Few of us have heard of the ‘combat cocktail’. For combat vets returning from the front line, it’s all too familiar. Soldiers who come home with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), insomnia, depression, anxiety, or chronic pain are commonly prescribed a potent blend of medication. This is the combat cocktail, also known as ‘zombie dope’.

While these meds are intended to soften symptoms associated with psychological and physical trauma, veterans commonly report that zombie dope throws a new set of side effects into the mix. Vets who swallow the daily dose of benzodiazepines, SSRIs, and opioids often report feeling on edge, irritable, drowsy, or zombie-like.

Of even greater concern is the potential link to increased suicide. More than 20 veterans succumb to suicide every day, with one recent headline proclaiming that suicide has been more deadly for the military than combat.

For veterans who want to ease the trauma of combat and reintegrate into civilian life, cannabis may be the answer. A movement is taking shape among veterans who have seen or experienced the healing potential of cannabis in managing their symptoms, and they are demanding access.

Steve Ellmore, a veteran, filmmaker, photojournalist, and activist, is convinced that cannabis can provide relief for veterans across multiple fronts. Ellmore set out to make a film highlighting the benefits of cannabis for vets. Unprescribed, which recently won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Film at the Los Angeles Motion Picture Festival, Best Feature Documentary at the 2019 Cannabis Culture Film Festival, and was the Be The Change Winner at the Colorado International Activism Film Festival, is his offering.

“The idea to make Unprescribed came after a couple of veterans asked me to document a marijuana grow that they were trying to establish in the Midwest,” explains Ellmore.

“At the time, I was working at the Pentagon, and as we all know, marijuana is illegal at the federal level. So, a lot of vets, like me, can’t use it without risking our jobs, even if it’s in a legal state. Of course, I was skeptical, but wanted to help them out. “

Ellmore began helping them while undertaking his own research into cannabis. In the process, he uncovered diverse ways that cannabis was assisting veterans, from PTSD to traumatic brain injuries. While the initial plans for documenting the marijuana grow got scratched, Ellmore became convinced of the therapeutic potential of cannabis for veterans.

“I began realizing that we had just been lied to all these years about the dangers of marijuana,” he reflects. “What stood out most was the idea that it could help reduce veteran suicides. For me, that was the personal connection.When I learned about the positive effects marijuana has on anxiety, I was determined that it needed to be taken off the federal drug schedule.”

Ellmore started filming in 2017 at the peak of the opioid crisis, and numerous veterans he encountered were on a mix of pain meds, antidepressants, SSRIs, and sleep meds. “It was turning them into zombies,” says Ellmore.

“For a lot of these guys, suicide seemed like the only escape from this fog they were under. Everywhere I went, the stories were the same. These guys were given boxes of pills each month, which took them further down the rabbit hole until someone suggested they try marijuana. And then, boom! Just like that, they felt normal again.”

Ellmore views Unprescribed as an advocacy tool — it’s a documentary that intends to ruffle feathers and blow open conversations about making cannabis accessible for veterans.

“The goal of the film is to remind the general public that cannabis is still inaccessible to a number of people, and to break the stigma in the hearts and minds of the American voter in hopes of influencing our lawmakers to remove it from the federal drug schedule,” Ellmore emphasizes.

With cannabis now legalized in 33 states, Ellmore laments that many assume the battle for legitimacy is over. For veterans who rely on veteran healthcare benefits, however, cannabis is off the table. The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) falls under the umbrella of federal law, which dictates that marijuana is a Schedule I controlled substance with no proven medical benefits. The VA website disavows cannabis as a treatment for PTSD and labels it harmful to veterans.

Research suggests otherwise, with several recent studies, such as this one, highlighting that cannabis can reduce the association between PTSD and severe depressive and suicidal states. That’s not to mention the host of other research that indicates its therapeutic potential in treating insomnia, anxiety, and chronic pain — conditions all commonly experienced by combat veterans.

In addition to Unprescribed’s efforts to foster awareness, advocacy groups such as the Veterans Cannabis Project and the Veterans Cannabis Coalition are springing up across the U.S. Their demands? That Congress authorize doctors to make medical cannabis available to veterans, and engage in ongoing research about its benefits.

Unprescribed is currently weaving its way through film festivals in the U.S. Follow the film on twitter to find out about upcoming screenings.

