A Toast to Cannabis: Celebrating Life’s Happy Moments and Wrapping Up 2024

[00:00:00] Ellen Scanlon: This podcast discusses cannabis and is intended for audiences 21 and over.

[00:00:12] Ellen Scanlon: A few weeks ago, I was listening to a wine industry podcast and heard something that caught my attention. The alcohol industry sees cannabis drinks as their new weeknight competition. Weekends are still for beer, wine, and cocktails, and more women are opting for low dose THC drinks to unwind during the week.

[00:00:36] Ellen Scanlon: I get it. THC drinks are an approachable and discreet way to try cannabis at home. You get to enjoy a light buzz and figure out what feels right for you. My new favorite is Cycling Frog’s award winning grapefruit seltzer. It’s so tasty. Sometimes I’ll split a can with my husband or just start with half and see how I feel.

[00:01:00] Ellen Scanlon: In about 15 minutes, you can tell if you want more. Cycling Frog’s 2 to 1 CBD to THC ratio is perfect for me. It melts away stress. I can feel my creativity coming back and I get a great night’s sleep thanks to the CBD, which keeps me asleep all day. all night long. And of course, there’s no hangover. If you haven’t tried a THC drink yet, take this as a sign.

[00:01:28] Ellen Scanlon: Treat yourself on a weeknight and see what you think. Life is short. Enjoy the ride with Cycling Frog. Cycling Frog drinks ship right to your door all across the country. Visit their website, cyclingfrog. com and use promo code, do the pot for 20 percent off your order. Cycling frog drinks are great. I love them and I think you will too.

[00:02:04] Christina Betancourt Johnson: So I’m not a drinker, never was. And in quite honestly, I wouldn’t. Characterize myself as like a heavy cannabis consumer, either, you know, I’m, I’m keen on micro dosing. It helps with focus, helps with sleep and helps really with just relaxation and anxiety for me. So I wanted to introduce the product to sort of my close knit community of peers who quite frankly kind of see it as taboo.

[00:02:30] Ellen Scanlon: Welcome to How to Do the Pot, an award winning podcast helping you feel confident about cannabis. I’m your host, Ellen Scanlon.

[00:02:45] Ellen Scanlon: You just heard from Christina Betancourt Johnson, the Maryland based CEO of Standard Wellness Maryland. This is part two in our new series all about celebrating with weed. Last week in part one, you heard from women who brought cannabis into some of life’s most memorable moments. getting engaged, going on a dream honeymoon, celebrating a grandparent’s milestone birthday, and even making an appearance at Kim Kardashian’s baby shower.

[00:03:17] Ellen Scanlon: As we get to the end of 2024, I’ve been thinking back on all the conversations I’ve had, and I wanted to end the year with some happy vibes. I asked these women a simple question. How do you celebrate with cannabis? I wasn’t sure what they would say, and it’s been such a pleasure to hear all the different ways that cannabis is being added into joyful life events.

[00:03:45] Ellen Scanlon: In today’s episode, you’ll hear about two different 40th birthday celebrations, each extremely memorable in their own way. In case you’re thinking about adding cannabis to a big event like a wedding, we’ve got some expert advice to ensure that everyone has a great time. And don’t miss a sweet story of a romantic anniversary staycation that I think will leave you smiling.

[00:04:19] Ellen Scanlon: As we wrap up this year, I wanted to let you know that the show will be taking a short break over the holidays. We’ll be back soon with a brand new series exploring Dry January and why women are more curious than ever to reconsider and maybe evolve their relationship with alcohol and with cannabis. I have learned so much that I can’t wait to share.

[00:04:43] Ellen Scanlon: We have great guests and it’s going to be a terrific series. In the meantime, you can stay connected by subscribing to our newsletter on Substack. It’s the best way to keep up with us and get behind the scenes insights, recommendations for things that inspire me, and exclusive brand discounts. I’ll add a link in the show notes or you can head to dothepot.

