Charleen Caabay, The People’s Ecosystem

Ellen Scanlon:

This podcast discusses cannabis and is intended for audiences 21 and over.

Welcome to How to Do the Pot, a podcast helping you feel confident about cannabis for health, well-being, and for fun.

I’m Ellen Scanlon.

One of the biggest misconceptions about shopping for legal weed is thinking that you need to know a lot about cannabis before you go. And while you can’t forget your government issued ID, and it will make it easier if you bring cash, as more states legalize, visiting a dispensary is a lot like a regular shopping experience.

This series is dedicated to providing you with a support system of other women who have been in your shoes. If you scroll through our feed and look for these first time stories, you’ll hear from women all across the country about the first time they bought legal cannabis. While these women offer a lot of helpful tips and thoughtful observations, they are not without a few mishaps and laughs along the way too.ddieI hope these stories help you feel supported, less alone, and a little lighthearted when you decide to make your first cannabis shopping trip. I really want you to have fun.

Before we get into this week’s episode, I’d like to ask you to take a second and subscribe to How to Do the Pot’s newsletter. We are working hard to grow our audience and signing up will really help. The newsletter is a little reminder to feel confident about cannabis for health, for well-being, and for fun. I’d love to hear from you too, so you can always reply and tell us about topics or guests you’d like on the show. Join the thousands of people who look forward to it twice a month by going to dothepot.com to sign up today.

Thank you. I really appreciate your support for the show.

California based, Charleen Caabay, is the co-founder and chief innovation officer of the People’s Ecosystem, which is empowering communities through cannabis from legacy to legends. Charlene is a chef. The food network’s first Filipino American to win the reality show, Chopped, and has participated in other food competitions on national television. She has opened two successful restaurants, a retail shop and art gallery and cannabis businesses across multiple states. And she wanted a friend to go with her the first time she bought legal weed.

Charleen Caabay:

Let’s see. The first time I experienced a dispensary was back in my hometown in Vallejo, California. Vallejo had a couple of shops, and someone mentioned that “Yeah, you got to check out the spot. You could get different kinds of weed. They have some edibles, and you just go in, you got to show your ID and it’ll be all good.” So, it took me a minute to go because I was still hesitant, but I was very eager to wanting to see. I know when it came to dispensaries, it was challenging for dispensaries to stay open, and different shops would open then close and then reopen. So, it was very a hesitant thing to do.

But I remember it was one weekend, I think it was a Saturday morning, and it was me and one of my homies in town and I was like, “Yo, go with me. I want to check it out and I don’t want to feel awkward or anything like that.” It was in downtown Vallejo. It didn’t have any name to it. It was a small little shop, and it looked like… it didn’t really look like anything. I remember the front was really small, and it was covered, so it just looked like an office that didn’t really have much happening in there.

So, I remember going in. I pulled out my ID and I showed it to them. They had me sit down in the front office until that I get called in. I had to fill out a form just with a little bit of my information and still just wasn’t comfortable. I mean, it wasn’t something that I was used to when they called me in, and I had to go down this hallway, and there were several other offices in there. One, it looked like a break room, another one was another seating area with just some decor.

And right when I walked in, it was pretty much a sales floor. It was pretty big. Probably a little bit more than a thousand square foot. And it had about three display cases. The sales rep said, “Come on in, it’s all good. Just come check out. Check out the weed that we got.” Going to the counter, and he was just pointing out all the different products that they had. It was very limited. I’m seeing the packaging. It was not as developed or had a lot of information on it as labels do now. And it was pretty simple. It was just a plastic container. They separated in eighths. Some were in Ziploc baggies, and they had very limited edibles.

There was no gummies, but there were chocolates, cookies was popular, rice crispy treats was a thing. You could really tell that it was just local, literally still in development. And yeah, I mean, it was exciting. I remember just making my first purchase and walking out that door and after that it was easy like going there frequently, and it was just a thing. And yeah, from then on, I was open to see any other dispensaries, and it’s exciting to see different businesses open up and thrive right now.

Ellen Scanlon:

Thanks for listening to this episode of How to Do the Pot. If you’d like to share your story about the first time you bought legal weed, please send a voice memo to hi@dothepot.com or DM us at Do the Pot.

For lots more information and pass episodes, visit dothepot.com. And that’s also where you can sign up for How to do the Pot’s newsletter. And if you like how to do the pot, please rate, and review us on Apple Podcasts. It helps more people find the show.

Thank you to our producers, Madi Fair and Nick Patri.

I’m Ellen Scanlon and stay tuned for more of How to Do the Pot.