The post Unprescribed: Cannabis as a treatment for veterans appeared first on Flowertown.

As most of the country just got buried in a winter storm the Sunday after Thanksgiving, it appears as though there’s no two ways about it: Winter is here, whether you like it or not.

And, unlike Jon Snow, we know a thing or two. Especially about how to keep your skin healthy and happy during these harsh, dry winter months where you’re either huddled indoors or exposed to the elements in your outdoor adventures.

So we made a list of our favorite cannabis products for skincare that are especially helpful during this upcoming winter (and could make a good stocking stuffer or two, if we’re being honest).

The post FT Favorites: Three products your skin needs this winter appeared first on Flowertown.

Finding the right legal dispensary in Southern California can be like finding a needle in a haystack. Here are some of the top dispensaries that are great to visit with your skeptical folks, your stubborn aunt with back pain, friends from out of town, or just for some good holiday cheer.

Coast to Coast Collective

Opened in June of 2014, Coast to Coast Collective has five years of experience in the evolving cannabis industry, which makes their staff knowledgeable and helpful. The clean, modern aesthetic feels like you’re walking into a top-notch electronic store with well-lit display cases featuring just about every product you can think of. Coast to Coast offers up to 30 strains cultivated and cured from in-house master growers and cultivators under the name 3C Farms. Located in Canoga Park, in the San Fernando Valley, Coast to Coast is easy to get to and has ample amounts of parking in back. There’s a 15 percent discount for first-time shoppers, and daily deals are posted on the website.

Cornerstone Collective

In these days of mass retail cannabis, it’s refreshing to find a patient-focused collective. Cornerstone Collective has been providing patients with cannabis products and education since 2007. The staff pride themselves on being research and evidence-based when it comes to curating products, which means they’re very educated and more than willing to have a one-on-one discussion about your needs and how best to meet them. If you’re looking for an informative visit, and a variety of products focused on healing and wellness, this is a good stop. Cornerstone’s smaller size means you’ll get personal attention from the budtender, so you’ll be sure to get the goodies you’re looking for. Cornerstone Collective is in the Glendale/Eagle Rock area. First-time shoppers receive 15 percent off their total purchase.

The Kind Center

If you’re in Hollywood looking for merriment this holiday season, The Kind Center is full of great deals to stock up on. It offers great daily deals on certain types of products, and promotions like Munchie Monday (10 percent off edibles) or No Tax Thursday, which covers the tax portion of your bill (around 20 percent). Located in the heart of Hollywood, there are plenty of places near The Kind Center to explore after your visit — and if you’re staying in the area, delivery is available through the website. There’s a 15 percent off first-time discount, and if you visit on a Saturday, you can spin a deal wheel for prizes!

Bud and Bloom

If you find yourself in Santa Ana, or near Orange County, you have to stop by Bud and Bloom. It was named one of the most beautiful dispensaries by Leafly, and for good reason — its high ceilings, dark wood and brick decor are gorgeous. Bud and Bloom’s staff is super friendly, and products are displayed right in front of you so you can browse freely, and actually handle items, while budtenders guide you. There’s also an educational space for seminars and community talks with industry professionals and community members. First-time shoppers get 25 percent off, and there are daily deals with up to 20 percent off. All medical patients, seniors, veterans and students receive a 10 percent discount.

Look for more about where to find legal dispensaries near you on Flowertown.com.

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The majority of stories are about giving cannabis products as gifts. That’s reasonable and refreshing, but it’s not even close to the greatest contribution that cannabis can make to the holiday season: activating and nourishing the holiday spirit itself.

That frame of mind – an attitude of love, peace, playfulness, and spirituality – was once a predominant element of the holidays that far outshone commercialism, and was largely divorced from politics.

The holiday spirit brought together not only families, but all humankind, under the vast umbrella of Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, New Year’s Day, the Pagan Winter Solstice (also known as Yule), the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday (Mawlid, or Milad), and two primary holidays of Buddhists and Hindus, Bodhi Day and Dhanu Sankranti.

