Is Weed The New Booze?
Is Weed The New Booze?
Inside an American cannabis farm and the perception shift from drug to plant medicine. Plus, advice from Fran Lebowitz.
On this exact day two years ago, alcohol put me in a coma. I can count on one hand how many drinks I’ve had since. Do I miss alcohol? Not one bit (more on that later). Probably because I’ve replaced it with another substance: weed.
Back home in Toronto, where cannabis has been legal for six years now, it feels like there’s a weed shop on every block. While I smoked casually as a teenager, as an adult approaching weed strategically in search of some stress-relief, I was initially intimidated walking into these shops. I found one with a couple employees who know their stuff, and after learning the basics, I figured out what works best for me: indica-dominant strains with a near 1:1 THC to CBD ratio.
If you’re like I used to be and don’t know what that means, here’s a quick breakdown. Cannabis contains hundreds of cannabinoids, which bind to the cannabinoid receptors in our body. The two cannabinoids that we pay attention to in cannabis are THC—delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, which gets us high—and CBD—cannabidiol—which has no psychoactive effect and is used more therapeutically. The ratio of THC and CBD determines the strength of the high. The higher the ratio of CBD to THC, the less high the weed will get you. Strains of weed typically fall into one of three categories: indica, sativa and hybrid. Indica has more of a relaxing and sedating effect, sativa is more energizing and helps with focus while hybrid is a combination of the two.
In the years since I last lived in New York City in my early 20s, weed has become legal. So when I moved back last year and immediately noticed all the weed shops, I was optimistic that New York’s weed scene would be comparable to Toronto’s. But once I started shopping, I was quickly disappointed. I noticed weed shops here fall into one of two categories. There are the less official-looking ones (illegal) where I can’t really be confident I’m getting what’s advertised on the label. And the official-looking shops (legal) where I feel better about what I’m putting in my body but worse about my bank balance.
Why would I spend $30 USD on a single preroll that may or may not be good weed when I could be paying $10 USD for a 5-pack of good quality, legal pre-rolls in Canada. I’ve been smoking less in the last year because I just can’t justify the expense. As a result, cannabis has become this enticing substance I miss. So when this mysteriously fancy new weed shop opened not far from me called The Travel Agency, I immediately tried to check it out. I didn’t have ID on me so I wasn’t allowed in and I’ve been intrigued ever since. Then, like magic, they landed in my inbox, inviting me upstate to check out of one of their suppliers, Hudson Cannabis, this week. I immediately said yes.
For sisters Melany and Freya Dobson, weed was a normal part of their childhood. Their father, a farmer, started growing cannabis in the 1980s when he brought seeds from California. Both their dad and their brother were stewards of organic, regenerative farming, and they were inspired to follow in their family’s footsteps by combining their family’s love for cannabis with their regenerative approach. In March 2022, they were awarded one of the first cultivation and processor licenses in the state and began transitioning their agricultural farm to organically grown weed.
While it was my first time touring a cannabis farm, so much of what they told us about their planting strategy sounded familiar, as I have been to many regenerative farms. While illicit cannabis production is typically indoors and done with little care for the environment, Hudson Cannabis knows that giving back to the soil actually leads to a better yield. Instead of chemical pesticides, they use different plants that attract pests to deter them away from the cannabis plant. They lay wood mulch over the soil to create a highly fungal environment. as fungi breaks down minerals and cannabis is a mineral-rich plant, eliminating the need to use any fertilizers to stimulate growth. The idea that mineral-rich soil grows better weed is logical—we know healthier soil leads to more nutrient-rich plants of any kind.
The surrounding terroir affects the taste and quality of the weed, just like wine. How had I never considered this? The Hudson Cannabis farmer tells us that weed grown indoors causes a spike that doesn’t last, while weed grown outdoors, organically, not only tastes better but has a longer-lasting high. As we get deeper into the tour, moving from the outdoor crops to the indoor drying room, I notice my perception of weed change—away from a drug towards an edible plant.
The melange of scents emanating from the drying room is one of the most appetizing aromas I’ve ever encountered. It’s salty and sweet and funky; it smells like you just came home to mom cooking something delicious in the kitchen. “This is wedding pie combined with juicy jersey, it’s fruity and cakey,” the farmer explains, holding up the cannabis plant. Later, we learn that people who work in the infusion stage of cannabis production often come from a culinary background. This farm even has a couple Michelin-starred chefs. Creating the perfect flower is not unlike creating the perfect dish.
Like both the wine and culinary industry, leadership in the cannabis market is dominated by white men. The difference from wine is that cannabis has been weaponized against communities of color. According to the ACLU, Black people are 3.73 times more likely than white people to be arrested for marijuana. In 2020, people of color comprised 94 percent of those arrested for marijuana in New York City. But there are efforts to change. The Travel Agency is female-founded and prioritizes BIPOC-, LGBTQIA- and female-owned cannabis brands (marked by labels on all their products) and hiring people who have been formerly incarcerated for marijuana. The latter point is something I’ve noticed at many cannabis stores across the city—they tend to be owned or staffed by people who have experienced cannabis-related injustices (a cruel irony but an encouraging sign of where we’re heading).
