could be a process that takes more than a day and more like a week or so. The smaller popcorn buds will dry faster and can thus be plucked for smoking before the real meaty ones are properly dried and cured.
Truly, genetics and taking care during the grow play major roles in quality cannabis, but if you don’t have a proper cure, it’s not going to be showtime for your buds. A perfect cure means easily ground, evenly smoked, delicious cannabis packed with terpenes and that shows off all the hard work that the breeders and growers put into it.
This shouldn’t happen if you bought it at a legit dispensary so be aware you likely didn’t get what you paid for to begin with, as wet weed is heavier.
Since going legal, cannabis has been booming across the country and more people have been embracing consuming. And not just the younger generations, boomers have found all sort of medical and other benefits. Dispensaries have done well and, Missouri, has done very well coming in at a billion in sales in 2023. But with the former administration and the slow moving Biden team, it does leave room for a few bad apples in the barrel. And yuck, this weed dispensary did what – something you will not believe!
In November 2022, 67.2% of Maryland voters approved recreational marijuana on on July 1, 2023, it went into effect. The state currently has over 100 marijuana dispensaries licensed by the Maryland Medical Cannabis Administration (MCA) to sell cannabis to qualifying patients and eligible adult consumers. Most dispensaries are Mom and Pop retailers who put their best foot forward and in do what is best for the customer. Except one.
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Curio’s Far & Dotter dispensary in Timonium decided not to embrace the cool, chill, do good vibe of the traditional cannabis culture. They focused on making a profit, and went a little overboard. It seems the team at the dispensary tossed 224 grams of cannabis into a dumpster outside the dispensary, where it sat for 41 hours and nine minutes unguarded.
What happened next was caught on a surveillance camera. Three dispensary employees retrieved four boxes containing the pre-packaged product from the dumpster. Then another employee repackage the marijuana, removing it from the original boxes, and placing them into plastic bags, before storing them inside a vault.
An employee informed an investigator from the MCA the cannabis needed to be placed in the plastic bags because the original packages were covered in a liquid substance acquired from the dumpster
Management did not want to lose the profit and sold the product for a total of $3,174.50 in sales. This was against the advice the product be destroyed as it violates several compliance requirements.
The company received $26,000 fine, ordered to submit its green waste logs for monthly reviews by the MCA, submit its scale calibration and cleaning logs for monthly review, and retrain staff on green waste procedures. The manager we fired.
In an emailed statement to the Baltimore Banner, a spokesperson for Curio said the company prides itself on relationships with its customers and employees.
“The aforementioned product was inside sealed jars, within sealed boxes, and it is undisputed that no outside material ever breached the jars or touched the product,” the statement said.
Curio also said they’ve conducted an internal investigation and that nonadherence to safety and compliance requirements “is not taken lightly nor tolerated.”
Observations gave an indication in California, but now Canada has the data. Legal marijuana is taking some of the foam and market share from beer. But beer lovers, don’t panic yet, it is still the #3 most popular drink in the world behind water and tea. IT has been the king of hot days, after work hangouts and college campuses. But a new era has emerged.
This research, published last week in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, not only marks a significant shift in the alcohol market but also raises questions about the broader implications of cannabis legalization on alcohol consumption habits.
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Already, Gen Z has changed their drinking habits. Data shows alcohol has a smaller appeal to a strong percentage of Gen Z drinking-age adults (aged 21-24). A total of 27% say they never drink alcoholic beverages. Gen Z adults who drink do so more frequently than older adults – 47% of all Gen Z adults (21+) drink alcohol daily to weekly. Baby Boomer drinkers drink the least frequently, with 35% of all Boomers drinking alcohol at least weekly.
Beer also has a few disadvantages as opposed to marijuana. Beer has higher calories, filling and, comparatively, a bit more expensive. A quick gummy on a Monday night can take the edge off the day with less weight gain and a more filling wallet.
The study’s authors concluded that the legalization of non-medical cannabis was linked to an immediate downturn in beer sales, a trend which persisted into the post-legalization period. This indicates a potential shift in consumer behavior, with individuals increasingly turning to legal cannabis as an alternative to beer.
This is a positive societal sign as marijuana legalization spread. While not health food, cannabis has fewer harmful side effects and has proven medical benefits.
