Looking Back on the Early Days of Legal Weed with Jill Ellsworth and Lotta Brathwaite

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

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[00:00:53] Lotta Brathwaite: After grabbing all of our weed, trying out those combinations, we were able to conquer the rest of our trip in Colorado. [00:01:00] We took snowboarding lessons, visited spas, and thanks to the calm tutelage of my little, I learned how to drive in the snow, so. I would have to say my life has been forever changed from this trip.

[00:01:12] Ellen Scanlon: Welcome to How to Do the Pot, a podcast helping you feel confident about cannabis. I’m your host, Ellen Scanlon.

[00:01:26] Ellen Scanlon: You just heard from Washington State based Lotta Brathwaite, the producer for cannabis lifestyle brand, The Bakersman Collective. One of the biggest misconceptions about shopping for legal weed is thinking that you need to know a lot about cannabis before you go. You have to bring your government issued ID, and it will make it easier if you bring cash.

[00:01:48] Ellen Scanlon: But visiting a dispensary has become a lot like a regular shopping experience now that more states have legalized it. This series is dedicated to providing you with a [00:02:00] support system of women all across the country who have been in your shoes. April is a special month in the cannabis industry because of a holiday that you may or may not celebrate, 420.

[00:02:16] Ellen Scanlon: I’ve been curious about what 420 means today and in the next few weeks we’ll be hearing from some amazing women all across the country to get their thoughts too. For me, 420 is a day to consider how far weed has come and to thank all of the advocates that have fought for legalization. If you live in a legal state now or you visit them regularly, it can be easy to forget those first wow moments of buying legal weed.

[00:02:49] Ellen Scanlon: So in today’s show, we’re traveling to the first state that legalized cannabis, Colorado, and we’ll get some help remembering what it was like to buy weed in those early [00:03:00] days. I hope these stories help you feel supported, less alone, and a little lighthearted when you decide to make your first cannabis shopping trip.

[00:03:09] Ellen Scanlon: I really want you to have fun.

[00:03:16] Ellen Scanlon: Before we get into this week’s episode, I am so grateful to the people who have been asking how they can support the show. Please tell all of them. All your friends. Word of mouth is a great way to help us grow our listeners. Another thing you can do is sign up for How to Do the Pots newsletter. It’s a twice a month resource that helps you feel confident about cannabis for health, well being, and for fun.

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[00:04:12] Ellen Scanlon: It was more than a decade ago that Jill Ellsworth, the Colorado based founder of Willow Industries, a cannabis technology company, made her first weed shopping trip. Jill had recently moved to Colorado from California and was hanging out with a friend when he suggested they go buy some weed. 

[00:04:33] Jill Ellsworth: To me, that just sounded so crazy.

[00:04:36] Jill Ellsworth: I wasn’t like sitting in my car in a dark corner of a road waiting for a dealer to walk up. So, we drove to this dispensary, it was in a nondescript building, the middle of Denver, kind of a shady area, um, it also looked like a office building, an office park, and there’s a security guard [00:05:00] standing at the door checking IDs.

[00:05:01] Jill Ellsworth: And we walk in and it was just like this huge wall of glass jars filled with weed. And for me, having been a cannabis consumer for so many years, actually being in a store and going to buy it legally was a wow moment. I was just blown away by. How simple and cool it was to be buying legal weed. And so we got a small amount and gave cash and it was just like the coolest experience.

[00:05:35] Jill Ellsworth: And you know, now I think we take for granted seeing dispensaries everywhere and just walking in and getting whatever we want. But that first moment when I moved here and got to like, Buy real weed. Legal weed was a very exciting moment.

[00:05:56] Ellen Scanlon: So many people, including me, bought adult use [00:06:00] legal weed for the first time in Colorado. If you’re thinking of visiting, check out episode 180 4 for lots of useful Colorado cannabis tourism tips. It was back in 2015 when Lotta Brathwaite, who you heard from at the beginning of the episode, drove from her home in Florida to Colorado to buy legal weed.

[00:06:22] Ellen Scanlon: She had never driven in the snow before, but that was not stopping her. Looking back now, the trip to Colorado inspired her to make a huge change in her life. 

[00:06:34] Lotta Brathwaite: I went there on a trip with my sorority sister Whitney, because we believe in whenever, wherever to keep our bond alive. Originally being from Florida and having only experience, uh, being a consumer and seller in the legacy market, I had this desire to know what the legal cannabis industry was all about.

[00:06:52] Lotta Brathwaite: So very quickly after arriving in Colorado, we pick up our rental, which I paid extra insurance on because I’ve never driven in snow before. [00:07:00] We headed to Sweet Leaf in Denver. I remember being so nervous that we devised a game plan before entering. It was like outside, in the car, we’re like, okay. We want at least an ounce of weed.

[00:07:11] Lotta Brathwaite: We out here for a few days, like, we smoke tough. Um, so how about we each get a half? Well, when we arrived, there was a registration process at the entrance before you could get buzzed into the back to make your purchases. That was nerve wracking. And then once in the back, they let us know that the game plan we had was futile.

[00:07:33] Lotta Brathwaite: Because they have legal purchase limits for out of state visitors, and we could only get up to a quarter each. I’m not gonna say that stopped or ruined our fun, but we were definitely thrown off a little bit of like, what are we gonna do now? So, she gets what she’s getting, I get what I’m getting, and of course we’re skipping out with the biggest smile on our faces, because we just bought some legal weed!

[00:07:58] Lotta Brathwaite: But [00:08:00] now you gotta roll that up, you know, like what are we gonna put this flower in? So we decide we’re gonna hit some gas stations and it’s next to mission impossible, bro. Like rolling papers The options they got are zigzags None of the blunts are fresh. So we’re going from spot to spot and it After talking to a friend that say they’re most of colorado tends to use glass pieces.

[00:08:24] Lotta Brathwaite: Hello news alert so You We actually finally tracked down some passable grape swishers and do the magical combination of strawberry cough and blue dream in a blunt. I’m telling you, it changed my life. In 2016, I moved from Florida to Washington after my probation for a misdemeanor marijuana charge was lifted.

[00:08:46] Lotta Brathwaite: I knew at that time I needed to live where cannabis was legal. It was going to be a permanent part of my life. And now I run a cannabis lifestyle brand. That legal experience definitely helped open my eyes to the [00:09:00] industry of cannabis and what it could be. And a little over a year later, I made the conscious decision to move cross country and change my life.

[00:09:11] Ellen Scanlon: Strawberry cough, one of the strains that Lotta said changed her life, is also one of how to do the pot’s essential strains. From contagious laughter to boundless creativity, discover why strawberry cough is the go to choice for uplifting your mood and reducing stress. Check out episode 201 to learn more.

[00:09:36] Ellen Scanlon: My goal with sharing these stories is to take the scariness out of doing something that was illegal for a long time. If you liked this episode, please share it with a friend. We love new listeners and are here to help everyone feel confident about cannabis.

[00:09:58] Ellen Scanlon: Thank you for listening [00:10:00] to How to Do the Pot. For lots more information and past episodes, visit DoThePot. com. Are you one of the thousands of people who love how to do the POTS newsletter? If you’re not getting it, please sign up@dothepot.com. And if you like how to do the pot, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts.

[00:10:21] Ellen Scanlon: It really helps people find the show. Thank you to producers Maddie Fair and Nick Petri. I’m Ellen Scanlan, and stay tuned for more of how to Do the Pot.