[00:05:07] Ellen Scanlon: com to subscribe. I’d also like to invite you to be part of a small private focus group for how to do the pot. As we plan for 2025, I want to know what you like about the show, what we can do better, and to learn more about who you are. Each session will take about 15 minutes or so. If you’re interested in being a part of it, please DM at do the pot or send an email to hi at do the pot.

[00:05:35] Ellen Scanlon: com. And I’m really excited to talk with you.

[00:05:48] Ellen Scanlon: A few years ago Christina Betancourt Johnson, who you heard from at the beginning of the episode, celebrated a COVID birthday with an intimate outdoor gathering with close friends and delicious infused southern comfort food. Her goal was to create a safe, digital, judgment free party for friends with different levels of experience with weed and to be sure that everyone felt included.

[00:06:14] Christina Betancourt Johnson: I celebrated my birthday, I think it was three years ago. So this was during COVID when in Maryland, everything was very much as still pretty much shut down. And I just really wanted to have a sense of community again. And so I invited A group of some of my close friends and peers who went to college with me.

[00:06:34] Christina Betancourt Johnson: So mostly classmates to my home outdoors, and we had a really low key birthday gathering and we had food pairings, but then I also had a chef who made food that was infused and we paired them with sort of Southern cooking fare. So we had an infused chocolate cake. We had a regular chocolate cake and a German chocolate cake.

[00:06:58] Christina Betancourt Johnson: Both were delicious. We had macaroni and cheese that was not infused, but the sauces, um, and spices that were put on all of the meats. So we had ribs and we had chicken all were infused. So like the barbecue sauce was infused. We had collards and we had salads. We had deviled eggs. We had infused and not infused baked beans.

[00:07:19] Christina Betancourt Johnson: So that caused a bit of a stir because some people really consumed the baked beans. Oh, we had cornbread, which was infused. We had butter in it that was infused and that was great. So it was like the food was phenomenal. I have a classmate that cooks. She’s a chef. She’s actually opening up a dispensary in Maryland this year, one of the social equity licensees.

[00:07:40] Christina Betancourt Johnson: And she was the one that provided the food under her brand, the righteous hippie. And it was great. It was so good. Yeah. So a lot of Southern dishes and it was like a cannabis infused potluck kind of, it was relaxed. I will say my big aha moment there was that all of the dishes were labeled. The chef introduced the dishes to everyone and told them about it before we all indulged.

[00:08:04] Christina Betancourt Johnson: And there were still people that left saying that they did not realize that some of the food was infused. And so my big takeaway was to make sure That everybody opts into it next go round. Cause there were some folks who probably crossfaded and over consumed a bit, but it was still an amazing birthday and it was so personal.

[00:08:25] Christina Betancourt Johnson: And I think people were just, they were really relaxed and because it was outdoors, the weather was great. I remember all of those details because I was like slightly high and just totally enjoying the moment, but that was one. Celebrated event with cannabis, and it was my own birthday party. It was such a good time.

[00:08:42] Christina Betancourt Johnson: Like weeks and months later, people were still talking about, Oh, Christina’s epic birthday party.

[00:08:48] Ellen Scanlon: Many of Christina’s friends weren’t that comfortable with cannabis. So she wanted to share her experience as a low dose consumer in a welcoming and thoughtful way.

[00:08:59] Christina Betancourt Johnson: So I’m not a drinker, never was, and, and quite honestly, I wouldn’t characterize myself as like a heavy cannabis consumer either.

[00:09:06] Christina Betancourt Johnson: You know, I’m keen on microdosing. It helps with focus, helps with sleep, and it helps really with just relaxation and anxiety for me. So I wanted to introduce the product to sort of my close knit community of peers who quite frankly kind of see it as taboo. You know, I’m at the age where my peer group, we were all raised in the eighties and in the.