Today is the day to pull the plug on your electronic devices, kick back and enjoy life in real time. It promotes giving our brain, body and eyes a chance to heal and readjust to life in the moment. What better way to start March then letting your mind be an unfettered playground. Science has long been clear excessive screen time is not healthy, so why not chill on National Unplug Day with a gummy.
Over the last 15 years, most everyone of all generations has slowly become attached to digital devices. While it has done wonders in the day to day business of work, banking, and staying connected to friends and family, screen times also agitates the brain. Marijuana’s key psychoactive ingredient is THC. It stimulates the part of your brain responding to pleasure, like food and sex. This unleashes a chemical called dopamine, which gives you a euphoric, relaxed feeling.
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The National Day of Unplugging started in 2009 in partnership with Jewish arts and culture non-profit Reboot and Sabbath Manifesto. The event draws on the Jewish tradition of observing a weekly day of rest, called Shabbat. In Jewish culture, Shabbat is typically observed from sunset on Friday evening until nightfall on Saturday.
The term digital native refers to people who have grown up using digital technology, and are therefore highly comfortable with and possibly dependent on it. So various generations have a different relationships screens. But across the board, a little break is positive.
Science has shown unplugging is positive for you and can make you happier and more productive. Some of the reasons include
Screen time disrupts sleep and desynchronizes the body clock. Because light from screen devices mimics daytime, it suppresses melatonin, a sleep signal released by darkness. Screen stimulation can delay melatonin release, desynchronizing the body clock. Once disrupted it can effect deep sleep which is how the mind and body heals.
Screen time desensitizes the brain’s reward system. Gaming releases so much dopamine—the “feel-good” chemical. But when reward pathways are overused, they become less sensitive, and more and more stimulation is needed to experience pleasure. Meanwhile, dopamine is also critical for focus and motivation, so needless to say, even small changes in dopamine sensitivity can wreak havoc on you function.
Screen time induces stress reactions. Both acute stress (fight-or-flight) and chronic stress produce changes in brain chemistry and hormones that can increase irritability. Indeed, cortisol, the chronic stress hormone, seems to be both a cause and an effect of depression—creating a vicious cycle. Additionally, both hyperarousal and addiction pathways suppress the brain’s frontal lobe, the area where mood regulation actually takes place.
Marijuana gummies on the other hand, have a chill effect, and, thanks to data from BDSA, we also know they are the most popular way people, especially those under 45, consume. So give your body and mind a break and chill on national unplug day with a gummy.
New York is an economic engine for the country, from Wall Street to the fashion and media, it sets the pace for the rest of the country. New York City has 18 million people, making it the most populous city in the US. When the state passed recreational cannabis, the industry saw it as a turning point, what they didn’t expect was it for it to be cliff for legal business owners. As it struggles with past mistakes, now NY begs tech companies to solve their weed problem.
Rather than the state fix the problem of over 1,500 unlicensed marijuana dispensaries in New York City alone, the Governor wants other companies to save the city from the mess. To give a sample of the problem, Michigan, which has 1,000 legal medical and recreational stores just hit the $3 billion revenue mark in 2023.
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What she doesn’t mention is the states botched rollout as produced only less than 100 legals store across the states, vs the 1,500+ in NYC alone. Now the state is begging Google and Meta to adjust their algorithms and block illegal dispensaries and keep the public from discovering them. Despite you can find shops within blocks of New York’s famed City Hall. This is the latest effort after demanding landlords large and small police their tenents and close the stores if they don’t have the paperwork.
The rollout of NY’s adult-use licensing program was initially delayed by former Gov. Cuomo, who did not select any members of the Cannabis Control Board (CCB) during his tenure. While now Gov. Hochul quickly established the CCB, thus kicking off the adult-use program. At the least possible moment, the states upended the rollout, shocking existing legal medical retailers and disrupting what could have worked. Then unlicensed market was already starting to bloom. While some unlicensed operators continued selling upon legalization, many new operators saw this as a golden opportunity.The states enforcements troopers temporary shutter at least 2-4 stores a week and then issues announcements about their advances with the problems.
The state wants to be a model for equity programs. Illicty shops pay no taxes and have no regulations on merchandise given them a large bottom line.
