Marijuana Medicinals Archives | The Grand Junction Greenery

Cannabis Commercialism

Posted on June 29, 2019 - 9:00 am

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Did you know that they have CBD multi-level marketing campaigns out there now? For real, cannabis products have made it into pyramid schemes, and if you haven’t encountered it already, you’ll soon see your old friends from high school selling CBD products on Facebook just like Scentsy or Tupperware. And it doesn’t stop there. I just got some junk mail from Bed Bath and Beyond advertising their new CBD products, Carl’s Junior sold a CBD-infused burger this past 4/20, and the Kardashians even have their own line of CBD cosmetics.

In a way, this is awesome because the stigma surrounding cannabis gets weaker every time a new celebrity or corporation comes out with a CBD line, but in a different light, it’s unfortunate, and I’ll tell you why. All the CBD products that are available nationally are derived from hemp instead of marijuana because hemp is legal everywhere as where marijuana is not. And while hemp produces high amounts of CBD, it produces negligible amounts of all the other cannabinoids like THC, CBN, and CBG. You need all these compounds for a true full-spectrum entourage effect (we’ll talk about that in a second), so hemp doesn’t encompass nearly as much as marijuana. Here’s a good way to think about it:

Hemp is good for making rope, marijuana is good for making drugs.

All the commercialism out there would have you believe there’s no difference between the two, and that’s frustrating because CBD products derived only from hemp haven’t been proven to do that much (read THIS). People with serious ailments who try hemp products usually don’t get much relief, and then they never try the real stuff that’s sold only in dispensaries because they think they already have. It makes me want to stand in public like a town crier and shout, “take marijuana, not rope!” but that would be weird, so I’m writing this blog instead.

Here’s the most important thing you need to know: there’s no such thing as “full-spectrum hemp oil.” And the reason you need to know this is that every single bottle of hemp-derived CBD oil I’ve ever seen says “full spectrum” right on the label. Liars! The term “full spectrum” is something we use in the cannabis industry to describe products that deliver all the cannabinoids that can be found in marijuana, and since hemp doesn’t produce all the cannabinoids, it’s impossible for it to be “full spectrum.” Get it? Granted, some hemp oil has a “fuller” spectrum than others, but it’s still lacking as compared to the complete spectrum marijuana provides. But in their defense, the reason some hemp-derived products are called full spectrum is that there are two ways to get the CBD out of hemp plant matter: a chemical isolation process (that captures only the CBD), or a whole-plant extraction process that gets out everything hemp has to offer. The latter is indeed “full spectrum” when compared to the former, but not when compared to marijuana products.

But the term “full spectrum” doesn’t really matter if you don’t know why it’s important. Basically, a full-spectrum marijuana product is the only way to achieve the entourage effect, which is the synergistic way all the cannabinoids work together to produce a physical or psychoactive effect. Wikipedia can tell you all about it HERE, but long story short, cannabis products both get you high better, and provide better overall effect, if you get ALL the cannabinoids instead of the limited few produced by hemp. And yes, I’ll admit that trace, itty-bitty amounts of secondary cannabinoids (like CBG of THC) show up in hemp from time to time, but marijuana packs a whopping 113 different cannabinoids, which makes hemp’s spectrum empty in comparison.

But if you’re a hemp enthusiast, please don’t think that I’m trashing your plant completely. Hemp-derived CBD is used by many people, but I’d still recommend the real stuff. In my mind, hemp products are like essential oils as where marijuana is something for which you can get a prescription. And I’d imagine that as soon as legal weed is available nationally, the hemp products will start to dwindle because that’s what always happens to second-best.

My point is that you shouldn’t listen to all the cannabis commercialism that seems to be getting worse daily—marijuana professionals, such as the ones you’ll find at The Greenery, know way more about this stuff than Bed Bath and Beyond or any Kardashian ever will. And if you’ve tried the hemp-derived stuff and didn’t find the effect you were looking for, please, come into our shop and try the real stuff. We have a tincture that contains well over 600mg CBD per bottle, but it also contains 9mg of THC and a smattering of other cannabinoids. You can’t buy this stuff online. And the best part is that you don’t need to worry about the “high” with this tincture because each serving delivers only a quarter milligram of THC, which is just enough to enable the entourage effect without clouding your mind with a psychoactive effect. We offer the same sort of product in a gummy or a vape pen or straight-up flower because we’re the best Durango dispensary for real CBD products.

So please, if you’re looking for CBD’s effect without THC’s high and you’d like to try a bona fide marijuana product, come see us at 208 Parker Avenue (but we’ve also got your back if you’re looking for the high as well). We’re open seven days a week with plenty of discrete parking and we have a knowledgeable staff you need to meet, because when it comes to real CBD, We’re Your Best Buds!

CBN in Durango

Posted on May 4, 2019 - 9:00 am

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Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, marijuana was illegal. The people fought this fact with everything they had, and in the end, it was marijuana’s medicinal properties that led to change; medicinal marijuana was legalized in Colorado in the year 2000. And back then, marijuana was treated and sold like medicine. Yes, people looked for THC because it got them high, but the medical shops also focused on the other cannabinoids like CBD, CBG, and CBN because those are the compounds that most people consider to be “medicinal.”

