Welcome to Cannabitch!

Today we're going to talk about smoking weed during COVID-19

Hello! I’ll be honest—I don’t really know how to start a new newsletter in the middle of a pandemic. Most greetings ring hollow these days, especially the kind that reference “these trying times.” So, I’ll be direct. I’m thrilled you’re here and I hope you’re as well as can be. For those who don’t know, this is the resurrection of my former weekly San Diego CityBeat column, Cannabitch. It was unceremoniously kneecapped last fall by conservative Arizonan overlords who bought and gutted the paper with barely ever setting foot in San Diego. It died its final death due to COVID, which was really just a convenient excuse for the overlords to kill it off once and for all. I say good riddance! One corporate man’s trash is undoubtedly our treasure.

More good news: we’re talking about weed! Which, according to many of you, seems to be the substance du jour during the past couple of months. This is going to be a long but light one—I feel like that’s allowed for the first edition. Spark a joint, bowl, or whatever you’re working with, and let’s dig in.

Since the minute it became clear that we were going to have to shelter-in-place for longer than a week or two, sometime around the weekend of March 14, I’ve been wondering about people’s cannabis consumption habits and how they might be changing for good. Initially, there was a run on dispensaries in California the same way there had been at supermarkets across the country. But, to the delight of many, the city of San Francisco deemed cannabis an “essential” business on March 18. The state of California followed suit a few days later. Now, 24 states have some kind of “essential” designation for the cannabis industry, allowing patients and customers some level of curbside pickup or delivery from dispensaries.

General hypocrisy notwithstanding—cannabis is an essential business for mental and physical health but people are still in jail for cannabis-related offenses?—this is clearly great news for the industry, as a whole, which continues to face a variety of serious challenges like astronomically high taxes and lack to federal banking, among many other things. Of course, it’s also great for medical patients and recreational users, alike, who now don’t have to worry about a dwindling stash.

At first, I wondered: COVID-19 manifests as a respiratory infection. What does that mean for people who actually smoke flower or use a vaporizer, whether that be with flower or cannabis oil? I wrote a short piece about it. The general gist is that doctors have mostly advised that using combustibles—controversial even in normal times!—is probably not the safest way to go while a deadly respiratory virus courses around the earth. While I hear that (really, I do!), I also made the personal choice to continue smoking. I’ve always been a pro at rationalizing fun things and the risk was worth it to me, especially since I consider cannabis a vital tool for managing my mental health.

To that point, I’ve been consuming a lot. I’m even regularly taking edibles, which is not usually part of my routine. I find it helps me enjoy the mundane as well as the more emotionally difficult moments day-to-day. On days I decide to drink coffee, I’ll add 35-milligrams of Rick Simpson-style cannabis oil to my coffee, but on others, I’ll pop a 10-milligram cookie from Kaneh Co. or a 25-milligram AbsoluteXtracts gel capsule, depending on how much I actually have to do on a given day. I’m realizing that in contrast to the punch of smoking a joint, I actually like the long-lasting, ever-present buzz that edibles offer.

Others have taken the recommendations to smoke less more to heart than I have. Katie O’Reilly, a web editor who lives in Berkeley, CA told me in a Facebook comment that, “I’ve been smoking a lot less (just respiratory health paranoia!) but wanna build a shrine to whoever invented sublingual Indica lozenges (i.e. the only reason I ever get any sleep).”

Serena Renner, a Vancouver, Canada-based writer, said that she, too, is smoking less, but it’s because she recently moved and her landlord won’t allow it [Editor’s note: you are all so much more responsible than I am, fuck!]. Like me, she has discovered the joy of edibles. “I just like the effect better and small doses are good for my home-based productivity.”

Still, the lure of smoking cannabis flower is still strong for many, including those who have made it part of their daily routine. Similar to me, the role cannabis plays for them in managing the stresses of surviving during a pandemic is, indeed, essential.

“I have been smoking a shit ton of weed. Like, double the amount I smoked when I was working,” says Seth Marquez, a bartender and entrepreneur from Oceanside, CA. “I've had to cut back because it cuts down on my productivity, but it calms me down in a big way when I get down in the dumps about everything that's going on in the world right now.”