During the darkest days of winter, the human spirit shone brightest, with an abundance of holiday cheer. But these days, we feel more divided than ever. Memes about how stressful the holidays are or how toxic family can be are more popular on the internet than any exemplifying pure holiday spirit. No one seems happier during the holidays,  except for those who venerate Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

How can we revive this precious holiday spirit? Cannabis. It’s now a legal libation in many places — and it has long been a part of the holidays of many cultures.

Cannabis consumption on any day of the year inspires many of the fundamental feelings and philosophies that the traditional holidays do: love over fear, spiritualism over commercialism, generosity over greed, and unity over alienation.

Those transcendent choices may very well be why all human beings are wired with cannabinoid receptors. That trait of human neurology did not survive evolution merely to create commerce. The endocannabinoid system, and its interaction with cannabis, survived because it offers heightened awareness, greater relaxation, social comfort, relief from pain, sensory delight, and enhanced creativity.

Cannabinoid receptors stimulate and support cognition and mood-related brain chemistry, like the natural antidepressant anandamide, a word derived from Sanskrit that means “joy, bliss, and delight.”

This Santa-friendly brain chemical can also be triggered by the holidays, limited only by how many Grinches or drunk uncles you have to deal with, or the size of your VISA bill.  Anandamide, especially when acting in concert with its herbal cousin THC, triggers feedback and feed-forward mechanisms that turn happy experiences into biochemical well-being.

Using cannabis to celebrate the holidays creates a powerfully pleasant, self-perpetuating sense of cognition, or cannabis consciousness. A dovetailing of the holidays and herbal sacraments validates both, acknowledging each experience as a key to a gratifying life.

One of the most exciting features of cannabis consciousness is its veritable superpower to help you see old things in a new light, and experience old actions in a new way.

That amazing act of perceptual plasticity is most often found in children, for whom everything is new, from one moment to the next. That newness is what makes childhood so mesmerizing and memorable, and it’s never more thrilling than during the magic of the winter holidays, with the celebration of life the way it should be — happy songs, and colored lights glancing off moonlit snow, accompanied by the aroma of baking bread, the joy of toys, and the presence of the people you love most.  That childhood feeling of your face pink and cold from skating and sledding. And gleeful anticipation so strong it hurts.

Unfortunately, we’re often told during our early years that the happiness of childhood is fleeting, so we eventually enforce that perception upon ourselves. At that point, some of us cave into the sad notion that “Christmas is for kids.”

But the feelings of newness and “nowness” can be evoked with cannabis – ritualistically, recreationally, or medically.

The holidays can be our gift to ourselves if we choose to accept it.  When we do, the outcome can be a perfect interlacing of time, place, purpose, and person.

Is it artificial?  No, not if it happens. Feelings are real. They’re no less real than the grandest moments of your childhood, when you knew at a gut level that life could be good.

That heightened awareness awakens the sense of wonder and newness in all of us, connecting us to our inner child. Of all the benefits that cannabis confers, helping us to find the lost child within us is its greatest.

So remember: sometimes it’s not the child within you that awakens newness. It’s newness, through the wizardry of cannabis, that finds your inner child.

For many baby boomers, Gen-Xers, and older millennials, this holiday season, brightened by all that legal cannabis offers, can become a time of reunion with the feeling that life is new every day. That feeling wasn’t an illusion of youth. It happened, and it can happen again if you let it.

Stand outside on a starry night with the cannabis of your choice, and make it your mission to reconnect with your younger self, free from the cares of the world.

Let the plant help you tap into your inner joy and explore different ways of thinking. While you may think that humbug feeling is synonymous with “adulthood,” it is never too late to reconnect with pure holiday cheer. One hundred and seventy-five years ago, Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote a reminder that the dream of remaking your world is possible:

“The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks;
The long day wanes;
The slow moon climbs;
The deep moans ’round
With many voices.
Come, my friends,
‘Tis not too late to seek a newer world.”

The post Feeling humbug? Here’s how to tap into your holiday cheer appeared first on Flowertown.

Jamil and his mom

My 80-year-old mom was so opposed to cannabis until she was in so much pain with Arthritis that she finally agreed to try it to help with her pain. Cannabis has brought us closer because I can openly talk about it with her….we go to the dispensary together, and she has become an advocate along my side. It is one more thing that we can talk about together. And I love seeing the positive effects it has had for her.

