I wasn’t always that comfortable with being associated with Ganja/Marijuana/Weed/Cannabis, and it was only because of how I was raised- by a Jamaican mother in middle-class Jamaica and all the contradictions those five words will conjure in your mind right now. I have a pretty solid track record and an excellent reputation in the Caribbean Tech Industry, why would I want to mess with that?
Then, Jamaica has always been synonymous with ganja globally- with iconic status and currency both culturally and regarding cultivation. In a Jamaican middle-class context, however, Ganja was associated with “those people”, “those dirty rastas, “those idle people’ – in other words it was very classist, a cousin to racism. And it was all sanction by the Lord. The hypocrisy and ignorance were real, and then when you add to that, the War on Drugs and that Just Say No bullshit of an American Campaign, you can see why I was kinda late to the Cannabis Party. Well sort of.
Ironically, my first taste of Cannabis was, in fact, given to me, by, wait for it… my mother. She gave me ganja tea when I was sick with whooping cough, as a baby. She said that she believed it saved my life. She told me this many years later in my 20s. The perfect time, as I was experimenting with my friends at that time which was shortlived, as I didn’t like how it made me feel and how it made me crave food. So I kinda left it alone. Plus I still have major judgemental issues for my ganja smoking friends, I was still looking at them through very jaundiced eyes.
In my early 20s, I had my other taste with Cannabis. This time as a young investigative reporter at the then newspaper startup Jamaica Observer. Fresh out of college, I ended up writing what is still one of the most comprehensive pieces on Jamaica and Ganja Industry. It was a feature with the headline “Jamaica’s multi-million dollar ganja economy” back in 1995 and it was two tabloid pages long. Still very proud of it. Still have a copy of it.
And then, my other connection to Cannabis which really was a turnaround for me, was when my friend Tandra, brought me a spliff to help to relieve my menstrual cramps. It worked and also put me to sleep in no time. I was in too much pain to put up much resistance to it. I wanted relief and I got just that.
I was now sold on Cannabis and that was about 14 years ago. That personal experience made me sit up and become a serious student of Cannabis and its medicinal benefits. It made me start setting aside the propaganda I was fed by and the familial and societal hypocrisies I was raised with. I was open. But the process was still very slow and resistant.
But it took a long and painful season of anxiety and stress-induced insomnia and two burnouts, to move me to integrate Cannabis into my wellness toolbox regularly, unapologetically side by side with Meditation. I searched and found strains that would calm me down…and at times knock me out and put me to sleep. Now I’m more into CBD strains, CBD teas and pre-rolls and man, that shit has changed my life.
THE TURNING POINT. THE REPROGRAMMING.
Yet still, even as I had the idea to take my digital media knowledge, skills, and networks that I had developed in my 14 years in the Tech/Digital space to the Cannabis Industry by launching SunSeaAndSensi.com a site focused on Cannabis Tourism and Cannabis Wellness.
I still didn’t get to the ” Ahh fuck it, fuck what people may think, I’m just going to do it” mental space until 2018 when I went on a year-long sabbatical. And I really didn’t start living it openly and publicly- Instagram pictures, content marketing campaign and all until 2019 – it was for me a personal liberation and it was about being authentic as someone in the business.
I had to be real about how Cannabis has been working for me. I want to show more about Cannabis Wellness, The Opportunities in the Cannabis Business and Cannabis can help Women especially.
I started to reprogramme myself and go deeper into the Cannabis Industry, while I was on my year-long sabbatical from October 2018 -2019.
I went to every smoke shop, dispensary, weed man hustle, Cannabis event that I could find and was invited to while I was in New York, Atlanta, DC, Florida, Trinidad and Tobago and spoke to people on all levels of the Cannabis Industry. I also searched online for the Cannabis underground culture everywhere I went and started following them online, speaking to them and inviting myself to meet them and go to their events as well.
In addition to that, I watched spent hundreds of hours documentaries and Youtube videos listened to podcasts, read blogs, downloaded special reports and white papers. I was serious.
But it was the Netflix documentaries and Youtube videos that really slapped the unfounded bias out of me totally. I’ve put together a shortlist below for you to begin your own reprogramming if you are open to that. I guarantee, that you will shout WTF, Wow, WHoaa, Damnn during all of these and if you commit and watch at least half of these, you will see the world of Cannabis through very, very different eyes. Have a go at it and let me know. Email me ingrid@digital420.co or come back and comment here.
VIDEOS I RECOMMEND FOR YOU
Dimebags vs. Dispensaries: Street Dealers to Multi-Million Dollar Weed Startups
A Life of Its Own: The Truth About Medical Marijuana ( Netflix)
Reincarnated ft Snoop Dogg ( Netflix)
The Union The Business Behind Getting High
Meet the Guy who Gets Paid to Smoke Weed
HIGH COUNTRY: The Future of Weed