We’ve all got our stories of how we got into cannabis and our first time experiencing that incredible high that weed gives you. While my story isn’t as crazy as I’m sure some are, I want to share it with you. So here is the story of the first time I smoked weed and how I became the stoner and cannabis advocate that I am today.
The very first time I smoked weed, I was 14 visiting my older sister at college in Boston. An old camp counselor and friend of my sisters went to school nearby and came into the city to see me while I was visiting. He rolled us a joint, which I asked many questions about, and then we went to the Boston Commons and walked around in the night and smoked. I had never been high before and I wasn’t sure what it was going to feel like. The main thing I remember is feeling very happy and giggly while we walked around the park and caught up on life. It was an enjoyable experience for my first time with weed, and it wouldn’t be my last.
After that, I smoked occasionally throughout the 9th grade but by the time I got into 10th grade, I was smoking more regularly with my group of friends. We had all kinds of adventures during that time from smoking in this little woodsy area that we called the forest, to music festivals and live shows of all kinds. We'd drive around our town and smoke in the car while blasting music and just enjoying everyday life. We lived without a care in the world and we didn't even know it. The school part of high school was tough, but my friends and I made a hell of a good time out of it. I honestly think these were some of the craziest but most fun days of my life.
Throughout high school, smoking was what kept me sane, but at the time, I didn't realize that was a normal thing for some people. I had no idea of all the medical benefits that cannabis had because it was all so new to me. In my earlier years of smoking weed, I didn’t always have a choice of what kind of weed I was getting. Since it was not legal at the time, it was more of a whatever my weed dealer had at that moment in time sort of thing. I did have some friends that had better connections and would get us certain types of weed, but that wasn’t always the case. Even when I got to college, there wasn’t always a choice of strain or type, it was just whatever they had. During those years, I always tried to remember the taste and feel of whatever cannabis I had access to, to teach myself more about cannabis as a whole, but without all the information, this was tough.
After college, I moved to Los Angeles and immediately got my marijuana medical card so I could finally get the full experience. Getting a medical card was pretty easy, I went to a “doctor” that was specifically for marijuana medical cards, I filled out some forms, and waited to be called in. Once I was in there, the process was a total of 5 minutes. They took my temperature, checked my blood pressure, and asked why I wanted this card. I explained that I had very bad anxiety, which is true, and that marijuana was one of the only things that had helped me up to this point. The doctor signed the form and I was sent back to the front. Since I still had a Florida ID, I had to pay 80$, but if you had a California ID, it was only 30$. They scanned my license and used that photo to make me a marijuana medical card. I left there and immediately went to my first dispensary.
I was excited to be able to explore this world that I’d always wondered about but had no access to. The experience at my first dispensary is for part two of this story because that is when my interest in cannabis became something I would invest my time in and truly come to care about and advocate for. Until next time…