OG KUSH, Super Stress & Sleep Aid

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

April Pride: OG Kush, it’s where it’s at when your pain is high. It’s also the strain I reach for to get knockout sleep or to ensure I sit through at least the first half of a movie without getting up.

April Pride: Welcome to Saturday Strains. I’m your host, April Pride, and I’ll be your guide each Saturday, as we move through the 12 essential cannabis strains that every woman should have in her stash. If you haven’t already, please listen to the three short Strains Explained episodes to learn more about how cannabis is a lot like another substance we can count on to change our outlook, wine. 

April Pride: In each episode, you can expect more weed hacks, and remember, we’ll guide you from less intoxicating strains that are nearly all CBD to strains with increasingly higher THC levels.

April Pride: Today’s strain, OG Kush, is High Times Magazine’s number one strain of all time, of all time. If you, like me, are into hip hop, you’ve certainly heard the strain memorialized in lyrics by Snoop and other MCs, particularly in the ’90s, because that’s when OG Kush made its way onto the scene in LA in 1996, by way of Amsterdam, Florida, and Seattle. 

April Pride: Since then, the strain’s DNA is a building block commonly found in West Coast weed, making it, drum roll, OG. Popular strains derived from OG Kush include GSC, the strain formerly known as Girl Scout Cookies, and Headband, covered on this show in episode 35 of Saturday Strains.

April Pride: Why do women love OG Kush? Let’s count down five reasons. Number one, what does it help with? Stress, anxiety, depression, migraines, ADHD. 

April Pride: Number two, how high will I get? Weed from the Kush family of strains typically offer a warm body buzz with an exceptional dose of euphoria. OG Kush is no exception, delivering immediate, long-lasting, heavy hitting effects, you’ll feel a euphoric high and a heavy body. Something to remember, when using cannabis to relieve pain, you’ll experience a less intense head high, meaning the medicine is working on the pain and not your brain, so to speak. 

April Pride: THC disrupts pain signals, leaving little “energy” to induce euphoria. Simply put, when you need weed to work for your pain, don’t expect it to also show up to play with your brain.

April Pride: Number three, how will it make me feel? OG Kush delivers a euphoric stress-reducing high. For years, consumers have respected the strain as a healer that provides a dependable head high and less body pain. 

April Pride: OG Kush brings on the munchies so have your favorite snacks ready, and also have something to sip on and eye drops because your mouth and your eyes will probably get dry. If you like the sound of this, but one a less heavy-hitting pain-reducing strain, check out episode 32 about Blackberry Kush.

April Pride: Number four, why do women love it? OG Kush is the go-to strain for pain and stress in no small part thanks to its dominant terpene, myrcene. In fact, other plants with high levels of myrcene, like hops, lemongrass, mango and cardamom, have been used for centuries for their pain-relieving qualities. 

April Pride: A little background: OG Kush genetics are derivative of landrace strain, Hindu Kush and ChemDog. Hindu Kush is a cannabis cultivar native to the Hindu Kush mountain range that spans Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. To create OG Kush Hindu Kush was cross-bred with ChemDog, a strain that includes the terpene myrcene, and the result is a strain with the power to heal pain. 

April Pride: Myrcene’s sedative and anti-inflammatory properties provide mental and muscle relaxation, making it an often suggested strain for women who are experiencing symptoms of menopause, such as sleeplessness and mood disorders.

April Pride: Why? Menopause depletes the body’s natural endocannabinoid, these are neurotransmitters that regulate the endocannabinoid system, or the ECS, which, among other things, regulates our mood and body temperature. Supplementing with phytocannabinoids, the same compounds produced in our body but derived from plants such as cannabis, help to replenish a woman’s ECS and mitigate symptoms of menopause. You can listen to episode 16, Does CBD Work For Women, to learn more.

April Pride: Number five, what will it inspire? A great, knocked-out, best-night-of-my-life sleep and no morning drowsy after effects. If you suffer from chronic pain, this will help it lift and allow you to do all the things a pain-free body lets you explore. If a stressed mind makes it hard to sit and relax, OG Kush may provide the right kind of Couch Lock.

April Pride: Some parting words. Please reserve judgment if a strain we recommend doesn’t work for you, you haven’t failed and neither have we. In fact, haven’t gotten it wrong, you’re one step closer to your right high. 

April Pride: You didn’t quit drinking when a Long Island Iced Tea as your first bar drink turned out to be a wrong move, right? Send us a DM to @dothepot or to me directly @aprilpride and let us know how this strain worked for you.

April Pride: Thank you for listening to Saturday Strains. Check us out online at dothepot.com. Special thanks to Lo Friesen, Founder, CEO, and Chief Extraction Officer of Seattle’s beloved cannabis brand, Heylo, for vetting our strain selects. 

April Pride: We’d also like to thank Jeffrey Raber, PhD, and Colin Montgomerie of the Werc Shop, as well as Nick Jikomes, PhD, of Leafly, for schooling us on strains. Thanks to my co-founder, Ellen Scanlon, Madi Fair, our marketing manager, and our producer, Nick Patri. I’m April Pride, and we’ll be back soon with more of How to Do the Pot.