Penny Barthel, Wondering About Weed

Ellen Scanlon (00:00):

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

(00:08):

Welcome to How to Do the Pot, a podcast helping you feel confident about cannabis for health, wellbeing, 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.

(00:38):

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. I 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.

(01:17):

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 wellbeing, 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 do the pot.com to sign up today. Thank you. I really appreciate your support for the show.

(01:55):

If you have ever felt an unexpected moment of complete indecision, this episode is for you. Before you step into a dispensary, it can really help to spend a few minutes thinking about how you want to feel after consuming. California-based Penny Barthel felt overwhelmed on her first time buying legal weed, and now she’s the co-founder of Wondering About Weed, whose mission is to empower people to explore cannabis for their wellness needs.

Penny Barthel (02:26):

The first time I bought legal cannabis was when I was on a huge road trip through the desert Southwest and ended up in Durango, Colorado. It had been a really beautiful day. We’d done a lot of hiking. I was a bit sore. There were so many dispensaries in Colorado. I was super curious about going into them, but also just a little bit freaked out because I’d never been into a dispensary before. I’d heard great things about them. My friends and family had told me I should try it out. So I mustered up the courage after completely losing trivia at a local gastro pub, and I looped my husband around the arm and I said, “John, we’re going to go into this dispensary. I just got to try something out.” Walked in, I was on sort of high alert. They needed my ID. They were super chill about it, and it smelled wonderful.

(03:22):

It just smelled like plants and wonderful resin-y smells. I was kind of unprepared for that, but I was also pretty keyed up, pretty tense. Super nice budtender welcome to me on the other side of this locked door, which was kind of new to me as well, and I was taken to her little kiosk and she looked at me in the eye and said, “So what can I help you with?” And I at that moment had this just overwhelming sense of indecision. I’m usually a pretty decisive person and know what I want. I had no idea. She just calmed me down and helped me to sort of get the lay of the land, “Well, here are some pre-rolls and here’s some top shelf bud.” She had some weed there by Willie Nelson. I thought that was kind of fun. And I settled on some drops that were kind of going to help me sleep a little bit.

(04:22):

I tend to run sort of hot during the day. And I took these little drops in the evening. In retrospect, they were not very great quality. I could still taste the remains of the butane that they’d used to extract them, but you know what? I felt pretty good. I slept better. I recovered more easily from my hike. And after that, I was hooked. I decided that this was something that I really wanted to pursue, and now I not only make my own, I’ve written a book about it, growing cannabis in the garden, called The Cannabis Gardener, and I teach with my co-founder, Kaisha, at our business Wondering About Weed. We actually now teach people how to go to a dispensary and get just what they want from either a dispensary or their garden.

Ellen Scanlon (05:15):

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 h@dothepot.com or DM us @DothePot. For lots more information and past 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.