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

Julia Jacobson: When I consume cannabis before bed, it stops my mind from racing. It shuts it all down. I can hear the ambient details, like rain or my dog snoring, and my mind is able to wander off to sleep. It’s absolute heaven after a lifelong struggle with insomnia.

April Pride: Welcome back to How to Do the Pot. I’m April Pride, and as you know by now, I do the pot. You just heard from Julia Jacobson, CEO of sustainable cannabis company, Aster Farms, out of California. She’s a woman who knows how to do the pot and uses it to improve her sleep. This is the audio newsletter. If you’d rather read it, visit dothepot.com to subscribe to our email newsletter, and if you like How to Do the Pot, please share it with someone and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts. It helps more people find the show.

April Pride: Like many of you, my sleep has been disrupted by COVID-19-induced stress. From late nights wrapping up work because my kids are home all the time to feeling more physically amped as evidenced by a nagging twitch under my left eye that literally won’t let me get shut eye, and still I have found myself very grateful to have access to weed. I really encourage you to listen to How to Do the Pot’s episode on sleep, and I hope the episode gives you confidence to experiment with cannabis as a sleep aid. You may not get it right the first time, but please, listen and learn from these personal stories of women who use weed for restful sleep.

Carrie Solomon: This is Carrie Solomon. I use CBD every night to help with sleep, and I find that when I consume it as a tincture, it doesn’t exactly help me fall asleep, but it gives me a better quality sleep throughout the night, so even if I wake up for some reason, I’m able to go back to sleep a little easier. I also consume CBD throughout the day, which just kind of helps with general anxiety and just everyday aches and pains, so sleeping is a little bit easier. But every night, 10 to 15 milligrams, Full Spectrum Tincture.

April Pride: THC gets you to sleep, sedates you within a half hour, and CBD keeps you asleep. In addition to stabilizing your sleep patterns at night, CBD is also optimizing your sleep-wake cycle throughout the 24-hour period.

April Pride: Today, I’m excited to share with you one of the pioneering cannabis delivery services in California. Sava is based in San Francisco and serves the Bay Area. It’s a women- and LGBTQ-founded company, and to vet everything on their menu, the women behind Sava ask themselves, “Is this a product I’d recommend to my best friends?” Over 50% of the companies on the site are women-founded, and they have a growing menu of BIPOC brands, too. Some of my favorite brands are available here. For sleep, I’d recommend CaCoCo’s TranquiliTEA, and for migraines, try Humboldt Apothecary’s Deep Sleep THC tincture.

April Pride: The online menu is really helpful and lets you filter products based on how you want to feel or what health issue you want to solve. Sava delivery drivers are all discreet and professional. Your order is packaged in a cardboard box that looks like a present and is 100% recyclable. Ellen, our show’s co-creator, lives in San Francisco and recommends Sava to all of her friends because her experience from screen to door is consistently positive. Visit GetSava.com. That’s G-E-T-S-A-V, as in Victor, A dot com, and receive $10 off your first purchase with promo code DOTHEPOT.

 

April Pride: Based on headlines and punchlines, more than some of you, of us, are probably doing the pot more than we have in the past, more than we’ve needed to or wanted to or typically would allow ourselves. Don’t judge yourself for saying yes to weed more than usual. We are, in fact, in unusual times. So let’s see what happens when, as a population, we embrace cannabis. If you’re down to share what inspires while you’re home high, alone, please tag me at April Pride.

April Pride: For today’s High 5, what to buy for better sleep. Number one, Julia Jacobson, co-founder of Aster Farms, loves pulling out an eighth of their Moonlight Effect strain when she’s looking for a little assistance with getting to sleep. It’s an Indica-dominant flower that she usually vapes in her packs, too.

April Pride: Number two. Greater Good’s Mint Hibiscus 100-milligram CBD chocolate bar. It’s made with organic Fair Trade non-GMO dark chocolate that tastes delicious, in fact, and is mood-boosting. Crafted with full-spectrum, conscientiously cultivated hemp oil, this low-fat, good fat chocolate is a great carrier for cannabinoids to incorporate into your system, with the potential to last longer by entering deeply into the digestive tract. Ships anywhere.

April Pride: Number three, a great THC-free option comes to us from Kin Slips. I love Kin Slips! Their Shut Eye sublingual strips go under the tongue for fast absorption, and they have five milligrams of CBD and five milligrams of CBN. That’s a new cannabinoid that we haven’t really discussed, but we may in future episodes. It’s a formula created to help you sleep through the night.

 

April Pride: Number four, the Nightcap tincture from Juna is a hemp-based blend that turns down the volume on racing thoughts. Sound familiar? And invites you into your most restorative sleep.

April Pride: Number five. BARBARI’s Herbal Smoking Blends are formulated to be mixed with hemp or cannabis and smoked as a spliff so that consumers can have more control over the type of high or effects they experience. Their product Airplane Mode, I love it to relax and sometimes I only smoke it and I don’t mix weed with it. It features lavender, rose, and blue lotus flower, which encourages relaxation and calming of the senses.

April Pride: As you know, we offer strains that we like, and today, the strains are going to be all about sleep. Dutch Treat, cannabis to enjoy the silence, a rush of cerebral uplifting euphoria. You’ll have reduced stress, and your body will be relaxed. It’s an essential strain of Amsterdam coffee shops, so when we get on airplanes again and we go there, look for it. Once again, Grandaddy Purp. I mean, it’s just … It’s a good one, and you can usually find it in every state. In fact, it’s very popular here on the West Coast. I recommend it for nighttime use. And if strains were defined, Granddaddy Purp would probably be translated to couch-lock, mind free.

April Pride: Blueberry Essence. It is all about bliss and relaxation. It’s a high-CBD strain, so more calming and relaxing without sluggishness. It relaxes away pain, and you start to have a little bit of a body high. It’s kind of tingly, and you’ll level off into a nice induced sleep.

April Pride: Here are three podcasts that Ellen and I love, and we want to share with you. I like No Jumper, hosted by Adam 22, who interviews musicians from Insane Clown Posse. Don’t laugh. It’s a good episode. To Juice World, who freestyles. Yes, my 13-year-old son also likes to listen to this podcast. Ellen likes Ideas to Action, hosted by Sean Carr, and in this particular episode, a Darden Business School professor shares entrepreneurs’ secrets to surviving COVID-19 business disruption. And To Do The Pot, Cannabis-Friendly Guide to Wellness, hosted by Amy Silverman, who is an RN, and Dr. Joe Cohen. This episode is about cannabis and sleep disorders.

April Pride: Thank you for listening to this audio newsletter from. Let us know what you think. Find us on Instagram at DoThePot, and you can follow me at April Pride. For lots more information about cannabis and women, visit our website, dothepot.com. Thanks to my co-founder, Ellen Scanlon, Maddie Fare, 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.