Something the Hudson Cannabis farmer said this week that I keep returning to: “cannabis is a plant.” It reminds me of the cannabis psychedelic retreat I went on this summer in northern Ontario. In the days leading up to the “plant ceremony,” we were repeatedly reminded that cannabis is a medicinal plant Indigenous folks have been using for centuries. In this context, it’s hard not to see weed as the less harmful of substances when compared to alcohol.
Still, like any substance, I worry about addiction. They say cannabis is not addictive, but we all know someone who has become dependent on it. That being said, for every person I’ve known who “can’t live without” weed (what I consider to be the criteria for determining whether you’re addicted to something), I know several more who would say they can’t live without alcohol. I also know people who have died from alcoholism, while I don’t know anyone who has died from weed addiction. (These are anecdotal assessments but there are hard stats in the listening section below).
I expressed my own fears of becoming addicted to a fellow journalist at the cannabis farm this week over dinner, and she told me of a friend who, when trying to ween off weed, found herself struggling to enjoy food sober. Weed enhances everything, so life feels pretty banal without it. We both agreed that not every moment needs to be incredible. Maybe we’re choosing to get high more because our expectations of how daily life should feel are too high. It’s ok to be bored, to not make every experience extra.
I came away from the cannabis farm this week feeling enlightened (and I hadn’t even smoked). Like anything (or vice)—wine, food, travel, shopping—we can improve the moral implications of our consumer choices by choosing brands that are doing it right. There is a big difference between shopping at SHEIN vs. Patagonia or buying a meal at McDonalds vs. Sweetgreen, when it comes to both the quality and environmental impact. How could we not expect the same of weed? When I consider cannabis done right—produced legally and organically—it’s much easier to think of it as plant medicine, and less as a dangerous drug.
Best,
Anna
Published 📝
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Reading 📖
🧖♀️ Is the wellness era over?
🍄 Microdosing is the new happy hour.
🤳Annihilation of the selfie.
📺 Should famous people be telling us this much about their illnesses?
“Ultimately few sick people will be helped by the idea that in order for illness to be acceptable, it must be conquered. The arc of such stories can only create more pressure and alienation for people living with chronic sickness or disability.” - Mireille Silcofff
🗞 The final flight of the airline magazine and the rising popularity of Costco’s magazine.
📸 Where did our 2004 photos go?
😂 Martha Stewart gives her own Netflix documentary a scalding review.
“The trial and the actual incarceration was less than two years out of an 83-year life. I considered it a vacation, to tell you the truth.” - Martha Stewart.
Watching 📺
As I’m thinking about the election this week, my mind keeps returning to Fran Lebowitz’s Town Hall a few weeks ago. What the show lacked in visual performance, it made up for in laughs. Here were the quotes I loved enough to write down:
In response to the question of whether Fran likes Kamala Harris:
“Why do we have to like them [politicians]? You’re not going to meet them. The only people you’re supposed to like are your friends. For doctors and presidents, the question is whether they’re good, not whether you like them.”
On the problematic electoral college:
“I fly back and forth to L.A. 500 times a year and unlike most passengers, I look outside the window. What do I see? Nothing. Wyoming is like the size of Europe and only 500,000 people live there, that’s how many people live in my building!”
On corrupt Eric Adams:
“How does he have a primary residence on a $100,000 salary? You can hardly have A residence if you make 100K.
On living in NYC:
“I live in New York because everyone is allowed to live in New York. It’s so great because everyone lives here, eventhough no one can afford it.”
“Even if you live in a minute apartment whatever you pay for that apartment you could have 10 thousand acres of land anywhere else.”
Her advice for young people:
“I didn’t go to university. Save yourself hundreds of thousands and get a library card.”
And advice for everyone:
“There are two things you should never change: your haircut and your opinions.”
Listening 🎧
In researching for this piece, I listened to two of the four episodes in Freakonomics’ special series on cannabis. First, I listened to why no one is getting rich off the cannabis boom (their answer: heavy regulations, high taxes and competition from illegal weed shops). But the episode I’d recommend here digs deeper into the booze vs. weed debate. In 2022, cannabis surpassed alcohol in the number of daily users (17.7 million people report using marijuana daily compared to 14.7 million for drinking). Young people are also drinking less and using cannabis more, compared to older generations. In a survey of youth aged 18 to 24, 69 percent reported a preference for marijuana over alcohol. Back in the Nixon era, only 15 percent of Americans said they supported legalization for everybody over 21; today, that number is 70 percent.
Cannabis appears to be surpassing alcohol in popularity, but some people worry the legalization has outpaced the research. After comparing the origins and history of both substances, the episode gets into the health research on what we know and don’t know about cannabis’ effect on the body, compared to alcohol. What interests me most is whether cannabis is addictive. Interestingly, of the near-daily users, half report some evidence of having a substance abuse disorder. This is correlation not causation, but still.
Snacking 🍌
So does regeneratively-grown weed actually hit different? I tried some of the organic flower from Hudson Cannabis this week, specifically the hybrid Farmer’s Blend and indica-dominant strain Rainbow Sherbet, and I can report I noticed a difference. First is the smoking experience itself. It’s smooth and tastes so much better, and doesn’t leave an aftertaste or burn my throat. The weed felt stronger, not so much in potency, but in freshness. I wouldn’t say the high lasted longer but it did feel more full-body rather than a quick head high.