After a few years of legal medical pot, we were able to prove that marijuana isn’t an evil thing that leads to jazz music and two-headed babies like the opponents thought, so Colorado legalized recreational marijuana in 2014. Of course, this made getting pot much easier because all you needed was a driver’s license proving that you were over twenty-one, so slowly but surely, medical patients let their prescription cards expire because they were no longer necessary. More and more recreational shops started to open, and prices started to drop right alongside the demand for medical shops; medical dispensaries started closing across the state.

In a way, this is sad—the medical approach that led to legalization is slowly being abandoned because recreational marijuana is easier, but that’s just the way it goes when it comes to capitalism. However, something else is disappearing. Most recreational shoppers aren’t looking for CBD, CBG, or CBN because they don’t get you high, so, thanks to supply and demand, the medicinal cannabinoids I mentioned earlier are becoming difficult to find in Colorado… that’s where The Greenery comes in. Yes, we love selling the stuff that makes our customers high and happy, but we know that for many people, marijuana is medicine, and we’re loyal to the medicinal marijuana that gave us legalization in the first place. So, in our Durango dispensary, you can still find products rich is secondary cannabinoids because a “high” isn’t all that matters. We sell all sorts of stuff that focuses on cannabinoids such as THCa or CBG or CBN, and for this week’s post, I wanted to focus on the latter because CBN is some wonderful stuff.

Technically, CBN (or “cannabinol”) is considered to be psychoactive by some, but plenty of people argue this designation. For something to be “psychoactive,” it needs to “affect the mind” like THC does by getting you high. And CBN doesn’t really do this, but since it makes you tired (which is a mental effect, if you think about it), about half the cannabis world calls CBN the “other psychoactive cannabinoid.” Either way, when most cannabis enthusiasts look for something that may act like a sleep aid, they turn to CBN, and here at The Greenery, we sell three CBN-rich products thanks to our focus on medicinal products despite what the market is doing. Here they are:

1.) CBN Capsules from Mary’s Medicinals. Each of these capsules will deliver 5mg CBN (with is a wonderful serving size for a good night’s sleep) and 1mg THC for that perfect entourage effect. This product will cost you $90 out-the-door (for a pro tip, check the price on Tuesday), but that’s only because the cannabis plant produces only a minimal amount of CBN, so this cannabinoid is difficult and costly to isolate. That being said, there are also 30 capsules in each bottle, which comes out to a month’s supply. But if you’re looking to try CBN to see if it’s worth the cost, check out this next product:

2.) CBN Transdermal Patches. This product will cost you only $12 out-the-door, it delivers 10mg CBN, and it’s a single-serving patch that you put someplace venous like the inner wrist or the top of your foot. Many of our customers swear by these things because once they slap it on, the patch can deliver CBN through your skin for up to 12 hours, which could definitely make for a good night’s sleep.

3.) CBN Transdermal Gel Pens. This product represents a happy medium between the first two products because it’ll cost you $60 after tax, and it contains 100mg CBN. The pen will deliver 2mg CBN per serving, and all you do is click a little button to dispense the transdermal cream, which you then apply to a thin-skinned area so it can soak into your blood stream. Neat, right?

So, if you’re a past medical marijuana patient who’s frustrated by the fact that all the medical shops in Colorado are closing and you can’t find “medicinal” cannabinoids, come see us at 208 Parker Avenue. All you’ll need is a valid I.D. proving that you’re 21 or over, but if you have a valid Colorado-issued medical card as well, we’ll give you a 20% discount, because We’re Your Best Buds!

RSO in Durango

Posted on October 27, 2018 - 9:00 am

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There’s still no such thing as genuine RSO in Durango, so I stand by the first blog I wrote about it that you can read HERE. Rick Simpson still lives in Croatia, and he still spends his days sending nastygrams to people in Colorado who slap Rick’s name on their oil. That being said, there’s something new we’re carrying in our Durango dispensary you need to know about: oil capsules from Sweet.

Let me back up and explain a couple things. Like I said in that first blog, Rick Simpson made his oil in his backyard with alcohol, cannabis, a bucket, and a stick. People think Rick Simpson oil is the bee’s knees because it was the first oil to become famous, but let me tell you, nowadays, we’ve progressed quite a bit since the “stick and bucket” days. So please, please, please believe me when I tell you that modern oils are better than the old ones, even though we don’t use Rick Simpson’s famous name.

To make cannabis oil today, we use liquid CO2, a pressurized stainless-steel vessel, and a rotary evaporator. See what I mean about progression? But here’s the important part: when most CO2 oil is produced, it’s winterized with ethanol to take out all the lipids and impurities to make the oil vaporizable, but most people looking for an edible oil want these things because they’re searching for “whole-plant” oil. So, Sweet listened when they made their CO2 oil capsules, and they skipped the winterization process; doing so allowed them to keep all the lipids and secondary plant compounds in their oil for that whole-plant effect people are looking for when they search for RSO.

The only other ingredient in the Sweet capsule is coconut oil, so you won’t need to worry about additives you can’t pronounce. And we sell 10-packs of these capsules (available in either Indica or Sativa) for $24 after tax. Each capsule delivers 10mg THC (and sometimes, a couple milligrams of CBD) for a total of 100mg THC per package. And if you’re looking for RSO, I’d recommend that you come in and try these capsules even though you won’t find Rick’s name anywhere on the packaging, because they were made with science instead of a stick. Sounds legit, right?