“Strengthening New York’s equitable cannabis industry and protecting the hard-working small business owners operating in the legal market are top priorities, and the best way to accomplish those goals is by expediting the shutdown of unlicensed shops.” states the Governor at a recent press conference.
New York’s cannabis regulators have collected only $22.5K of the $22M in fines issued to unlicensed stores. If you want to solve the problem, the state should bulk up enforcement and handle the situation, actually issue legal permits to match the market and pause on trying to say they are helpless in stopping the issue.
One of the most liberal and populous and visited cities in the US, yet New York continues to struggle with legal weed
The Big Apple has some amazing things including The Metropolitan Museum, condos worth $75+ million, delis sandwiches to make your heart sing and a creative community like none other. But it seems they can’t pull their act together to sell marijuana. New York continues to struggle with legal weed, but they are trying to put a positive spin on it.
Cannabis has been legal for medical purposes under New York law since 2016, and recreational purposes since 2021. But thanks to state workers, New York is being robbed of hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue due to the way they rolled out legalization. New York laid out a clear pathway including a way for medical dispensaries to flip to fully legal, then, at the last minute, scrapped it all and went with a total different version. Now a lack of clear and timely regulations, and a complex application process has lead to less than a 100 legal dispensaries open, but over 1,500 unlicensed open in New York City alone.
The New York Office of Cannabis Management is looking to allow 100 new legal licenses, after only a few months of debating. But the bureaucrats in New York has an answer to make really only another small portion happy – allow more home grow! They acknowledge they can’t really police the majority of unlicensed retailers making millions, so lets focus on the few home growers will will never really look at.
It hasn’t be clear about home grow in the state, but it is becoming more clear now. For the home cultivation regulations, which were developed by the Office of Cannabis Management and submitted to Cannabis Control Board, the approved resolution means there will now be a 60-day public comment period before the rules are finalized. For the older, traditional consumer population, this is somewhat good news. For the majority of consumers. it means nada.
When looking at research from BDSA, a leading cannabis data analyst firm, vapes and gummies are the most popular, especially for the under 40 set. Specifically, 49% of consumers across adult-use and medical states claimed to have consumed a gummy edible in the past six months compared to 47% who used flower.
For a comparison, The latest Gallup research find 37% of people drink beer as their primary alcohol. This is compared to 17% who use all forms of marijuana. The Brewers Association, a national group that holds regular conferences and competitions, estimated despite the massive amount of beer drinkers, only about 1.1 million try to make it home.
Neighboring state New Jersey, not know for outshining New York State, excels in legal marijuana. The state is on track to break $1 billion in annual sales and will be a boom for state tax revenues. You know it is rough when Curbed does a guide for “legal dispensaries” in NYC so you have some guidance.
It was a great holiday season for lots of fan of marijuana – and only a few Grinches in sight!
The holiday season was great for the cannabis industry. In 2023, Delaware, Ohio, and Minnesota passed recreational marijuana. More than half of U.S. population lives in places where marijuana is legal for recreational use with even more having access to medical marijuana. The holidays are a time of indulgence and spending. Consumers defied expectations for spending in December. Retail sales rose 0.6% in December from November, which was more than analysts expected. The holiday sales confirm marijuana is mainstream by the way the public spent on products.
And in a major culture shift, Gen Z is moving away from alcohol and moving softly toward marijuana. Young adults not in college were even more likely to avoid alcohol. Nearly 30% of this group in 2018 reported that they did not drink beer, wine or spirits. The number was about 24% in 2002.
Decreases in alcohol consumption by Gen Z coincide with an uptick in cannabis use, according to numerous reports. Is this a one-for-one trade in substances? Some signs point that way
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According to BDSA, a leading national data analyst company which covers cannabis, it was an important marijuana sales year. Already, the day before Thanksgiving is a banner year Comparing same 7 holiday days of 2022 to 2023 and they saw an average of a 19% increase year over year. The day before Turkey Day is known as Green Wednesday in the cannabis industry. It is also a large alcohol sales day and is known as Blackout Wednesday or Drinksgiving. But alcohol sales only saw 3.8% rise.
“Christmas is historically a significant holiday for the legal cannabis industry, with the days leading up to Christmas bringing a sizable boost to legal sales. In 2022, the day before Christmas eve (12/23/22) saw the second highest daily sales total of any day that month, with daily sales totaling +38% higher than the daily sales average for December 2022.” shared BDSA.
