Sniff Sniff, I swear that it is not lost on me how pretentious I look when I am at the dispensary. If you had asked me just a year and a half ago, I would have known nothing about cannabis. I mean…. Other than that, I smoked a lot of it. I have smoked cannabis that was a brick filled with seeds to some of the most crystalline beautiful buds that I have ever seen, but still knew not a thing.
Cannabis has been used as a medication for thousands of years, it is literally a plant, provided by mother earth that interacts with an internal bodily system that EVERYONE HAS. What do I know though? Must be a co-winky-dink.
When I got my medical card I was stoked, suddenly the cannabis world was my oyster, I went directly for the edibles. The first edibles I EVER bought legally were the Heartland SweetStone Blue Raspberry edibles. I remember sitting in the office wondering why the 10mg edible I had taken hadn’t kicked in. It felt like it had been hours, so I did what any sane person would do, I took two more. While the rest of that is a story for another time, this is when I realized that maybe it was time to learn more.
Upon launching the blog, my knowledge was still incredibly basic, I knew that there was indica, hybrid, and sativa, as well as what that meant for me. Then I decided to 180 and just say f it and join the industry. My first industry job I worked with a girl named Abi, she was freaking awesome, her passion for terpenes really made me want to know everything about them. She was the first person to teach me that the classifications of “Sativa, Hybrid, and Indica” were sorely outdated and didn’t actually tell you much of anything.
The more I learned about terpenes, the more I learned about what terpenes my body could tolerate, which mix of them was best for me. What I hadn’t heard was the “Nose Knows”. This is probably one of the most valuable pieces of information that I could impart on you guys. TRUST YOUR NOSE.
These days I can go into a dispensary, look at the terp profile and have a basic understanding on how the strain is going to make me feel. Getting to that point though I had a lot to learn. This process, though time consuming and often tedious, is made much easier by a patient journal. Keeping track of the strains, percentages, amounts, terpenes, and method of consumption is something that can truly help you consume intentionally. I was only about halfway through my journal when I heard the magic words, it was on an episode of “The Feels” with Professor Jeff aka The Cultivar Cowboy, aka the Linalool Lepherchan. I was watching this particular episode and the words “The Nose Knows” came out and my initial reaction was to say… “What?” So I did what I do best, I read.
How is it that I hadn’t correlated the smell of the terpenes to which products I was buying. It was already something that I was already doing, but not intentionally. I began allowing my nose to guide me, if I couldn’t smell it, I probably wasn’t buying it. This lasted for months and I learned way more about myself and my endocannabinoid system than I could have ever imagined. The terpenes that I decided weren’t for me have surprised me and become some of my favorites and go to’s. I no longer just go for heavy and sedating highs, I now know that I can use uplifting terpenes during the day to help me focus and remain on track. It is truly phenomenal.
I would highly recommend letting your nose be your guide, your nose is directly connected to your endocannabinoid system. It knows exactly what your body will respond well to. Its so incredible that it almost feels too good to be true.
Terpenes are truly the road map of your high, it will bring you up, it will bring you down, there will be strains that relieve pain and others that make you eat your way through your kitchen. Cannabis is truly such an wonderful plant and medicine, I can’t wait to share more with you!
Til Next Time
The STL Stoner Mom
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