I have also seen my relationship grow a little stronger with my nephew now that we have cannabis in common. We talk more about our experiences with different products. He was the first to tell me about the recent news with the MLB and cannabis. All in all, our conversations always start or end with some sort of cannabis experience.

Scott and his aunt When I first moved to California, I was still in the closet about my cannabis use, and moving into my aunt and uncle's house, with two high school-aged cousins, meant it needed to stay that way. However, that all changed when my other aunt, Diana, asked me if I smoked 'pot' and where I got it from. Taken aback, I sheepishly said that I did use cannabis and that I got it from a friend of a friend who owned a dispensary.

From then on, I was Diana's cannabis guide--helping her shop, purchasing for her, and listening to her feedback on her experiences. She had used pot when she was younger but, like many of her generation, was rediscovering the brave new world of cannabis in California. She has yet to graduate from 'the sleepy one' to 'indica,' but she has tried enough things to have a preference for vaporizers, topicals, and occasionally flower.

Likely she would be on the edibles band-wagon if it were not for an unfortunate incident involving a 70mg Cheeba Chew and her assumptions about serving sizes. Shopping for her became easier as I learned her preferences, but grew tiresome as we would run out at different rates, resulting in me bugging my friend more often.

Eventually, got our medical cards together. We went straight from the doctor's office to a dispensary, and we were blown away by the variety of products. I doubt she would have taken to in-person shopping so quickly if I had not accompanied her that first time, but shopping is something of a hobby for her. She took to it quickly, often informing me of new products recommended to her by her favorite budtender.

While we haven’t smoked together, we often compare our individual experiences, and occasionally I am still able to give her a good recommendation to help tailor her regimen to better reach her desired benefits. Introducing her to cannabis topicals, for example, helped her tremendously with her newly budding Arthritis, and tinctures have become part of her nightly ritual for better sleep.

I have enjoyed helping her along her cannabis journey, and for a time, it was our little secret among the family. Today I feel our bonding over this previously off-limits topic has elevated the maturity of our relationship, helping both of us see each other as equal, individual adults rather than through a generational, family power dynamic.
Sometimes we get in ruts with the people we love. We talk weather and to-dos, then regret we never got around to the deep stuff. Given that recent studies show cannabis increases empathy, it’s no surprise that cannabis has been used to wiggle out of that rut and create deeper connections within families. Whether it’s my aunt or older cousin, sharing a pre-roll has brought on more profound conversations than I ever had with those relatives before.

For better or worse, the holidays are the time to spend with family. As legalization sweeps the country, more families are incorporating cannabis into their festivities--or at the very least, getting a tad more comfortable talking about it. We asked our Flowertown team to share about a time when cannabis brought them closer to a loved one or facilitated a conversation they wouldn’t have otherwise had. The stories they shared illustrate how cannabis can unite a dinner table in an increasingly divided world. Click on a staff member's photo to check our their story below. Crossing family divides with cannabis Mason and his parents "Honey, come quick. Our son is about to smoke his first bowl!" My first time smoking cannabis was with my parents when I was eighteen after my first year of college.

My folks had an amazing balance of being responsibly open-minded. Being products of the 60s, they embraced the "love your neighbor" and activism for your fellow man vibes but broke the "lazy hippy" stereotypes. My Dad works as a respiratory therapist full-time at the hospital in town while my mom runs and owns the local coffee shop, all the while using cannabis nearly their entire lives!

Growing up hearing their psychedelic stories made me respect the nostalgia while also still head caution of those "we were young and dumb" moments. Yet they never revealed their daily cannabis use to me until that summer. I was none the wiser. Aspiring to be a musician and singer, I avoided smoking and drug use at all costs, especially cigarettes. Although my parents never taught me that cannabis was a drug or that it was "bad," they instead provided me an open-minded aspect of moderation with common sense. "If you ever want to try it, try it with us first." Well, that is exactly what ended up happening.

