How A Tolerance Break Reset A 15-Year Habit And Opened The Door To Smart Microdosing

What happens when a 15-year daily habit meets a hard reset? We sit down with Madison to unpack the real story behind a month-long tolerance break, the switch to intentional microdosing, and why chasing THC percentages can leave you numb to what actually helps. From first puffs with friends to parenting three busy kids, quitting cigarettes with herbal blends, and navigating depression with care, Madison brings candor, humor, and a practical toolkit anyone can use.

If you’re curious about tolerance breaks, ready to try microdosing, or tired of being told to buy the strongest thing on the shelf, this conversation is your roadmap. Listen, take notes, and then tell us: what’s your ideal dose strategy? 

Join the FREE Grow Your Knowledge Challenge in the Bite Me Cannabis Club and join the Grower's Ask Me Anythingon Thursday, April 2nd, 8pm EST. LINK HERE.

Find the Fresh Start Complete 30 Tolerance Break Guide on Amazon in paperback or Kindle and do a t-break when you're ready! Science shows even a short break can be helpful!

Transcript

Welcome And Series Setup

SPEAKER_02 1:48

What happens when you take a love of food, a passion for culture, and a deep knowledge of cannabis and you toss them all into one bowl, you get bite me. The podcast that explores the intersection of food, culture, science, and cannabis and helps cooks make great edibles at home. I am your host, Margaret, a certified gangier, TCI certified cannabis educator, and I believe your kitchen is the best dispensary you'll ever have. Together we'll explore the stories, the science, and the sheer joy of making safe, effective, and unforgettable edibles at home. So preheat your oven and get ready for a great episode. Let's dive in. Welcome to Cannabis Confessions, an exclusive series brought to you by Bite Me the Show About Edibles and the Bite Me Cannabis Club. This is the place where cannabis lovers like you come together to share their personal journey with this remarkable plant. And in each episode, you'll hear real stories from members of the Bite Me Cannabis Club and listeners of the show exploring their first encounters with cannabis, how it shaped their lives, their favorite ways to enjoy it. And today I welcome Madison, also known as FreeNugs, and we touch on the tolerance break that we just both did together and the impacts of that break. These conversations are honest, inspiring, and uniquely personal. And this series is all about connection and community. So without further ado, please enjoy this conversation with Madison. All right. If you have any pronouns you like to use.

SPEAKER_00 5:42

I never tried it before. And you know, eventually we did, and we all had a great time, and I ended up just hanging out with those guys more and more, and we just getting high, laughing, listening to music, and just having a good time. And that was my first encounter with cannabis.

SPEAKER_02 5:58

And sort of the rest is history. I mean, that sounds like a pretty classic first experience. You're hanging out with your friends, somebody has weed, and you decide to partake.

SPEAKER_00 6:05

Exactly, for sure.

SPEAKER_02 6:07

No, if I hear if I heard that correctly, was it the women, like the the women that you're hanging out with? Were they the ones smoking cannabis?

SPEAKER_00 6:14

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:14

Wow, and the guys weren't?

SPEAKER_00 6:16

No, no, they were more interested in playing the video games and doing the computers.

SPEAKER_02 6:21

Oh, that's really interesting.

SPEAKER_00 6:23

I don't know why I find that interesting, but they they were they were more of a rebellious type, the the females.

Depression, Cannabis, And Intentional Use

SPEAKER_02 6:29

Yeah, well, you don't have to tell me I was smoking cannabis in high school too, but it just seemed like a lot of the guys were smoking weed, and maybe I just fell into that group. And I mean, there was obviously other like girlfriends that I had that were smoking weed too, but yeah, it's just kind of interesting because I don't know why I find that interesting. I just do.

SPEAKER_00 6:49

I was also a very sheltered kid, so like I I would have believed that nobody smoked unless they like were like, hey, you know, sm smoking it right in front of me, and I'm also very gullible. So if you tell me one thing, I'm probably gonna believe it.

