Ellen Scanlon (00:00):

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

Ellen Scanlon (00:08):

Hi, I’m Ellen Scanlon and this is How to Do the Pot, a podcast demystifying cannabis for women. Welcome to the very first episode of our new series that shares women’s stories about buying legal weed for the first time.

Ellen Scanlon (00:22):

Now that more than 80 million women have legal access, you can expect a wide variety of stories. Each state has different rules and regulations and women buying weed want it for a lot of different reasons. We’ll talk to medical patients, those who are just curious and women who love to get high, all to give you practical tips for how to buy weed and to help you understand where modern legal cannabis is today. These episodes will also be short and I hope they bring a little fun and a new perspective into your week.

Ellen Scanlon (00:56):

Sharon Kevil is the Wisconsin based founder of Forti Goods, the first furniture company with lockable drawers to safely and securely store cannabis products.

Sharon Kevil (01:05):

I was in LA for a conference in 2019 and I was with friends. We decided we wanted to hit up a dispensary that we could walk to so we found something on Google Maps that had decent reviews and headed over in that direction. And after a short walk, we came to the storefront. It was laid out with glass doors and the security guard in the front. I think there were a couple of sofas and maybe a chair or two as kind of a waiting area and there was an ATM right inside the door. Your typical dispensary. About halfway back, the counter started where all the budtenders were and there were probably about maybe six or seven customers inside so it wasn’t super busy, but all the budtenders were occupied. I pulled on the doors to get in and the door didn’t open and I realized that it was locked.

Sharon Kevil (01:51):

We just assumed that they would buzz us in when some of the people came out, that it was too full because that happens sometimes. Eventually people started queuing up behind us and they were grumbling about having to wait in line. I was with friends and we were just happy to be outside in the sunshine instead of in Wisconsin, in October. We were about to buy legal weed so we were just kind of in a carefree mindset and the wait didn’t really bother us. Eventually some guys towards the backup really impatient and they were like, “What’s up? Why is the door locked?” We just put her arms up like, I don’t know, we’re not from here.

Sharon Kevil (02:24):

And from his spot at the back of the line, one of the guys knocked on the glass storefront and that’s when I started to feel a little nervous. The security guard, put his arms up and walked over to the door and pulled it open. My friends started laughing at me. People in the line were groaning. Someone was like, “Seriously?” I felt like the biggest asshole and rightly so. I only pulled it from my side when I should have pushed it. But once we got inside, the experience wasn’t that terrible. But my budtender did jokingly ask me if I usually had trouble with doors. It’s fair. I’m not an idiot, but sometimes I act like one.

Ellen Scanlon (03:09):

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 us a voice memo to hi@dothepot.com or DM us @dothepot. Please also follow along on all our socials and visit dothepot.com for lots more information about women and cannabis. Thanks to April Pride, Madi Fair, our brand manager and our producer, Nick Patri. I’m Ellen Scanlon and we’ll be back soon with more of How to Do the Pot.