This story comes from Dara, a member of our community who moved to another state so her and her husband could have easy access to legal cannabis for health and wellness. Here is her story.
By: Dara S.
I’m pinching myself as I write this because it almost feels surreal.
We did it, we made it. Marijuana is legal where I live and I don’t have to hide my use anymore.
Within the last year or so, I have dived deep into the world of cannabis.
As a young child, I remember my mom and stepfather used to smoke in our basement, my mom being a cigarette smoker, I thought nothing of it.
I had no idea at the time but would later find out they were smoking marijuana.
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I was in several extracurricular activities as a child, and participated heavily in D.A.R.E.
I don’t know what the programs are like today, and what is spoken regarding marijuana, but I’m in hopes that it is more educational and advanced now that there is more information available.
I’m originally from Mississippi, where weed is still illegal, and decriminalized with plenty of work still to do.
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CBD is on the rise, although still new to most people there, with a lot of skepticism on the legalization of marijuana.
There are efforts in place for it to be legal for both medical and recreational use, but I don’t know how soon it’s going to happen.
As a teenager, I never tried cannabis although I can recall several situations where I was around when it was being smoked.
I always thought I just wasn’t a smoker because I tried a cigarette at 16 and almost tossed my cookies.
Throughout my life, I’ve attempted to correct what were depression and/or ADD/ADHD with medications prescribed by medical doctors, as a child, and as an adult.
No medication ever worked without some extreme side effects. I refuse to have to take other medications to suppress what side effects the previous pill caused.
I did not want that life.
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I owe a lot of marijuana advocacy to my husband. For the first few years of our relationship, he had graduated from college and sometime after began to smoke weed with friends or relatives, recreationally.
We quickly began to see the medicinal benefits it had on him, as we had not been as educated as we are now on the positive effects on the body.
Cannabis has helped my husband tremendously in more ways than one, overall it has improved his mental and emotional health, along with aiding in gastrointestinal issues that were once medicated.
His passion for marijuana has only grown being an environmental scientist, and he continues to study the cultivation and strain benefits.
He has a very organic approach towards growing, and uses the same practices when we grow our own vegetables. We always maintain a wonderful garden.
I was around marijuana consistently for almost four years before finally trying it myself.
I never thought I “needed” it and honestly the idea of being high scared the hell out of me.
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I hated the spinning feeling of being drunk and I thought smoking weed would do the same thing to me, but I would later find out how wrong I was.
I remember sitting on my couch the day I got fired from my job that I poured my heart and soul in for two years.
I thought my world had ended, I stressed myself out over that job, worked endless hours, and all of that had been for nothing.
We were on the brink of moving one hour away for work and making plans when I took my first hit out of a one-hitter pipe.
I don’t think I got super high, but I did feel a wave of relaxation and just.. calm. I had never felt that way before.
I always felt wound-up, anxious and nervous, but for once, I didn’t.
From that point on I kind of made up a schedule in which I would smoke, similar to that of medication.
Coming home from work after a long, busy or stressful work day and lighting up a joint is one of the best things to me and really helps me wind down and let the day go.
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It was very difficult to utilize marijuana living in an illegal state. You don’t know what strain you are getting, where it was grown, what was used during the cultivation process, so many different factors.
You run the risk of being caught by law enforcement and getting a misdemeanor charge, thus potentially affecting your job, and in the state of Mississippi, your driver’s license can actually be suspended for any drug charges, including drug paraphernalia.
The scariest part about buying marijuana in an illegal state is that it could be laced with drugs that can kill you.
On top of the dangers that come with purchasing cannabis, it always felt like someone was watching you.
It almost wasn’t even comfortable smoking at home, in the privacy of our house, or property, living in a rural area on two acres.
After using marijuana, and seeing the benefits that others have found, it no longer made sense to live in a place where we couldn’t utilize the healing benefits of a plant that is grown from the earth beneath our feet.
So with many other reasons in addition to this, we made a plan to move.
Getting to a legal state was only ¾’s of the battle. While I am very much relieved to be able to walk in a business and know what I’m buying, helping a small business, and do something I feel is every human’s right, to use cannabis to their own benefit in whichever way they see fit.
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I still feel the need to educate people back home. I enjoy posting on social media, talking about the different strains and their uses, along with all things cannabis!
I’m hoping to help normalize the use of marijuana and specifically for women. I love to learn and help others learn!
I’m hoping I’ll inspire and advocate for a plant that will be available sooner than later in my home state, but until then, I’m going to live a peaceful life with my peace pipe.
My favorite part of the morning is my coffee & cannabis.
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Dara is a writer and cannabis activist who writes about how she uses the plant for health and wellness. You can find out more about her work by visiting her on Instagram.