So, if you’re one of the many RSO-hunters who calls in daily or reads blogs like this (and you’re 21 or over with a valid I.D.), come see Your Best Buds at our Durango dispensary on 208 Parker Avenue, and we’ll send you on your way with the modern-day version of RSO!

CBD Oil in Durango

Posted on October 6, 2018 - 9:00 am

Without exaggeration, about thirty people come in every day and ask, “do you have any CBD oil?” Of course, when I get this question, I always say, “yes, we do; are you looking for smokable or edible oil?” This question is usually answered with a blank look because most people don’t know the difference, and if you think about it, it’s my fault. I’ve been writing about cannabis laws and history because it’s such a hot topic right now, but my choice to do so has left those of you looking for CBD oil in the lurch, so this week, I’m going to make up for it and tell you everything you need to know about the CBD oil we sell in our Durango dispensary.

However, before we get started, I need to include two caveats: I’m not a doctor, and neither is anyone who works at The Greenery. We aren’t qualified to give medical advice, and all I can do is share my personal experience with the products I’m about to discuss, or the experience many of our customers have had. It’s always advisable to consult your physician before using CBD (or THC, for that matter) to treat a medical issue, so please keep that in mind. And for the second disclaimer, even though we’re talking about CBD products, everything we sell in this dispensary contains a small amount of THC, so even though many of these products might not get you “high,” they can show up on a drug test. Now, let’s get started:

There are two forms of CBD oil: smokable, and edible. It’s easy to decide which form will work best for you depending on the effects you wish to feel. For example, if you’re looking for a product that can bring with it quick effect, try smoking your CBD Oil. The effects of smokable products kick in almost immediately, as where an edible can take up to two hours to take effect. However, if you’re looking for lasting effects, try an edible. Like I said, edibles take a while to kick in, but once they do, they can last for between four and six hours.

Now that we have that covered, let’s get into the four different ways you can get your CBD here at The Greenery (the last two will be the “oils” I get asked about daily).

1.) Flower. That’s right, you can buy actual marijuana that’s high in CBD. We usually have two strains available (CBD Mango Haze for the Sativa lovers, and Raspberry Glue for those of you who prefer Indica-dominant strains). And we sell Toast as well, which is a brand that produces pre-rolls that look like cigarettes—each “slice” contains a little more than a half-gram of high CBD flower, and quite a few people love these things. Flower is the purest way to get your CBD because the bud is unprocessed, but there will always be a slight high because this type of flower contains THC as well, and smoking bud isn’t as discrete as the other CBD options.

2.) Edibles. We have peach gummies that deliver 20mg CBD and 2mg THC per serving, and this is a perfect option for those of you who want to take regular servings of CBD with a lasting effect. And we have dark cherry chocolate bars that’ll deliver 25mg CBD and 2.5mg THC for you chocolate-lovers out there. We also sell Ripple Relief, which is a tasteless, odorless, instantly-dissolvable powder you can add to any drink which will give you 10mg CBD and 0.5mg THC per serving—this product is simple, consistent, and as discrete as they come. For a low serving of CBD, we offer Stillwater CBD Gummies in a Honey Lavender flavor with 5mg CBD and 0.25mg of THC per serving and a Green Tea Mango flavor with 2.5mg of each CBD and THC per serving.

3.) Tinctures. This is the “edible oil” most people are looking for, but the term is somewhat misleading because this product isn’t an oil—it’s a tincture that’s infused with oil that you put under your tongue. And the longer you hold it under your tongue before swallowing, the sooner a tincture might take effect (that’s because it’s absorbed intravenously while it’s under your tongue). We have a wide assortment of tinctures, but this week, I’m going to tell you only about the Lucky Turtle Restore Tincture. Each bottle has over 600mg CBD and only 9mg THC, so each serving (dropper-full) will deliver roughly 17mg CBD and 0.25mg THC, so you get all the goodness of CBD without the buzz of THC. We sell this tincture in either Lemon or Watermelon, and there isn’t a better cannabis tincture on the market in my opinion.

4.) Vape Oil. And this is the “smokable oil” I promised to tell you about, the kind you’ll want to try if you’re looking for an immediate effect. Granted, we have about twenty different forms of vaporizable oil from five different producers, but I’m going to focus on two since this is a post about CBD: the CBD oil from Sweet, and the CBD Distillate from Evolab. Both products come in low per the THC percentage (between 8% and 16%), so there’s still a slight high, but both products come in very high per the CBD (between 55% and 65%). If you do the math, that’s well over 500mg of CBD per gram, and numbers like that are going to be hard to beat. We sell this stuff in one-gram syringes or pre-loaded vape cartridges, so we have it all covered.

And that’s that! For further reading, you can learn about CBD and the entourage effect HERE, and you can learn about the endocannabinoid system HERE if you’re interested in how all of this works. But if you’re not into reading, please call us and ask questions. Anyone who answers the phone here has been educated in CBD and the products that contain it, and there’s nothing wrong with giving us a shout before you come in at (970) 403-3710. Of course, talking to someone in person is always better than calling or reading because we’ll let you see and hold all the CBD products we sell at our Durango dispensary if you’re the visual-learner type. So, come see us at 208 Parker Avenue right here in Bodo Park if you’re over twenty-one with a valid I.D., and we’ll answer all your questions face-to-face, because We’re Your Best Buds!