Coming home from my first year of college, I had still never smoked anything or done any recreational drugs except for alcohol. Catching up on the back porch with some friends of mine and my folks, my southern raised Momma interrupts my lengthy rambling and says, "Do you want to smoke a bowl with us, son?" I was speechless. My only response was honest "Sure!... Okay!" At that time, we hear my Pops say, "Alright! Bout time!" as he jumps off the couch in the living room and stumbles outside to join in on rotation. They taught me how to corner my bowl to save the green part of the flower for the next persons hit, how to use the glassware properly, and even how to budget and plan out my stash all that night and it was such a blast! After that, when I would be home for summers, we would have morning rituals of "coffee and bongs" or "bedtime bongs" at night, all bonding together in the living room. It eventually became part of our daily lives, where it made yard work fun, music more profound, and brought us closer as a family.
Nick Flora and his in-law

Last visit home, I had a conversation with my sibling and his wife about how there is a lot more scientific research going into the medicinal benefits surrounding cannabis. About ten years ago, his wife was diagnosed with a rare inner-ear disease called Meniere's disease. Without going into great detail, when one has Meniere's, they are often plagued with horrible dizzy spells and hearing loss. I've seen first-hand how this condition can worsen over the years.

We have never really talked in depth of my career and interest in cannabis. Perhaps due to the long term stigma attached to the plant. However, in recent months we've started talking about how cannabis could be a possibility in helping relieve some of her symptoms. Historically, they fall on the ultra-conservative side of most things, including cannabis. However, as more research comes out, and after our conversations, they are both opening up the idea of obtaining a medical card and consulting with budtenders in their area. For me, it's important to offer up helpful cannabis resources to friends and family, and by doing so, it's opened up the door for more communication and ultimately, relationship growth.

Nik and his father My dad and I stuck to our family roles to a T. My dad played the father and I played the son. We were very close but never considered him a friend. Once I turned 18, my dad and I shared our first pre-roll together and he started opening up about his past and life lessons he’s learned. We shared a lot of laughs and ever since then I felt like I could truly call him my friend. We update each other on our lives and ask each other for advice ETC. He’s one of my best friends and cannabis helped us open up to each other to get out of the father-son roles we played.

I always thought of my dad as a pretty perfect person and it made me think about how I can live up to that and/or surpass that and make him acknowledge my achievements. After this talk, I realized he has messed up a lot in his life as well and he’s not the perfect being I thought he was and it’s okay to not be.
Mandana and her childhood pet When my usually spry family cat, Spartapuss—or Sparty—became lethargic and immobile, we expected the worst.

Sparty made a surprise appearance into our lives when my godmother, who was a second mother to me, died suddenly of pancreatic cancer. He was a beacon of light when everything fell apart. He made the darkest time feel a little lighter.

But his was a seemingly overnight deterioration from an affectionate little being to an incapacitated cat we hardly knew. Taking him to the vet, his prognosis was “persistent arthritis” attacking most of his joints, from nose to tail. The vet could operate, but it’s a recurring condition, so it was futile digging a hole just to have it filled again.

An impained Sparty quickly degenerated, his plaintive meows permeating every waking moment, even through his sleep.

My family and I furiously searched for antidotes for his pain. One solution was high-dose morphine adjacent pain medicine. It was difficult to tell if this helped Sparty, since the potent medicine left him in an impenetrable daze, making him even more sedentary than before.

There was talk of end of life planning for him. There were arguments. There were tears. I couldn’t fathom losing him after only eight years.

My recommendation was CBD. My parents were split on this solution, but what they did agree on was that in his condition, Spartapuss had zero quality of life.

We administered the CBD oil to Sparty every day, which was met with great resistance from him. After my mom tasted the CBD and found it to be bitter and generally revolting, we found a nearly flavorless variety that was met with far less contention.

Within a week, Sparty experienced great progress. In two weeks, there was extreme progress, and at the three-week mark, the vet noticed the arthritis actually receding! Today, Sparty has been taking CBD oil every day for two years, and is back to the same cat he was before his diagnosis. We’re so glad to have our little furball still in the family. Brandon and his parents It doesn't matter what age you are; your parents will always have an opinion on what your career path is. So when I decided to quit my job as an executive running production at a large ad agency to start a cannabis business, I fully expected a family meltdown. I just had my first child a few months prior, so my parents had already cocooned into full-blown protective grandparents. I thought nothing good could come out of the conversation I was about to have with them one evening over dinner at a local Italian place we had been going to since I was a kid. I figured my mother couldn't make a scene in front of people who had known us for thirty years, so the location seemed ideal.