Paige DeGuzman, who lives in my old San Diego neighborhood of Ocean Beach, has not only switched from smoking Sativa-dominant strains (said to be more energizing and uplifting) to Indica-based strains (said to provide more of a body high and have more calming effects) in order to quell her nerves, she has also stockpiled because she fears lockdown will only get more intense. “I'm stocked up more than I used to be because what if they decide to invoke martial law? That's where my mind is at and the Indica helps to calm the not-so-positive voices and thoughts,” she says.

In states that don’t have easy access to legal bud, access is the main problem, as always. “I’m almost out and pissed about it,” says New York resident Patrick Dugan, who in the spirit of full disclosure is someone I used to smoke a lot of p-o-t with back in our days at Connecticut College. Whitefish, Montana writer Ali Wunderman reminded me that one of the things she missed about her weed life pre-COVID was the ability to drive to another state—in her case, Washington—to access not just legal weed, but any at all.

Beyond just changing personal habits, though, I have a feeling stoner culture, particularly famous for being social and communal, has already changed for good. In the way that I sat outside a rest stop bathroom for ten whole minutes last week, staring at the building and wondering if it was worth going in before deciding that I’d rather just pee on the side of the road instead, it seems impossible to imagine re-starting the time-honored tradition of “puff puff pass” with anyone other than who you’re already swapping spit with.

“No more passing the dutchie to the left or right-hand side,” said Antonio Ley, the owner of the San Diego-based Corazon de Torta food truck (unrelated but cool: he was also Anthony Bourdain’s guide in Tijuana during the Baja California episode).

“Passing a joint is over,” says Jeff Olson, San Diego’s infamous sidewalk chalk bandit. “It’s 2020—everyone get your own pre-roll. It’s like asking for a drag off a cigarette. I was a big fan of the social cohesion achieved by a good safety meeting,” he says, referring to stoner slang for a group smoke sesh. “Getting the whole square on the same page, peace pipe tradition. Then, [someone in his quarantine] broke [the rules] on day one by inviting a neighbor up to share a pre-roll. From now on, I’m in charge of my own buzz,” he adds.

A Twitter follower of mine, Sean Billisitz, writes that he lives by himself in a studio apartment. “I’m gonna miss passing joints and making new friends at events like concerts and festivals,” he says.

It is exactly this sadness that caused Siera of Roze Volca to design “In Loving Memory of Puff Puff Pass” stickers and sweatshirts.

“I've made my success by passing joints and now I really can't see myself doing that ever again,” Siera said over email. “Working in this space, April 2020 [Editor’s note: 4/20] was ‘our month’ and then COVID happened. The graphic was a response to my mixed bag of feelings I was trying to sort out and then a vessel to help give back to the culture by donating,” she explains.

Profits from the sweatshirts and stickers will benefit, The Last Prisoner Project, a non-profit organization of cannabis industry leaders and activists. “With cannabis being made ‘essential’ during COVID-19, their work on criminal justice reform initiatives focusing heavily on clemency, expungement, and reentry are more necessary than ever,” reads the Roze Volca website.

Other brands are also figuring out how to pivot in light of consumption habit changes. Highland Pantry, a low-dose cannabis-infused mint company geared towards women over 50 (the cannabis industry loves a good niche, and this is one of the biggest ones, by the numbers!), has already made moves by focusing the launch of their brand on direct-to-consumer. Suzanne Shpall, the founder and CEO, says, “We launched the brand making the bet that dispensaries would not only be a barrier to entry for our demo, but eventually somewhat obsolete, with everyone shopping online for all their daily needs. And this crisis has shown that the demand and need are there.”

Still, there are some aspects of cannabis culture that just can’t be supplanted by digital solutions. Erik Hulstrom, founder and C.E.O. of Legacy Strains, a cannabis flower company, reminds me that smell is essential for the cannabis buying experience— “Until they figure out how to create Smell-O-Vision compatible with the internet, it will require a change in marketing approach from everyone,” he says. He also says that, no matter what, the culture as we know is in many ways still here and thriving. I know this to be true, evidenced by the number of Zoom, FaceTime and Instagram Live smoke seshes I’ve been invited to and have participated in (I was on KPBS last week talking about that exact thing).