The Endocannabinoid System (ECS)

Posted on September 8, 2018 - 8:06 pm

I’m so, so sorry for throwing two blogs like this one at you back-to-back. Last week’s post was a little dry because we talked about the history of cannabis prohibition, and I’m afraid this week’s post about the ECS isn’t going to be much better. I promise that next week, we’ll go back to talking about getting baked, or maybe I’ll do something else fun like a new product review, but this week, I’d like to try to teach you something; it’s fitting given that it’s back-to-school time.

However, maybe you’re the type of person who enjoys this sort of post, because I know I am. I love learning how things work because knowledge demystifies the weirdness associated with something like getting high. And it’s pretty complex, too. Alcohol is a simple thing: you drink it, it gets into your blood stream, and then it pickles your brain and makes you do stupid things. But a cannabis high is on an entirely different echelon because the cannabinoids found in marijuana mimic similar compounds that occur naturally in the human body. That’s why it feels so good. Let me explain…

Allyn Howlett was a super-smart woman, and she’s a stoner’s hero because in 1988, she discovered the receptors in the brain to which THC binds to get you high; this was the first discovery of the endocannabinoid system (in my humble opinion, Howlett should’ve been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize). And a little while later, Howlett’s team discovered that these receptors aren’t limited only to the brain: they’re everywhere in the human body, which is why edibles can give you such an intense “body high.” See? We’re learning things. By the way, this is a blog for a pot shop, so I’m totally allowed to cite Wikipedia as a source; you can read a much more in-depth explanation about the ECS HERE. Anyway, moving on…

Raphael Mechoulam was the first to discover and isolate THC and CBD a few years earlier in 1964 (he’s still alive and well in Jerusalem), and not to be outdone Howlett, Mechoulam was the first to discover “endogenous cannabinoids” back in 1992. Endogenous cannabinoids are naturally-occurring, THC-like molecules produced in the body—we’ve always had them, which is why they’re “endogenous,” and if you combine the words “endogenous” and “cannabinoid,” you get the “endocannabinoid” in “endocannabinoid system.” Boom! Super educational.

However, the Endocannabinoid System isn’t just for getting high—the ECS is responsible for maintaining homeostasis in the body. It’s this system that helps keep us steady (regardless of what the world might be doing around us) regarding body temperature, metabolism, and mood. Granted, there are all sorts of other internal systems like the thyroid and hypothalamus that regulate changes as well, but the ECS helps out synergistically.

Let’s go deeper: there are three components to the ECS: the receptors themselves, the naturally-occurring endocannabinoids in our systems, and the metabolic enzymes that break down the cannabinoids after they’re used by the body.

Are you still awake? Please hang in there because this is cool stuff…

There are two main types of receptors in the ECS: CB1 and CB2 receptors. We’re not gunna get too deep into the differences because I’m probably pushing the bounds of your interest, but the CB1 type soaks up the stuff that gets you high (these receptors are in the nervous system), and the CB2 type soaks up the medicinal stuff (these receptors are in the immune system).

We’re not going to get into the endocannabinoids themselves either because that’s some uber-boring stuff (the two main ones are AEA and 2-AG), but the enzymes are pretty cool. The enzymes break down the naturally occurring endocannabinoids in our systems almost immediately after they’re absorbed via the receptors. This is a good thing, because without those enzymes, we’d walk around high all the time thanks to the cannabinoids that our bodies are constantly making. Actually, if you’re the type of person who likes to be high all the time, maybe you’d argue that these enzymes are bad things because if they didn’t exist, you’d never have to pay for pot. But whatever; it is what it is.

Do you get how it works now? When you smoke pot, the cannabinoids in it are absorbed into your system via the receptors in your ECS, but there aren’t enough extra enzymes to break down the THC, so it becomes psychoactive and gets you high. See? Weirdness demystified! And that’s what we do here at The Greenery: we answer questions and do our best to provide an education with each transaction, because We’re Your best Buds, and that’s how we work!

Dispensary FAQs

Posted on August 11, 2018 - 9:00 am

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As a budtender, I’ve heard them all: Is marijuana instantly addictive? Will this stuff make me see flying animals? Would you please mail some of that marijuana sex spray to me here in South Africa? For real, I’ve answered all these questions, and I tried my best to do so with a straight face. And somewhere along the line, it made me realize that I’m a professional question answerer—all day every day, I field questions from people who are trying to learn about this industry, so this week, I figured I’d answer a few of the most commonly asked questions preemptively. Here we go…

1.) What’s the difference between Indica and Sativa?

Well, I wrote an entire blog about it that you can read HERE, but basically, the Indica strains are famous for relaxation, and the Sativa strains are known for stimulation. The indicas evolved in India (thus the name), and the plants are short and bushy, as where the sativas (that originated in Africa) are tall with thin fronds. Just remember “indica, in-da-couch,” and “viva Sativa!”

2.) What’s your most potent edible?

On the recreational side of things in Colorado, edibles are capped at 100mg THC per package, and 10mg THC per serving, so they’re all equally potent. However, we do sell a few edibles that come in 5mg servings for people with a lower tolerance.

3.) How much am I allowed to buy?