Edibles saw an even greater boost on the week before Christmas 2023. BDSA reports edible sales on the week before Christmas were +23% higher than the average weekly edible sales total for the month. This is makes sense as gummies are the #1 way people consumer – almost 49% of users say the use have a gummy.
States which started their program (except for NY) did especially well. Marijuana retailers in Michigan sold a whopping $3.06 billion in adult-use and medical products in 2023. There are few Grinches, the Governors of Iowa, Florida and New Hampshire are working hard to block sales and Senator Mitch McConnell is still working to block any national marijuana legalization. And all eyes are on the DEA to see what they are going to do about rescheduling.
Gift giving can be tough – finding the perfect present takes thought, skill and time….and sometines you just don’t have the time. More than 140 million people will be out getting those last minute gifts according to the National Retailers Association. You have seen them driving around, printing pictures from the internet and frantic looking for open stores. Don’t stress yourself out looking for the perfect thing – we have an idea. Marijuana makes a great last minute gift.
There are some other non-cannabis ideas. Gift cards (if you know what they like), the new Bailey’s Chocolate is a little piece of heavens, or a fun subscription like to a Master Class, media like there favorite news site, or movie tickets (Where they are also open late). But with 18% of people using, why not give the gift of weed?
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Over 50% of the country has access to legal cannabis and it is mainstreaming quicker than you think. According to BDSA, women are almost equal to men who use. And according to the Pew Research, 90% believe it should be legal in some form. So with almost 20% of the population consuming, why not give it as a gift. Dispensaries stay up late so it is truly a great last minute gift.
If you are giving marijuana as a gift, consider gummies. They are by the most used form with almost 49% saying they use gummies over anything else. Next would be chocolate edibles, easy to use and easy to managing the dosing.
A fun idea could also be a Hemp Drink, found in convince stores, dispensaries and in some states, liquor stores, these make for an alternative to beer. Although hemp doesn’t have the psychoactive components of the cannabis plant like marijuana, it can still give you a buzz. And brewers who create hemp ales still must follow proper licensing and regulations on state and federal levels.
When New York State voted for full recreational weed in 2021, the industry salivated with the prospects of the market. They thoughtfully crafted a plan to help move existing medical dispensaries to recreational, providing they jump through hoops and spend hundreds of thousands. With existing population and a huge tourism population, people were willing to invest. At the last minute, NY changed everything and today there are 23 legal operators and over 1,500 unlicensed dispensaries in NY racking in hundreds of millions a month. And not paying state or city taxes.
Now, is New York promising false hope t the marijuana industry again with the state Supreme Court stepping in?o
New York City has proven unable to close the unlicensed dispensaries. Giving fines or imposing temporary closures at a rate of 1-2 a week, they recently turned to a unique solution. Rather than focus on expanding legal retailers, they established a policy to punish landlords with hefty fines for allowing unlicensed dispensaries in their building. Whether the landlord knows of the true nature of the business beforehand, is irrelevant. And now it has gotten even messier.
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A New York judge approved settling a lawsuit filed by a group of service-disabled veterans. The Court granted the group a provisional license and paved the way for more than 400 provisional licensees to open marijuana dispensaries. The new business owners would have to compete against the existing retailers. The veterans businesses will be able to finally open after a painful and expensive wait. Most likely they will miss the cash rich holiday season.
By allowing this group new licenses, the state now has to focus on clearing backlogged provisional licensees as mandated by the court. New applicants will have to wait even longer for licensure. It appears April is the current target for the net way of licensures and it is drawing criticism.
A representative of the New York Cannabis Retail Association told one media outlet 30 members of his association are on the verge of bankruptcy and can’t wait until April. The 1,500 dispensaries are stocked with an estimated $500 million in products. It seems part of those are from the illicit market, which only increases income for black market.
It has been quickly proven the market has a big demand, but New York will have a long way to go to solve the mess they started and retrain consumer into new purchase patterns.
Canada and 24 US states have legal recreational marijuana. Forty states have medical marijuana available, yet for some, it is not enough. The cannabis black market is thriving while hurting the newly legal market and confusing consumers. As a customer, you need to know if black market weed safe.