[00:09:27] Christina Betancourt Johnson: Yeah. Arab, just say no. And so people still just say no. And you know, I, I travel, um, in the summer, I go up to Martha’s Vineyard or I go to the Hamptons and I’ve got these really incredible Very accomplished, really intelligent friends who are like pulling me off into the corner and wanting to sneak around and talk about cannabis.

[00:09:48] Christina Betancourt Johnson: And I’m like, we’re all adults. This is illegal in most of the United States. And we can just have an open conversation, but it’s still pretty taboo in certain communities. And I found it to be true, especially In minority communities where people were over policed. And so I thought if there was a gentle way of me introducing this product and this plant to people who just haven’t, you know, used it or haven’t felt comfortable talking about it in public, I want to do it because I think, especially in minority communities, those topics are often also taboo.

[00:10:23] Christina Betancourt Johnson: So I thought, you know, what a better way to do it than to just sort of. ease it into this birthday experience and tell folks like it’s infused. I did put that in my invite several times and infused party. I think it went over pretty well.

[00:10:37] Ellen Scanlon: Pam Pho decided to celebrate turning 40 in an unforgettable way by throwing herself a funeral, a funeral party inspired by the last fuckable day meme.

[00:10:52] Ellen Scanlon: Check it out if you haven’t seen it yet. And I’ll share it on do the pot socials. Pam has really benefited from cannabis and wanted to educate her friends. At one point in her funeral party, she asked her guests to give short PowerPoint presentations to help each other learn about the plant.

[00:11:13] Pam Pho: When I turned 40, I didn’t want the traditional like over the hill party, but I am a very punny and sarcastic kind of, you know, my humor is very dark and dry.

[00:11:21] Pam Pho: So I threw myself a funeral. It was around the time to that, that the last fuckable day. You know, meme was happening because of the, the women’s ages and the men’s ages and movies and that whole thing was going on. So I, you know, I hit 40, so I’ve hit my last fuckable day. So I threw myself a funeral and I, I didn’t want alcohol there.

[00:11:40] Pam Pho: So we had an infused cake. That was a coffin, you know, here lies Pam. She smoked a lot of weed. Everyone came, they were encouraged to bring a product that they love to share. And it was just, uh, me and Pam. And a 40 or 50 of, of, uh, my closest friends and we were just sharing different products and, and talking about, you know, as we’re nearing this new stage of our life, what we, what we want to achieve.

[00:12:05] Pam Pho: And we did a thing where we had five minutes to prepare a PowerPoint on what we wish someone knew about cannabis. And so we all learned a lot from each other on that day. Uh, mine was specifically that sativa and indica and hyra don’t mean shit besides how tall the plant is. And so everybody was like, what?

[00:12:25] Pam Pho: And I was like, yeah. So we learned a lot from each other, whether we were just a consumer or we worked in the industry with those little five minute PowerPoints. Of course you did not have to ingest if you didn’t want to come. And what I did was make sure that we had CBD cell serve. We had the Lagunitas and the Paps there as well, drinks.

[00:12:45] Pam Pho: Uh, we had CBD flour, CBD vapes, like if you wanted to participate, but not, not get high, that was fine. And we had a Budtender there that, that we hired. We all brought in our product and made sure they were familiar with it. And if you did not know a lot and didn’t want to ask questions to the group, you could go and speak to that person and have like a private consultation and figure out what might be okay to try if you’re a little nervous.

[00:13:10] Pam Pho: At that point, cannabis had been really helping me for two years, and, and I really wanted to share that.

[00:13:15] Ellen Scanlon: Colorado based Jane West is the founder of cannabis accessories brand, Jane West, and founder of the cannabis advocacy group, Women Grow. Jane has been in the industry since 2014, so she’s helped a lot of people plan cannabis themed parties and weddings.

[00:13:34] Ellen Scanlon: With these big life events, Jane sees an opportunity to transform perceptions about weed, especially for guests who might not be very familiar with cannabis. Her goal is to help everyone feel at ease.