Each adult can buy one ounce of flower, or 800mg worth of edibles, or 8g of concentrates. And yes, there is an equivalency chart to follow. Basically, you’re allowed to purchase eight eighths, and one eighth is equal to one gram of concentrate or a 100mg edible. So, hypothetically, you could buy four eighths, two grams of concentrate, and two 100mg edibles, and that would be your maximum.

4.) Do you sell any CBD-only products?

Nope. Those are available online, but they’re derived from hemp, and everything we sell is derived from cannabis (they’re completely different animals). However, we do sell a few products that are “mostly” CBD, such as our Lucky Turtle Tincture that contains 500mg CBD and only 10mg THC: each serving will give you roughly 14mg CBD and 0.25mg THC, which isn’t enough to get you “high.” Just so you know, the proverbial “they” have figured out that CBD can be more effective if it’s accompanied by a little THC thanks to the “entourage effect,” and I wrote an entire blog you can read HERE if you’d like to learn more.

5.) Do you have anything on sale?

Almost always! We have rotating deals throughout the week (for instance, I’m writing this on a Wednesday, and today, all our concentrates are 15% off). For a complete list of our daily deals, click HERE.

6.) I’m from out-of-state and I don’t have a medical card; can I still buy from you?

Yes. We’re a recreational-only dispensary (but we offer a 20% discount to customers who have a valid Colorado-issued medical card), and all you need to show us when you shop here is a valid, government-issued I.D. with a picture proving that you’re twenty-one or over.

7.) What’s the difference between a smokable and an edible high?

The stuff you smoke hits you almost instantly as where an edible can take up to two hours to hit you completely. The biggest mistake people make is eating more after twenty minutes or so because they aren’t feeling anything, and then boom, it all hits you. Please go slow and don’t do this: once you eat it, you cannot un-eat it, and an over-the-top edible experience is something you want to avoid. Trust me… Lastly, a smokable high lasts about an hour and a half, but an edible high can last for up to six hours, which is why caution is so important.

8.) Where can I smoke?

This is the tricky one. To consume any sort of marijuana, you must be on private property with the property owner’s permission. That’s what makes things tricky for tourists. However, plenty of the local hotels allow you to consume cannabis in designated areas—all you need to do is ask, and I promise they hear the question multiple times a day. And yes, I wrote an entire blog about this too, and you can read it HERE.

9.) Where are you located and what are your hours?

We’re at 208 Parker Avenue in Bodo Park right behind the GMC dealership. Simply call us if you need directions. We’re open from 9am to 9:30pm on weekdays, we’re open from 10am to 9:30pm on Saturdays, and from 10am to 7pm on Sundays. We’re closed on Christmas and New Year’s Day, and we have shortened hours on a few other holidays, but you can click HERE for a map and all sorts of other info.

10.) Is marijuana instantly addictive, will it make me see flying animals, and can you mail it to me here in Africa?

No…

That’s it! Of course, if I didn’t answer one of your questions, there’s nothing wrong with calling us to ask: (970) 403-3710. And there’s definitely nothing wrong with coming into our Durango dispensary to ask us in person because we’re all professional question-answerers, and We’re Your Best Buds!

CBD in Durango

Posted on June 30, 2018 - 9:00 am

CBD stands for “Cannabidiol.” I wanted to say that right off the bat because most people think “CBD” is an acronym that stands for something (like “cannabis, because duh”), but it’s not—it’s simply an abbreviation, just like “THC,” which stands for “tetrahydrocannabinol.”

But what CBD does is more important than what it means: Cannabidiol is a non-psychoactive cannabinoid (meaning it doesn’t get you high) that may help people with anxiety, inflammation, or pain management. This is the stuff that puts the “medicine” in “medicinal marijuana,” and it’s becoming quite popular. In fact, the FDA just approved the first-ever marijuana-derived CBD pharmaceutical to treat epilepsy (read the article HERE), Walmart is selling CBD products derived from hemp, and one of our local pet shops is even selling CBD-infused dog treats, which should tell you something about this compound’s popularity and efficacy. However, since you’re reading this, you probably aren’t a dog, so I’ll focus on what CBD can do for humans instead of for pets.

In short, CBD is awesome. I’ve had a few people come in to ask, “does CBD cure cancer?” because they’ve heard rumors. I wish this were true (we’d be a lot busier if it were), but unfortunately, CBD hasn’t been studied enough to prove what it can or cannot do. So, for now, I can only tell you what CBD “may” do:

• If you’re an anxious person who clams up when life comes flying your way, CBD may take the edge off. In fact, we have a slew of customers who buy CBD products to combat their PTSD, and they swear by the calming effects of this popular cannabinoid.

• Personally, I feel like I’ve taken a handful of ibuprofen after a dose of CBD. This stuff beats the pain down for me, and it does so without the side effects that make pills so infamous.

• Other than that, CBD is renowned for its possible anti-inflammation abilities. Swelling, redness, discomfort: CBD is something to experiment with if you suffer from any of these maladies.

Alright… that covers what CBD might do for you, so now we need to talk about how to use CBD, and it’d be easiest to list a few of our bestselling CBD products and let you decide which one might be best:

1.) Incredible Power: There are quite a few CBD-dominant strains of flower out there, but most people come in asking for Charlotte’s Web because it’s the most famous. However, I’d argue that Incredible Power is better because it contains around 12% THC and 15% CBD, as where Charlotte’s Web is lower in both categories. This flower is a slightly indica-leaning hybrid, so it’s doubly relaxing, and it’s definitely a shop-favorite.