“Nothing can ever change stoner culture. It just is. Stoner culture is always good, stoners question everything and trust no-one.  In some ways, COVID is just another piece in the puzzle of the stoner analytical mind. ‘Is it the powers that be that are trying to make us conform?’ Maybe,” Hulstrom says.

“But good luck with that! COVID took away 4/20/2020 as well as 4/24/20 (say it out loud and you'll get it). Despite all of this, stoners still celebrated. At the end of the day, even in isolation, we are still a community united by a plant.”

A Case of the Munchies

This is a weekly section dedicated to my other great love, besides cannabis: food. When thinking of who to highlight, this was a no-brainer: Priscilla Curiel of Tuétano Taqueria. She’s been a media darling for some time now, recently earning a Best New Restaurant in America nod from GQ Magazine. Not too bad for a small taqueria selling mainly beef birria in the shadow of the U.S.-Mexico border.

I’m obsessed with her birria tacos, which are immediately made better by ordering a side of bone marrow (tuétano in Spanish) to glop on top. Unsurprisingly, this is top-notch stoner food. But, like everything during COVID, there are problems.

“Prices are crazy with beef right now,” Curiel told me the other day. “It’s tormenting me. I don’t know how restaurants are going to survive like this.”

She adds that she’s continuing to offer her signature beef birria, since that’s what she’s known for and says her tortas have been particularly popular over the tacos she’s known for (I suspect because tortas travel better). “I am also making campechanas with half skirt steak and half longaniza [pork sausage] because beef prices are high,” she adds. My sincerest apologies to those not in San Diego, but I know what I’m eating after pressing publish today.

One to Try

Here’s where I’ll make recommendations on products to try. Incredibly, I’ve written almost 2,000 words so far without even uttering those infamous three letters: CBD. We’ll dig into this subject more over time, but as many of you probably know by now, there’s good, properly dosed and sourced CBD and there’s bad CBD. Luna Volta, a San Diego-based wellness company, is making good CBD oil. Bonus? It can be shipped to anywhere in the United States.

For those looking to combat anxiety—I wonder why I’m picking that specific ailment at such a time, can’t imagine—Luna Volta’s NOVA is the move. “It’s intended to be taken sublingually to help combat stress enzymes in the body and bring you back to homeostasis,” says founder and CEO Kayla Clements.

“Your body actually produces its own endocannabinoids (2AG and Anandamide (the 'bliss' molecule)) to combat stress enzymes (like FAAH. When you are deficient, you can supplement by taking phytocannabinoids (cannabinoids found in plants), like CBD,” she explains.

“We spent a year and a half developing NOVA to ensure its high quality through rigorous testing and developing sustainable packaging solutions. It is grown organically in the United States in support of regenerative agriculture to combat climate change by sequestering carbon and restoring our soils, is full-spectrum (to encourage the "entourage effect" of multiple cannabinoids working synergistically), and comes packaged in plantable packaging embedded with wildflower seeds beneficial to our declining bee population.”

I’ve been using it on and off in the last year. It’s an oil I trust and one that measurably helps me manage anxiety. At the moment, I’m not paid to make any of these endorsements. I’ll be sure to let you all know when/if that changes.

Recently Published

Here are some pieces I’ve published since the beginning of COVID:

at Playboy, debunking popular cannabis myths

at Cosmopolitan, talking about masturbation while in quarantine

at Cosmopolitan, about weed and COVID

for the San Diego Union-Tribune, about crystals

for Sierra, about how to access the outdoors during COVID

for Ranch & Coast, about a new cocktail mixer delivery service

for the San Diego Union-Tribune, my tips for working from home

Recommended Reading

For Hazlitt by Jonathan Kauffman: a truly stunning essay on a cooking column for people with AIDS, which ran from 1990-1999. It was so good I just had chills typing this out.

From the Calgary Herald: “Cannabis shows promise blocking coronavirus infection: Alberta researcher (not fake news!)”

For Vulture, the great art critic Jerry Saltz: “On eating and coping mechanisms, childhood and self-control, criticism, love, cancer, and pandemics.” Give it a chance before you judge it. It’s fucking beautiful. There really is an ass for every chair, it turns out.

Until next week! THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE! <3, the Cannabitch