Ally Einbinder, Potty Mouth

Ellen Lee Scanlon (00:00):

This podcast discusses cannabis and is intended for audiences 21 and over. Welcome back to How to Do the Pot, a podcast de-mystifying cannabis for women. I’m Ellen Scanlon. On these short episodes, we share women’s stories about the first time they bought legal weed. I hope they bring a little fun and a new perspective into your week. Ally Einbinder is the California based bass player for the band Potty Mouth. If you’re interested in music, cannabis, and creativity, definitely check out episode 61 of How to Do the Pot, where I talked to Ally and Abby, the singer and guitarist in Potty Mouth.

Ally Einbinder (00:38):

I have a distinct memory of, we moved to L.A. in 2016. Before that, we lived in Massachusetts. And the like year leading up to us moving to L.A., we would come here for extended visits. We just started working with a manager out here. So, we were really getting to know the city and just like thinking about moving here. And, at that time, it was medicinal that was legal and we didn’t have that in Massachusetts yet. So, I was pretty set on trying to buy weed legally while we were in L.A.

Ally Einbinder (01:13):

And we went to Venice Beach, like the boardwalk on Venice Beach and they have, or at the time at least back then when it was only medical, they had all these cannabis doctors just like set up on the boardwalk at Venice Beach. And you could go in to any of these doctors. And I think I paid like $150 to basically have like a five minute long conversation with this doctor in like a windowless room in a basement. And he was like, “So, why do you think you need medical marijuana?” Or something like that. And I just basically told him anxiety, period cramps. And he was like, “Okay.” And I got a card that I think was good for a year, even though, at that point, we were only probably in L.A. for at most two weeks. But I figured, “Okay. Well, I’m here. Like I’m fine with $150 to have this card so I can legally go into a dispensary and buy weed.”

Ally Einbinder (02:24):

The problem was I realized after I had the card, after I paid for the card, I still couldn’t get into most dispensaries because I didn’t have a California license yet. So, I’m pretty sure what I ended up doing was getting delivery. Yeah. Delivery. I think that was the work around. So, I couldn’t physically go into a dispensary, but I got delivery with the medical marijuana card that I got. And, for me, it felt like such a novelty at the time, because it was like ordering a pizza. I went on some website and just picked out the things that I wanted. And then, 45 minutes later, like someone was ringing the doorbell. And that was totally new to me, and it felt exciting. And I think that’s why, even though like what I ended up paying for the card was probably more than I even spent on weed.

Ellen Lee Scanlon (03:27):

Yeah.

Ally Einbinder (03:27):

It was more about that experience of like, I am in a place where this is possible. I’ve never been in a place where that was just possible. And I wanted to do it.

Ellen Lee Scanlon (03:42):

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 of more information about women and cannabis. Thanks to 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.