2.) Chroma CBD Distillate by Evolab. If smoking flower is a bit too harsh, I’d suggest this cartridge for a vape option. Frankly, Evolab makes the best vape oils known to man. These cartridges fit on any universal 510-threaded battery, and the 500mg of oil contained in each one comes in at 56% CBD and about 17% THC. If you’re looking for the highest concentration of CBD in a high-quality vape product, there’s nothing better than the Chroma CBD cartridge.

3.) CBD Therapy Pucks by Highly Edible: If you’re not a smoker, there are plenty of edible CBD options out there, and this product is a perfect place to start. These gummy pucks come in peach or golden strawberry, and each serving contains 20mg CBD and 2mg THC, so this product will provide the relief of CBD without the high of THC.

4.) Ripple Relief: If you’re not a smoker and you don’t like the calories that come from edibles, there’s still an option for you. Ripple is an odorless, tasteless, instantly-dissolvable powder that can be added to any drink (or spaghetti sauce, for that matter) to turn it into a CBD-infused edible. Each serving contains 10mg CBD and 0.5mg THC so this won’t get you high either, but the best part is that drinks usually take effect sooner than other edibles, so Ripple can deliver relief much sooner than other products.

5.) Mary Jane’s Salve: If you don’t want to smoke or eat anything, but you still want to try CBD, this topical is our bestselling option for you. Topical salves are favorites among people who suffer from arthritis, muscle pain, or severe dry skin. And if you’ve never tried cannabis-infused salves, we have a 2oz trial size that’s perfect for first-timers; it contains 60mg THC (but it still won’t get you high) and 20mg CBD per jar.

Of course, we have about seventeen-billion other CBD-infused options available for sale in our Durango dispensary (including quite a few that have a perfect 1:1 balance between CBD and THC) and this list barely scratches the surface, so if you’d like more options, check out our menu HERE.

And yes, as one last note, you can in fact purchase CBD products online, but they’re derived from hemp rather than cannabis, so they don’t contain any THC (which is why you can buy these products online). This might sound like a good thing to those of you who are looking for CBD’s relief without THC’s buzz, but it isn’t because of one thing: the “entourage effect.”

It’d take a blog of its own to tell you all about the entourage effect, but in short, they (scientists) have found that CBD is most effective when combined with other cannabinoids such as THC because the compounds work together synergistically to provide a better effect. So, even if you’ve tried the hemp-version of CBD that provides CBD all by itself, you might have better luck with a product that provides both CBD and THC, even if the THC percentage is minimal like it is in the five products I listed above.

So please, if you’re over twenty-one with a valid form of identification (a driver’s license is peachy) and you’re looking for a little CBD relief, come see Your Best Buds at 208 Parker Avenue in Durango, Colorado, and we’ll tell you and show you everything you need to know about CBD!

Rick Simpson Oil in Durango

Posted on April 14, 2018 - 9:00 am

Long story short, there isn’t any.

Not really, anyway, because for an oil to be a “Rick Simpson Oil,” it needs to me made by Rick Simpson. That’s just how it works. And honestly, I thought the guy was dead, but as it turns out, he’s living happily in Croatia because the Canadian Mounties raided his home, and he decided to leave Canada forever. But I should back up…

In the late nineties, Rick was standing on a ladder in a small room coating asbestos-insulated pipes with some sort of industrial adhesive, and he fell and hit his head (pretty much exactly like Doc did just before he dreamed up the Flux Capacitor). When Rick woke up, he was in a hospital, and when he left, the doctors gave him all sorts of pills that didn’t do much. So he asked for medicinal marijuana, and when they wouldn’t give him any, he went home and started messing around with cannabis extraction techniques in his backyard.

He mixed a bunch of marijuana with some alcohol in a bucket, stirred it with a stick, poured the alcohol onto a tray, let it evaporate, and then voila; he’d made his first batch of Rick Simpson Oil. But a few months down the road, he was diagnosed with terminal skin cancer. So he made some more oil, rubbed it on his skin (and took regular doses orally), and according to legend, the cannabis cured his cancer.

Of course, I don’t know that for a fact—there aren’t any peer-reviewed medical journals that I could find to espouse any sort of tangible evidence that Rick’s cancer was cured, nor could I find any proof that he had it in the first place, so please don’t think that the guy who writes the Greenery’s blog is telling you that all you need to cure cancer is weed, alcohol, a bucket, and a stick. If it really were that simple, cancer wouldn’t be as scary as it is.

Anyway, Rick began making tons of RSO and sending it to people who were looking for wholistic alternatives (that’s when he pissed off the Mounties). He started proselytizing like some sort of pot prophet, angered too many politicians, and then moved to Croatia where he makes a living selling his RSO cookbook online for $35.75 plus shipping and handling.

There. We’re all caught up, and now I can tell you about the oil itself: just about everything we make nowadays in Colorado is better. I know there’s something enticing about buying a book and cooking up the cure to cancer in your kitchen, and I don’t have any evidence proving it doesn’t work, so I support anyone’s right to try. But now we have scientists making our cannabis oil, real ones with doctorates who didn’t fall off a ladder and start their first batch in the backyard. We have consortiums of investors who pool their money and hire hordes of geniuses to work in world-class labs that look like they belong someplace only Marty McFly could go. And these products are spectacular.

