A sense of community for older cannabis users

Yesterday my husband and I went wine tasting at a local vineyard. Such a hard life.

We ended up chatting with the winemaker, who looked to be a Boomer like us. He was talking about his bumper crop of Meyer lemons, so I mentioned my homemade Meyer Lemon-Ginger Drink. I was going to leave it at that, but then I thought, hey, cannabis is legal. I told him I added cannabis tincture to it and drank a shot every morning like vitamin juice.

His eyes lit up, and he started to whisper. Then he stopped. Oh, he said, we don’t have to whisper anymore! We spent the next 30 minutes talking about tincture recipes and edibles you can make at home. Somehow it makes sense a winemaker would be into cannabis concoctions.

This was the first time I’ve had a public conversation with anyone about using cannabis, and it felt great to have that sense of community, the sense we are all in this together, just doing our best to figure out how to deal with life, health and the crap that happens to your body as you get older.

Pain, insomnia and anxiety are among the many ailments that can impact our ability to feel wonderful, especially as we age. I started using cannabis after I retired to treat post-mastectomy pain. Small doses fixed me right up and left me feeling happier than I knew was possible. Like, wow, is this how I was supposed to feel all along?

Although I like cannabis tea and have written about it here and here, I also bought a PAX 2 vaporizer, which is quite small and ideal for microdosing. The PAX 2 vaporizes dried herb, which is the good old-fashioned pot most of us are familiar with.

My PAX is perfect and beautiful – I bought silver to match my hair. I had to buy a little tool to grind the flowers, but that’s it. You put the ground up herb in the chamber, press a button and the PAX heats up. When the lights are green, it’s ready. I just take two or three small puffs and then turn it off again. I purchased the PAX and the grinder at a local smoke shop, but you can easily get everything you need online.

The hardest part is figuring out which strain of cannabis to buy. I found one strain that eases pain and anxiety and another one that gives me energy and focus. This weekend I’ll be trying one that purportedly helps with sleep. I do have my beloved sleep tea, but I’d like options.

It’s different everywhere you live, but California makes it easy. I still have not set foot in an actual dispensary. I order from a website, and they deliver it to my house. You even get a free sample called the Early Bird Special if you order before noon! Who knew I’d retire and start loving the Early Bird Special?

Yes, I am now a cannabis advocate. It’s crazy to say it in my outside voice, because there’s still this perception cannabis users are part of a seedy drug culture. That is changing. Surveys now show most Americans favor legalizing marijuana. And more of us are using it in a mindful way that defies the image of stoners with bongs as big as Atlanta.

If you haven’t checked out my Retirement Confidential FaceBook page, I urge you to go there and maybe even Follow or Like it. I post additional content on FB that doesn’t make it onto the blog – articles about baby boomers using cannabis and other stories about aging, eating well and otherwise loving life.

Wouldn’t it be great to find our tribe and be part of a community where we can go and feel connected with other open-minded people who want to age with health, happiness and possibly cannabis?