[00:13:49] Jane West: I’ve supported people in their wedding planning and how to really get that done. And yeah, some of my recommendations really are.

[00:13:57] Jane West: When people are new to cannabis, they’re nervous about it and they don’t want to seem like they don’t know what they’re talking about. So, but some of their questions are really basic and they just want to understand how it all works. And so one of the best things you can do is make it really accessible and welcoming.

[00:14:17] Jane West: Have the bud bar be just clearly, here are the joints. I recommend like, uh, minis or half gram joints. You can also easily have them on display. There’s tons of things at a Michael’s or a craft store where you can find really cute ways to have all of your joints on display. For one wedding I did up in Telluride, We wrote really cute little notes on wooden clothespins, which you can buy in any color at craft stores.

[00:14:47] Jane West: And the little circle of a clothespin holds a joint perfectly upright. And so the whole table was joints you could select from, and the clothespin had the strain written on it. And then additionally, a lot of that serving cannabis at a larger event, in my opinion, The importance of serving sizes, because especially for newbies, they don’t quite know what they’re getting into.

[00:15:10] Jane West: And we want everyone to have a great, enjoyable experience by making it really welcoming and not having people have to like ask or inquire or wonder exactly how it works and having items on display that are clearly marked. Those are the ways that I found that people, you know, are more comfortable with trying it and have a good experience.

[00:15:31] Jane West: If a bride and groom are so pro cannabis that they want to take like a hit from a bong after, you know, they say I do, then the people in the crowd are expected to go along with it. What I love are the people on the periphery who are like, Oh, well, you know, we’re from Kansas and it’s not legal there and we don’t have it.

[00:15:50] Jane West: And this is so foreign to them and to have them see it served in a professional, sanitary, serving size, welcoming way. And like you can see their faith. They’re just like, Okay. Yeah. Okay. They’re really seeing something they’ve never really contemplated before. And that’s, I love that part because I’m, I know that we just like kind of changed the way they’re thinking about this.

[00:16:18] Ellen Scanlon: Marnie Unger, the New York based director of sales and business development at Eaton Botanicals chose to celebrate her wedding anniversary, doing something that she and her husband love. Walking around New York City, they strolled through Manhattan, enjoyed some great food, and laughed a lot with a little extra magic supplied by their favorite joints.

[00:16:43] Marni Unger: Cannabis is a really joyful experience and it’s healthy and it’s great and it makes us feel good and so I love seeing people be more comfortable normalizing it in celebratory group situations and I hope that we only see that as legality. Um, that we see different forms of that and that it really kind of makes even a bigger splash than it does today.

[00:17:06] Marni Unger: But a recent celebration that definitely centered around cannabis and we included cannabis. Uh, my husband and I recently celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary. And so our day definitely started with the dispensary stop. We loaded up on our favorite joints and then we did what we love to do and we went and ate food and walked around Manhattan and it’s just everything that feels good together.

[00:17:36] Marni Unger: And you know, the cannabis helps with the experience and we just laughed the whole day and it was really awesome.

[00:17:45] Ellen Scanlon: Thank you for tuning in to this episode of How to Do the Pot with the December holidays almost here. I hope these stories inspire you to consider creative ways to bring cannabis into your celebrations, whether it’s bringing a THC drink or an edible to a festive gathering, or just enjoying some well earned relaxation during this busy season.

[00:18:10] Ellen Scanlon: I’ll be back to celebrate dry January with our new series about alcohol and cannabis. Until then, I wish you a joyful holiday season and a very happy new year.

[00:18:27] Ellen Scanlon: For lots more information and past episodes, visit do the pot. com and that’s also where you can sign up for our newsletter. If you like how to do the pot, please rate and review us on Apple podcasts. It really helps more people find the show. Thank you to our producers, Maddy Fair and Nick Patry. I’m Ellen Scanlon and stay tuned for more of How to Do the Pot.