In our Durango dispensary, we sell one gram of pure CO2-extracted cannabis oil in a glass syringe from Sweet for $50 before tax—it delivers a perfect balance between THC and CBD with lab-tested percentages that simply couldn’t be produced in Rick’s day because cannabis was illegal (you know, without scientists and whatnot like we have thirty years later here in legal Colorado). Our dispensary also carries edible full-spectrum cannabis oil capsules from Sweet for $24 including tax. Each capsule contains 10mg THC and 2.5mg CBD of unwinterized cannabis oil along with coconut oil. Many of our customers are battling cancer and they swear by this stuff. They’ll rub it on or eat it or smoke it and they tell me they love it. I don’t know if it cures anything yet—time will tell, and many are hopeful—but if you think about it, that doesn’t really matter because it makes suffering people feel better, and that’s important.

And we sell salves (Mary Jane’s Medicinals) that combine everything Rick Simpson was trying to get into a pleasant-smelling topical. Salves such as these are some of the bestsellers on the market, and we sell the one-ounce container for $15 before tax if you’d like to try it for yourself. This is the stuff the little old ladies come in for daily. They’re usually bright and happy to see me, and I’ll always run over to help them find their driver’s license, usually with a coy smile when I ask to see their I.D. And they keep coming back because the better-half of the Greatest Generation seems to love cannabis salve.

Frankly, the Sweet CO2 Oil and the Salves I just told you about are the closest things on the market to RSO (except for “Phoenix Tears,” which is just another form of oil), but some people would have you believe otherwise. There are plenty of companies out there selling “Rick Simpson Oil” and Rick Simpson himself spends a good deal of his time sending messages to these companies from Croatia telling them to stop using his name, but they never do because marijuana products are federally illegal, ergo copyright laws don’t yet extend to this industry of ours. So, manufacturers keep slapping Rick’s name on things because it helps them sell so well, and people keep falling for it thanks to the name recognition.

I spend most of my time sitting right here in front of this computer and it’s by one of our telephones, so I’m usually the one who answers when someone calls our dispensary, The Greenery, and at least one person calls in every week asking for Rick Simpson Oil. I’ll always give them an abridged version of the ten paragraphs you just read, and when they come in, I’ll show them the two products I just told you about and send them on their way with confidence. But if you still have questions about infused topicals that might actually be better than Rick Simpson Oil (but without the name everyone knows), just come see Your Best Buds at 208 Parker Avenue in Durango (or call us at 970-403-3710), and we’ll show you all the new stuff on the market so you don’t have to make it in your backyard with a bucket.

Weed and Romance

Posted on February 10, 2018 - 9:00 am

I have a Valentine’s Day story for you:

Nigel was a seabird who lived in New Zealand. He was a gannet, one of those streamlined white birds that looks like a seagull on steroids, and he was a hopeless romantic.

A couple decades ago, conservationists peppered a New Zealand beach with concrete decoys that looked just like Nigel, and when he flew by five years ago, he saw one that appeared particularly becoming. He landed, introduced himself to the decoy, built her a nest, and waited patiently for his stone-cold mate to lay an egg. The conservationists were ecstatic because they’d finally found success: gannets were eradicated from that beach years ago, and the concrete decoys were meant to lure in live birds; loudspeakers were even used to play gannet mating calls on loop.

But Nigel was the only bird who landed. No real birds came to live in his nest or give him an egg that might hatch. So, Nigel flew away, and the conservationists went home to wait for another season. And when it came, so did Nigel. He landed once more and made his way through the gamut of stone decoys, looking for his special lady, and when he found her, he reintroduced himself, built her a nest, and waited once more for his statuesque mate to lay an egg. She never did, so Nigel flew away again, gliding over the surf with still wings like seabirds do.

This went on for five years. Nigel would land and look, introduce and build. He’d even preen his girlfriend’s feathers, doing his best to remove the dirt that’d accumulated on his sedentary best friend. You see, gannets mate for life, staying true to just one bird forever because that’s the way it works best for them, so Nigel wooed the same concrete bird for five years fruitlessly, right up until the day he died in that lonely nest, a few weeks ago.

At this point, what I just gave you probably doesn’t feel too much like a Valentine’s Day story, but frankly, it’s genius because it works for all of us. For those of us in committed relationships, Nigel is a mascot, someone we should all try to emulate, no matter how hard it might be to love the bird we chose. And for those of us who are lonely and single on this very pink and cuddly holiday, Nigel is a reminder that it could always be worse, because at least you’re not building nests for a rock. See what I mean? And the best part is that none of this is fictional—if you don’t believe me, you can watch Nigel’s struggle here.

And do you know what else works for all of us? Marijuana. For real. It makes bad dates better and good dates the best. It makes loneliness more bearable and partnership more companionable. And it makes the best Valentine’s Day gift ever, regardless of which side of the spectrum you’re on, because flowers and cordiform boxes got old a while ago. Seriously, how many points would you score with him or her if you showed up with a bouquet of flower, instead of flowers? And if you don’t have a him or a her, wouldn’t a bunch of bud just for yourself make the day a bit better? Probably.