I went into the conversation expecting eye rolls and judgmental soundbites. What I got instead was my parents confessing how my father ran an illegal cannabis grow in a Long Beach warehouse in the '80s. It turns out his aerospace company was hit hard by the recession, and his love for engineering turned into a passion for growing cannabis to save our house from being foreclosed. He operated it for several years before his aerospace business was able to turn things around. Instead, I spent the evening helping my father find a box of blueprints documenting his grow and learning how he hooked up motion detectors to shut off the power to the grow operation if the police came by to check the electricity meters on the outside of the building. It was nothing but happiness and encouragement, leading to a wonderful openness on all things cannabis throughout my entire family.
Kyle and his parents I grew up with a fairly normal life. My parents were always very supportive of me and all-around amazing role models in my life. They were always supportive, even when I decided to become an art major and get tattoos as a teenager, which traditionally could be areas of concern for some parents. But the one thing that always made it hard for me to communicate with my parents was some of their values. I grew up in a very involved Christian household. I myself was involved for a very long time, but their views on certain things (like cannabis) weren’t necessarily the same as mine. I could never talk to my parents about cannabis, drinking or even sex; that is until I took my first job in cannabis. Working in the field allowed me to open up conversations I would have never had with my parents before. I was able to tell them that I occasionally liked to partake in cannabis. I feel that admission brought us a lot closer together, and opened up a line of communication we didn’t have before. It allowed me to hear their opinions on the topic as well, where we could talk about this as adults in a neutral, objective way. Talking cannabis was also a great way to open up other traditionally taboo topics within the Church, like drinking, sex, politics, which I would have never been able to do before our discussion around cannabis.
Michael and his brothers I have two younger brothers. They're twins, so they bickered. As the oldest, I played judge and mediator. In their eyes, my extra two years provided me unparalleled wisdom, making my word law. At least, on the playground. Even years after, they always came to me with questions, and as the older brother, I would of course, always have the answer.
But as we grew older, things changed. As years passed, they proved better suited for the structure and expectations of academic life. While I may have been a model student at one point, by high school I was burnt out-- more interested in personal creative pursuits and social engagements.

One of my brothers went to Stanford, the other was making full salaries at summer programming internships before I'd even graduated college myself. We'd talk, but I'd realized long ago they didn't need my advice anymore. I felt pride; that all these people saw the same intelligence and drive in them that I did. But also a little sad that my brothers would never need my advice like they once had, again.

So it was a heartwarming surprise when they both came to me, independently of each other, about advice and information when it came to cannabis. They knew I had more experience and when they began to experiment, they felt safest coming to me. I was glad to offer what I'd learned about harm reduction and how to avoid some rookie pitfalls but mostly, I was just glad that even after all they've accomplished, they still sought their big brother out for guidance.

We don't get to partake together often because we're geographically separated. Winter holidays with the family are our only opportunity and there's nothing I look forward to more than sharing stories, maybe some edibles, and just feeling like kids again.
Tom and his dad In 2014 I was a Ski Instructor at Vail Mountain Resort. My dad came out on a ski trip with his friends. We went to Native Roots Dispensary in Eagle-Vail, which was his first dispensary visit. I remember we mostly purchased edibles. I had a really fun trip skiing with him and his buddies. After a few nights of partaking together, it showed me a more vulnerable side of these adults I’ve looked up to since I was a kid. I think it was that weekend my Dad and I crossed the line in our relationship where we went from father-son to peers who can respect each other.
Sarah and her aunts I have a big Irish Catholic family, so our family get-togethers often revolve around drinking, betting, and partying. Being inebriated together is perhaps the longest standing family tradition. This always makes for a great time and even better people-watching because you never know what will happen next: a fight may break out or a boisterous impression of another relative may ensue. You simply never know.

But when weed is involved with the small circle of us in the family who partake, I know what to expect. It’s a small circle of aunts and uncles who have rediscovered cannabis in their older age. One aunt even has a farm in Michigan, complete with extraction equipment. In those small moments when we sneak away to smoke on a back porch or outside a wedding venue, I’ve gotten some insights into my family history that I may have never known without these little asides with my cannabis-friendly relatives. We talk about how everything was different when they were growing up, and how that translated to my upbringing. I can ask questions about our family that may be uncomfortable for my parents to answer. They ask me how I intend to save the world and change perspectives, and we brainstorm options together. These are the things I’ve come to expect in these moments in these circles.