A study commissioned by the New York Medical Cannabis Industry Association found that after reviewing cannabis products from 20 illicit stores in New York City, about 40% contained harmful contaminants such as E. coli, lead and salmonella. This is prior to the boom of more than 1,500 unlicensed dispensaries. Consumers are paying premium prices for something which may not agree with their body.
While it’s an issue in states like Colorado, Michigan, and Washington, it’s a much bigger problem in New York and California. It is a major drag on the young legal industry and a potential danger to consumers.
Canada was forward thinking about started a campaign early in legalizaiton to convince consumer to purchase from authorized dispensaries. Here is the information Manitoba shares with the public:
If you buy cannabis, make sure to get it from a licensed retail store that offers a wide selection of legal products.
Street, or black market cannabis offers you no quality control in terms of strength or purity. It may contain traces of pesticides and even other drugs that could put your life at risk.
When you support the black market, you have no idea whether or not your money will go to fund other illegal activities. Buying cannabis from a black market supplier puts you at risk of arrest and fines.
WIth the black market, it is important to understand the supply chain. Step one is the growers. Currently, there is a significant number of indoors grows which increase the cost of the plant. California’s growers are losing money to illicit grows both indoor and outdoor because it is just cheaper. The state is doing anything to crack down and there is zero oversight to insure quality or grow techniques.
The other two segments are “the guy”. Some people find it easier to use their “guy” who hooks them up. They acquire product – both legal and illicit and then sell directly to the customer. No taxes, no oversight, no verification for what is in the product.
Two big issues for consumers are inconsistent potency levels which means you don’t get high enough or you get too high. The other is unsanitary processing and packaging, which can directly effect your body and body functions.
While California has some of hte highest taxes of the industry, their enforcement is dismal. Colaroda and Maine have some of the best with dwindle black markets. With over 50% of the US having to legal weed, state governments to reaccess taxing and enforcement is order to
People are consuming more marijuana than ever, but the industry is still suffering significant growing pains. As the industry expands, bad players are being weeded out but New York and California have truly botched the legal system. The marijuana industry is primarily filled with small businesses like dispensaries, craft product makers, farmers and more. On the key issues preventing them from moving to profitability is banking and taxes. After a 3 year downturn (despite increased sales), the cannabis industry saw a ray of hpe in the SAFER Banking bill….but then the US House of Representatives devolved into one of the hottest messes in its storied history. So did Matt Gaetz (R-FL) put a knife in the cannabis industry?
The Biden administration has been extremely slow in delivering on his campaign promise of increased federal legalization and an easier way to do business. The House passed SAFE Banking 7 times in bipartisan fashion, all failing in the Senate. This year, the Senate, with key sponsors of Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Patty Murray (D-WA) wrote the bill SAFER Banking and managed to get it out of committee.
WIth some bipartisan support, including Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), the bill looked like it will pass the Senate and head to the House before going to the White House with hopes of Biden’s signature. The industry crossed fingers with hope and cannabis stocks inched upwards.
Then Representative Matt Gaetz ousted Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as speaker and shut down Congress. For the last two weeks, GOP Representatives have been caught up in a vortex of a floor fight which shows little hope of abating soon. After twice losing, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) announced he is pushing for a third floor vote for speaker. Until a speaker is elected, House bills remain stalled.
Senator David Daines (R-MT) is saying the the Senate will hold off on floor action until there’s a sense the House can pass a bill. But if they year ends, everything starts back at the beginning, and adds months of waiting to the beleaguered cannabis industry.
One issue around the lack of a SAFER Banking act is it makes it harder on the regular workers of businesses to get car, house and other traditional loans. Without SAFER Banking, this is seen as a negative and count against a regular worker who is holding onto a steady job. Even with a well paying job, banks are more likely to look at through a “no” lens.
So in a way, Matt Gaetz is also harming the working man and small business owner.
New York cannabis farmers say that as the future of the state’s legal cannabis industry remains uncertain, they are facing deepening mental and financial despair as they sit on hundreds of pounds of weed at their farms.
Lisa Keller, the owner of Weaver Road Farms in Chautauqua County, has increasingly dealt with feelings of anger and depression as she’s tried to get her business together since receiving a license to grow cannabis last year.