So come in and see us. We still have plenty of reloadable gift cards, which are infinitely more practical than my marijuana bouquet idea, and we still have a little Foria Pleasure left that we’re selling at 20% off while supplies last. And best of all, we’re having a Valentine’s Day special on all our infused chocolates (20% off), so even if you’re a traditionalist who goes the heart-shaped-box-route, at least you’ll be able to fill it with something better than all that hazelnut nonsense that just gets picked through anyway. See what I mean when I say We’re Your Best Buds?!

Marijuana Edible Serving Size

Posted on September 9, 2017 - 9:00 am

marijuana edible dosage, edibles, marijuana, edible dosage, consuming edibles, highly edible, dixie elixirs, mountain high, incredibles, gummies, marijuana infused

“I ate way too many edibles this one time,” said every stoner, ever. For real. Everyone I know who enjoys the occasional edible has a similar horror story—one they look back on with an embarrassed shake of the head—because eating one milligram too many is an easy thing to do. So, as a stopgap, I’m going to share my story with you, and then I’ll tell you how to avoid the same mistake. Here it is:

I have my medical card, so I have to be especially careful—The Greenery is a recreational-only dispensary, so our edibles are limited to ten milligrams of THC per serving, but the medical shops around town don’t live under the same restrictions: I’ve seen them sell one-hundred-milligram brownies that’re small enough to eat in one bite, and that’s just scary, when you think about it (but I’ll get to that in a second).

Before I hired on here, I shopped at a medical place downtown. The sour gummies they sold were my favorite. Each gummy was ten milligrams, and two of them would put me exactly where I needed to be. But this one time (see?), the company that made my favorite sour gummies doubled their per-piece dosage. Nobody told me. And I’d just made it through an especially trying week, so I decided to have three gummies instead of two, because, you know… dumb. Anyway, as soon as the flavor faded from my mouth after gummy-number-three, something on the package caught my eye. I read on. And then the “oh shit” bubble appeared over my head as I realized I’d just eaten sixty milligrams instead of a hearty thirty. I got a glass of water and hunkered down with my afghan. Crazy things were coming…

I’m going to take a break here and tell you what you’re supposed to do if you eat too many edibles: stay hydrated, and remind yourself that the world isn’t ending. Pot isn’t anything like alcohol or narcotics, and for an adult, it impossible to overdose, even on edibles. All you need to do is find a safe place, drink water, and weather the storm, because nothing about marijuana is permanent. Anyway, let’s get back to it…

My story doesn’t end like a few of the good ones I’ve heard: I didn’t end up marooned in a tree or lost topless at a music festival. But I did end up on my bed, small and bundled as I fought the panic with the fetal position. I’m not going to minimize the feeling just because I’m a proponent of selling edibles to people; it’s my job to be honest with you and that’s what I’m going to do.

That night, it felt like my brain was interdimensional.

The world around me shrank and expanded, and I lost communication with my extremities somewhere along the way—there were dizzying thoughts and tumbling worries, and I just wanted it to end. Of course, I eventually passed out after an hour that was amusing only in retrospect, and the next morning, everything was right as rain. I didn’t even have a marijuana hangover, because they don’t exist. But I’ll tell you here and now that taking sixty milligrams of edible marijuana is something I’ll never do again.

But really, that doesn’t do you any good because everyone is different when it comes to edibles. We all have different metabolisms. So, while sixty milligrams might be a Hunter S. Thompson novel for me, the same dosage might not do a damn thing for you: everyone must find their own dosage. The trick is to take it slowly and not be reckless (you know, pretty much the way you’re supposed to live life), because if you do it right, an edible high is a wonderful, warm thing that you’ll want to relive over and over. So, I recommend that you start by taking a single serving, or less, and then gauge the effects. As I mentioned, at recreational shops in Colorado, everything tops out at ten milligrams per serving and one-hundred milligrams per package, so the “single serving” you should start with is ten milligrams. I rarely repeat myself or use bold typeface, but this occasion warrants a break from tradition.

Secondly, after you eat those ten milligrams, wait a solid hour before even thinking about eating more. That boldness was justified, too. For most people, it takes an entire hour before edibles start affecting the brain, and it takes two hours before you feel the full effect; the last thing you want to do is get impatient and toss more kindling into the fire. And after an hour, if the effect isn’t strong enough, remember that THC is lipid-soluble. If you’re not feeling anything, eat a handful of peanuts or half an avocado; the healthy fat will get down there and help the pot do its magic; it’s a symbiotic trick that’ll save you from an experience like mine.

Third, if you’re small like my wife, I’d recommend taking it a step further and halving that “single serving.” At The Greenery, we sell quite a few edibles that come in five milligram servings—like Highly Edible Pucks or Mountain High Sweet Pieces or Dixie Mints—and if you have a low THC tolerance, this might be the place to start.

And lastly, don’t feel like you need to remember all of this, and please don’t let it scare you away from a good time. Edible marijuana is the greatest invention since marijuana-infused sliced bread (learn how to bake it here), and all you need to do is be responsible when you experiment. As to remembering it all, at The Greenery, every single one of our budtenders knows what you just read—if you have questions, come in and ask them. If you buy edibles, and you’re interested, we’ll even throw into your bag a cheat-sheet that talks that talks about dosages and times so you don’t have to take notes. That’s the least we can do, because we’re Your Best Buds, and we want you to have a safe, enjoyable, edible time.

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