At a recent wedding I attended in Colorado, my aunt pulled me aside and offered up a pre-roll. Coming from a mid-western family, everyone my age is getting married and having children. It was a weekend filled with questions about my future, but not a future I wanted. Distant relatives asked, “so when are we coming to your wedding?” It was stressful and frustrating because I’ve chosen a different path that doesn’t involve those traditional pillars of success. As we enjoyed the joint on a lawn by the venue, my aunt admitted to me she was a bit envious of her daughter and me. She pined to be young at this time in history and have more options than “get married.”

From afar, she always had a very happy marriage and I still believe that is the case. But in this small moment over a pre-roll, she shared some regret about marrying so young and committing to someone else without knowing who she was first. She explained how even the happiest of marriages can feel stifling at times. It was an unexpected respite from the probing questions that lay ahead of me that weekend.

She gave me the reassurance that I was on the right path for me, and the courage to take a road less traveled when it came to family expectations. As we finished the pre-roll, she concluded her long-winded speech by saying, “I hope you know everyone in this family is behind you, even if they don’t show it. Even if they aren’t alive anymore. Know that they are with you and they support you.” She didn’t know it, and neither did I until she said it out loud--but I needed to hear that. For me, that moment was a true testament to the remarkable healing that can occur with this small but significant plant.

The post Crossing family divides with cannabis appeared first on Flowertown.

Of the many terrific byproducts of legal cannabis, perhaps the best is that consumers no longer have to deal with buying untested products from the illicit market. In states with legal weed, those days are long gone.

As the industry continues to evolve, luxury products like gold-plated bongs and vegan organic edibles are making their way to market. That’s right: legal cannabis has led to regal cannabis.

Of course, the cannabis industry shouldn’t ever discriminate — and fortunately, there are plenty of affordable options out there — but the demands of high-end consumers are being met as well.

So check out some of our picks for the best high-end cannabis products on the market. One could come in handy for the upcoming holiday season if you’re trying to treat your loved one to some swanky dank, guaranteed to provide a luxury cannabis experience.

1. Lowell Farms Pre-Rolls

The Santa Barbara-based Lowell Farms, has been making smoke in the cannabis industry for years by mastering the art of the joint. Their specialized pre-rolled joints, known for their captivating design, vintage-style packaging, and green-tipped matches, are sleek and sexy. Check out Lowell’s selection of luxury pre-rolls here. All joints are packed with top-quality flower, in a crafty box with a compartment for matches.

2. Beboe Pastilles

Beboe is a luxury brand specializing in high-end cannabis products. Beboe pastilles, which come in Inspired (sativa) or Downtime (indica) options, are delicious candied edibles that contain 5mg of THC and 3mg of CBD. Made with cold-water processed hash, they provide a clean, subtle, euphoric high. You can find these luxury cannabis items at the High End, tucked away on the fifth floor of Barney’s in Beverly Hills, a specialty retailer renowned for featuring the world’s top designers. That’s a fancy place to buy edibles.

3. Sensi Luxury 14k Rose Gold Vape Pen

Sensi Luxury Vapes bring consumers luxurious vaporizers with flawless quality and eye-catching features. Of their many appealing offerings, their 14k Rose Gold Luxury Vape Pen is designed for the vaping connoisseur to produce deliver highly potent clean vapor in a sleek, discreet manner. It’s perfectly sized for your pocket — and with its 14k rose-gold plated finish, it pairs nicely with a Rolex.

4. Aura Waterpipe

This high-end smoking apparatus could be displayed on the coffee table of a Beverly Hills mansion. Not your typical bong or bubbler, its beautiful, innovative design starts with the tapered glass chamber and is topped off with a matte black mouthpiece and downstem that enhances each hit. Plus, the mouthpiece has a hidden storage area for your lighter. Take a look here.

5. Printabowl

Printabowl creates 3D-printed “elevation instruments” for smoking cannabis. The Printabong water pipe provides a spacious full-color customizable canvas, which allows you to personalize high-quality American glass pieces with art of your choice. It has a beaker base that accommodates huge hits, and a built-in ice catcher to ensure it pulls cool and steady. This could be the ideal gift if you are looking to go super-personal. Check out the details here.

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