It’s hard for her to push those feelings aside. They tug at her as she wakes up early to tend to her farm, which she owns with her husband, Ed. She then makes deliveries for her local Walmart to help pay for bills and groceries.
Contributed by Lisa Keller
Lisa Keller, the owner of Weaver Road Farms in Chautauqua County, is pictured here.
“I feel sad. And I have no luxury to stop,” Keller said. “No matter what, I’m going to keep going, and I just try to keep any of those feelings in check. You want to say f–k it, but then what do you have? Everything you’ve done is worthless. So you can’t. You just gotta keep going.
“If I give up or go into despair, then everything would fall apart. My whole household, my whole life will fall apart if I don’t keep going and do not curb any of those negative feelings.”
New York state’s legal cannabis program has been thrown into turmoil.
The already slow rollout of legal pot shops has meant that growers have nowhere to sell their product as unlicensed dispensaries typically buy from California or other states with more developed growing industries. They also don’t want to jeopardize their licenses as being part of the state program — and selling pot to unlicensed shops could lead to losing them.
Farmers are fighting for shelf space at just 23 legal dispensaries in the state. In this photo, people line up to purchase legal recreational cannabis products at the Housing Works Cannabis Co. on Dec. 29, 2022, in Manhattan.
Tess Interlicchia, a nurse practitioner who owns Grateful Valley Farm in upstate New York, said growers are increasingly considering quitting the industry as they face mounting difficulties.
“It’s been quite a nightmare,” Interlicchia told the Daily News. “… There’s really been no relief in sight for the farmers.”
Interlicchia is very passionate about the positive impacts of cannabis on mental health — but says the state’s handling of the budding industry has negatively impacted her own mental wellbeing. Farmers typically face disproportionately higher rates of suicide: Research shows the suicide rate among farmers is more than three times higher than the general population.
“You want to give up,” she said. “You want to throw away this whole cannabis venture, you want to stop chasing your passions and trying to help other people. You want to just not do it anymore. It’s depressing. It definitely is. It’s frustrating. I have had to borrow money for groceries to feed my kids. It was very humiliating.”
Interlicchia, 42, a single mother of two, started smoking cannabis as a teen, in part because it helped her depression. As an adult, she’s worked for two decades as a nurse, helping patients get medical marijuana certification to get them off opioids and benzodiazepines.
“It’s really hard. It plagues almost everybody at some point in their lives — depression, anxiety, you know, the usual things — and it’s so much more prevalent right now,” Interlicchia said. “Since the pandemic so, so many folks are suffering but cannabis really, really helps a lot … but then a lot of the farmers, we’re struggling.”
Tunatura/Shutterstock
Tess Interlicchia has worked for two decades as a nurse, helping patients get medical marijuana certification to get them off opioids and benzodiazepines. In this photo, a marijuana joint is seen in hand.
Interlicchia became so concerned for her friend and fellow farmer, Jeanette Miller, that she called the police to do a wellness check on her.
Miller, who has long struggled with mental health challenges, said that the state’s Office of Cannabis Management and state leaders have betrayed them after promising an early advantage as the first entrants into the legal weed industry.
“We’re not getting any attention,” said Miller, who owns The Eclectic Farmstead in Newfane, New York. “The farmers are the ones not being spoken about yet… Without us, there is nothing else. And yet here we are in distress, and nobody’s really listening.”
“I wore a noose around my neck today because I feel like I’m going to hang myself,” she said at the meeting. “… We’re tired. We’re done. We’re struggling. We need help.”
Miller said her comment were intended as a wake-up call and cry for help from the state, and that she was “censored” by the OCM, as they cut out her comments and others from the video. The video has since been taken down entirely and was reuploaded with only Miller’s comments cut out on Friday morning.
Soru Epotok/Shutterstock
Miller made startling remarks at a Sept. 12 Cannabis Control Board meeting. In this photo, dry and trimmed cannabis buds stored in glass jars can be seen.
“It’s Suicide Awareness Month and the governor pledged $1 billion to mental health awareness,” Miller said, referring to a multi-year plan by Gov. Hochul aimed at improving access to mental health care in the state.
“And then, when people bring awareness to it, and because of the actions of the state, the duress that it’s causing, not just for myself but other farmers who don’t have the ability to step up for the courage to get up and use their voice, let alone be vulnerable like that in public.”
