Thursday, April 29, 2021

Learn About Cannabis Dabbing 101

As an OG Emerald Triangle cannabis flower fan, I've recently schooled myself on dabbing. Dabbing delivers a high that hits harder. Great for those with raised tolerance levels like me. 

VAPE = Cannabis oil
DAB = Cannabis wax

At first I was turned off from cannabis vaping & dabbing because of my preference for flower FLAVOR (created by terpenes that can be lost in vape oil & dab wax). The tech has come a long way, though! Live Rosin delivers incredible and accurate flavor from their actual cannabis flower terpene derivative.

Dab wax is usually heated with a special cannabis dabbing device (which started, believe it or not, as a blow torch but has since evolved into battery powered coil technology heating a ceramic bowl). The device heats the wax and the consumer inhales the "smoke", actually vapors similar to vape pen, not smoke like a cannabis pipe or joint. Although, I have also spread dabbing wax on a bowl for a more potent smoking sesh (better in the middle of the bowl than on top to avoid torching wax directly). It works!

Dab wax you see above was $86 at the dispensary. It will last me about a month (in combo with other cannabis products). Slightly pricier than the average $58 bc I wanted to try cold press (cleaner process) version.

The personal size portable dabbing pen shown below is made by Puffco and sells for around $85 at my local dispensary. It is convenient for travel but requires some patience in waiting for it to heat up properly, and also needs cleaning after every use or it will get clogged (different than a vape pen that way), which is somewhat INconvenient. Still, it's fun and delivers a good high so I'm happy with it until the technology improves. Puffco also makes a larger dabbing device that looks similar to a bong. My friend that has one loves hers!


Friday, April 23, 2021

What Is The Difference Between Indica and Sativa Cannabis?

Indica & Sativa Visual Contrast


If you're a visual learner, like me, this handy infographic will help you better understand the key differences between Indica and Sativa cannabis, the two main types of cannabis. They share common DNA but have very different effects on one's body. 
  
difference between indica sativa cannabis_norcalweedgal
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Friday, April 16, 2021

The Great Sugar Prohibition

 

norcalweedgal_cannabiskerry_blog
Cannabis = no big deal / Sugar = 😱
As I've mentioned before, "sugar was my gateway drug. I mean, if you believe in that kind of thing." It's the first line of my upcoming book, The Cannabis Confidential: 99 Stories of My Weed Friendly Childhood & Life. As promised, I'll use this blog to share some of those stories. This is Story #1. 


The Great Sugar Prohibition

I remember being insatiable to sugar as a child, at its mercy whenever it was near. My mom was convinced I had a sugar addiction. I knew sugar as something forbidden and heavenly tasting. White sugar was not allowed in our hippie household when I was little. But in my childhood, aside from my mom no one really cared about sugar until later, around the mid-80’s. Quite the contrary in the 70’s, sugar was often used to market foods! Cereals were branded with sugar in the name! (i.e., Sugar Smacks, Sugar Corn Pops)  

The first word I remember learning to read was “sugar”. My mom insisted that I be allowed the freedom to choose what kind of cereal I wanted, as long as “sugar” wasn’t one of the first three ingredients. As a result, at the ripe age of 3 years old, I understood what “ingredients” were, where to find them on the box, and how to review that list of data for “sugar”, like a word search I always felt hopeful to win (by finding it way down the list). 

Little did I know the game was rigged. And my mom knew it. But she was teaching me to fish, as the saying goes. She wanted me to experience the lesson rather than just being told “no” …a true hippie perspective in raising kids.

Back then, even Cheerios—yep! toddler-friendly, heart healthy Cheerios!—relied on sugar as their third ingredient, making it ineligible for representation in our cupboard. Any cereal I wanted and aisle researched, from Corn Flakes to Cheerios to Wheaties, was not allowed in my sugar-free household. Nope. I got Grape Nuts. God, how I hated them! I couldn’t even wrap my head around the name—Grape Nuts--being they were neither grapes nor nuts. Come to think of it, I never really knew what, exactly, Grape Nuts were…?

If I wanted them to taste like anything at all, I had to pound the block of brown sugar from our pantry on our tile kitchen floor to break it up enough to sprinkle some on my cereal, only to watch it immediately sink to the bottom... disappearing until those last couple sips of milk when it would suddenly reappear thick and confident, like a strapping super hero an hour late to the crisis. 

My mom’s sugar prohibition continued for years. Eventually she would become consumed with juggling work and duties at home so she lightened up a bit over time. And when my parents split up when I was 7, I quickly realized my sugar loving genes come from my dad. Oh, how I relished the freedom of Trix and Lucky Charms for the first time in my young life!

The contrast between the cannabis-friendly/anti-sugar household went totally unnoticed by my family until recently when I started realizing just how these contrasts have shaped me into who I am today. Looking back it seems so odd, though! 

My mom was right, I do have a sugar addiction. But she taught me well ...to pay attention, read labels, cook at home, listen to my body. Dad taught me that ice cream is one of life's necessities, non-negotiable.

I have not eaten Grape Nuts since I was a kid. I know my palette has developed, and I may like them as plenty of others do. I. Just. Can’t. 


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