SPEAKER_02 7:02

Right. Well, you know, I was pretty sheltered too because I grew up in a very religious household, so you know, uh, cannabis was definitely the devil's lettuce as far as uh my parents were concerned. I mean, they never referred to it as such, but they wouldn't have had that kind of lingo, but still, it was it was definitely frowned upon. And I smoked a lot of hash in high school. Every time I came home, like it still is to this day, one of my favorite snacks is a peanut butter and honey sandwich. And I don't eat those very often anymore, but I prefer honey over jam or jelly. But every time I would come home from being out with my friends and I was having that snack, um, my mom always assumed I was high because I was eating something sweet, and she had joined some support group for parents of kids who smoked weed.

SPEAKER_00 7:49

Oh, geez. And I mean, she was right 50% of the time, probably, but right, but it also makes you feel like crap because you're like, Mom, I'm not high. I just want my peanut butter and honey sandwich.

SPEAKER_02 8:01

Yeah, because I also grew up in a household where we had like nothing sugary or sweet, because they were all like it was we were like an ingredient household, and uh so that was like literally my only option. We never had any sweet snacks. They waited until after my sister and I moved out of the house before they started buying real treats. So, you know, peanut butter and honey was like the only sweet thing, and I do have a sweet tooth, so yeah, I do too. Yeah, so now I mean obviously you must have enjoyed cannabis when you first experienced it back in the day. How has your relationship with cannabis evolved since then?

SPEAKER_00 8:38

Well, through my life, cannabis was at first a social thing, hanging out with my friends and whatnot. But for me and my mental health is why I chose to consume more because I struggle really bad with manic depression. And when most people attribute depression, they think of just like a feeling sad all the time or for no reason. And unless you actually know somebody with depression, you never really understand it. And it's not just a feeling of sad, it's feeling numb, it's feeling like you can't enjoy your everyday life because everything's just dull. And to me, everything's just gray every day, and it affects my thoughts and my motivation, and it can impact my energy levels on some days. And throughout the tolerance break is when I first started to recognize all of these things, and so my relationship with cannabis has been evolving the most in the past probably three months because in December I was, you know, so I was just I've been using it for over 15 years. I've been using it heavily for that long, so it's just starting to evolve in a better point now because I'm starting to use it and recognize it for a lot for more reasons than what I was before, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_02 10:05

Yeah, I think so. Then maybe you can like expand on that a little bit. And I do understand what you're saying too when it comes to depression, that if you haven't known somebody or you haven't experienced it yourself, it's really tough to understand um, understand it. And I did have a partner in the past who had undiagnosed depression for a long time, and uh it was really hard because I it's not something that I typically uh deal with. And it was really hard to understand sort of what he was going through. It took me a long time to really understand that how it was affecting him, but it did affect him a lot, and I used to take it kind of personally because I you know I just didn't really get it, but eventually I did learn that it can be really debilitating. And so if I'm hearing you correctly, you're kind of exploring more about using cannabis uh like intentionally and more maybe medically. Is that right?

The Tolerance Break Decision

SPEAKER_00 11:04

So even though I do not have a medical card and there's reasons behind that that I I won't go into, I use it quote recreationally, but to me it's more of a medical thing that I have been using throughout my life. Um it's and I'm not saying that it's a coping skill or a coping mechanism as much as we all like to use it as a coping mechanism. It's not like a functional one, but I've been microdosing since the tolerance break, and I've noticed a tremendous difference in my overall mental health, just microdosing, because another thing that we all have to break the stigma on is just because we ingest or consume cannabis doesn't mean that we're always high or or we're always stoned, right? And I hate that so much that just because you smell like weed, people think that you're just like numbed out of it and can't function, and that's not what it is at all, you know. So um just being able to use it freely and to I've just yeah, I've been experimenting with uh having it in my system, but not uh having to be stoned all the time.

SPEAKER_02 12:33

Right. Yeah, that totally makes sense to me. And also when you mentioned that um you're using it probably more medically, even though you're not accessing the a medical system per se. I mean, a lot of people would think that all cannabis use is medical to some degree.

SPEAKER_00 12:49

Because you know, I mean, yeah, maybe you're thinking you're using it recreationally, but if I'm using it in the evening to unwind in lieu of a glass of wine, that can be construed as medical because I'm just working, I'm looking to reduce my cortisol levels, which is yeah, you're just you know, everybody has their something, and I I definitely wrote something about that too. Uh but yeah, yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_02 13:16

So tell me a bit more about the microdosing, because we'll so we so you took part in a community tolerance break with me in January of this year, 2026.

SPEAKER_01 13:27

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 13:27

Can you talk about your experience and what you learned throughout? And I would like to touch on the microdosing as well, because I think that's really interesting.

SPEAKER_00 13:35

Well, my my experience was very eye-opening, and in many ways, it was a test of will and ambition. Uh, but most important, I was able to see what my life was like without cannabis for the first time in over 15 years. I smoked almost every day for over 15 years, and I quote, wasn't feeling high anymore. And I wasn't recognizing any of the effects of my medicine that I have become so dependent on. And so after learning about the science behind tolerance breaks, I knew that what I needed, you know, and sooner than later was a tolerance break. And when I listened to your intro about taking a break together, I was like, nope, that that's it, we're going in. So um, and I don't know if this is a good gateway to keep going on mental health. Um but one thing to bring up is generational trauma. And during the 70s and 80s, there was a parenting program called Tough Love or something like that, where the parents would literally jet degenerate their kids in front of others and put them down to make them feel like crap because the media was force feeding them to do this because it was the right way to raise your kid, you know, and no one was allowed to.

SPEAKER_02 14:50

Yes, I just just re like so they would quickly like humiliate or insult their children to make them tougher.

SPEAKER_00 15:01

Supposedly.

SPEAKER_02 15:02

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 15:03

You know, and so that shuts you down, you know, that that that makes you feel like like you know, it makes you feel like crap. So it wasn't about the parents and children sitting down to work together for the parents to show the kids how to deal with these everyday problems because they couldn't handle it themselves back then. And that's why a lot of us are victims of this generational trauma that's kept us all quiet and underway, unaware of what our true emotional well-being is. So, coming back to my point is when you start going to a therapist and working with a mental health specialist, you start to realize disorders like depression, anxiety, bipolar, etc., and different chemical imbalances we all have in our brains. And when you work with a psychiatrist, they prescribed your medications to help you balance the chemical imbalance in your brain to help you be a more functioning adult. So I personally don't believe every psychiatrist is evil and trying to get you hooked on a medicine to be a slave to the system. But if you do start to do some research of what your medicines do for you then and what they help you accomplish as a functioning human being, then you can do your due diligence and figure out what kind of herbal medicines you can take instead if you wanted to go down that route, which I'm a big fan of, and I have been researching since I quit alcohol alcohol almost a year ago, and I quit cigarettes almost five years ago. So I think I qu I started all of the plant stuff heavily five years ago, and I and to get off cigarettes, I was smoking more herbal things, not just cannabis. It was it was uh mullen is a big one that they put into a lot of them as like the main thing because mullen is congestion. Yeah, I was just gonna say, I hear that recommended a lot for people who are trying to like get all the icky stuff out of their lungs after it's a very light, smooth smoke, but it definitely will help you get it'll help you hack up any of that phlegm that's stuck in your lungs for sure. When any anybody who smokes cigarettes says, Oh, I got this really bad cough and I can't get anything up, I go, Well, have you ever tried smoking mullen? They're like, What?

SPEAKER_02 17:29

How does how does okay you're okay? You've said a lot of things that I really want to touch on.

SPEAKER_00 17:33

Okay, yeah, sorry, sorry.

SPEAKER_02 17:34

As far as mullen goes, like, how do you get like is that something you can buy already in sort of a cigarette form, or do you buy dried mullen up yourself?

SPEAKER_00 17:45

Both. Uh yeah, if you go right on Amazon, I know that I don't know the name of the company, but if you look at the packaging, if you type in like herbal cigarettes, it'll uh show you like a bear paw, and that was the stuff that I got, and they come pre-rolled, or you can come get it in a tin where it's like a mixture, and then you can roll that up, but you can also take that mixture and brew a tea with it, too. So like you don't just have to smoke it, you can get it like you can smoke it. Like that that's the cool thing. So, like when I stopped smoking cigarettes, I found all these different things that you could smoke because back in you know, ancient druidic times, that's that's what they did, you know, is they got these benefits from smoking the herbs and figuring that out.

SPEAKER_02 18:31

But well, there's also that idea too that you're replacing that like oral fixation. Because as someone who used to smoke as well, I think I quit like maybe eight years ago at this point, but I know exactly what you're talking about. Like we your lungs just feel like shit. And when you're first trying to quit, it's like you're missing something. If you go cold turkey, and something like mullen could sort of be a replacement for that oral fixation that is part of the habit.

SPEAKER_01 18:58

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:59

But I suppose over time, you know, weaning off the the smokable mullen and switching to a tea or something might be wise because obviously anytime you put something into your lungs, there's I don't know, some risk, I guess.

SPEAKER_00 19:13

I don't ever encourage people to smoke, to be honest.

Quitting Alcohol And Cigarettes With Herbs

SPEAKER_02 19:18

Um, like that that's that's my personal choice, and that's just you know, maybe that's just the old man in me is you know no, we all get older and we all realize that we're not gonna live forever, and uh yeah, because like interestingly, I I've talked about this on the podcast already, I think in last week's episode, but my dad was just diagnosed with lung cancer and they caught it really early, so that's a really good thing. But my dad used to smoke, but he quit like 50 years ago, and the type of lung cancer he has is one that's typically associated with smoking. Now, obviously, they can't like make that direct you know correlation or whatever, because I've also heard that once you quit smoking cigarettes after a couple of years, your lungs are supposed to regenerate as if you would never smoke before. Right, but I mean it does make you think, obviously.

SPEAKER_00 20:12

So yeah, but I'm all young and stupid ones.

SPEAKER_02 20:16

Oh god, yeah, yeah, for sure. I mean, the number of dumb things I've done in my own life, but I wanted to touch a little bit too on that emotional regulation, because whether it was through something like that crazy tough love program you were talking about, or uh, I mean, I grew up, like I said, already in a religious household, and I was never really taught things about like around emotional regulation and things like that. And I think that's a really important distinction that you're making. Like, if you grow up without those tools and skills, then life can be really difficult for sure.

SPEAKER_00 20:51

It's hard for you to show your children how to do those life skills. You know, how can you show your children to do something that you expect them to do that you're not willing to do yourself?

SPEAKER_02 21:03

That's what it boils down to. And if you've had kids, we've all like anyone out there listening who's had kids totally understands the toddler who's having an emotional meltdown because they don't know how to regulate their emotions. But we've also experienced that as adults. It took me a long time to really understand, you know, what emotional regulation was and like recognizing your emotions and talking about them in a way that helped me understand what I was feeling in the moment. And I feel like that's something that we need to talk about more. And therapy is a great space to explore that. But I do understand too that psychiatrists are going to prescribe drugs just the same way that our medical doctors will, because they don't have that understanding of how plant medicines can be a really effective substitute for pharmaceuticals because they just don't have the language and the education around it. So that does mean oftentimes you kind of have to go out there and find people who are doing that or do your own research and see how you can use these uh medicines to your advantage.

SPEAKER_00 22:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:05

Yeah. So talk a little bit about the microdosing that you were mentioning because you were obviously talking about how you've used cannabis in the past as a way to sort of manage some of your own, I guess, mental health and is how microdosing has sort of evolved in your in your cannabis.

Mullien, Oral Fixation, And Safer Choices

SPEAKER_00 22:24

So right now, um I don't have any means of like measuring it out per se. So what I'm doing is like if I wake up, I'm not smoking in a whole bowl or anything, I'll just take a hit and hold it for you know, your three and a half seconds, I'll exhale and I go, okay, you know, that's the one thing that the tea break has taught me is a little bit of control. You know, you take that, put it down, you don't need the whole thing. And right now, where I'm also trying to not spend money on my my main cannabis, I'm trying to grow it myself. Right now, I only have one strain because that's what I grew last year. So that also plays a part into how much you have to microdose. Because if you have a different strain that does different effects, you're gonna have to microdose differently. Everybody's body chemistry is different, and all of these different cannabis strains act differently to every different person, so it's really, really difficult unless you kind of have an idea of how you're gonna go about experimenting with it. You know, we have a mutual friend SME who does, you know, FICO and And makes his own gummies and capsules and things, and he has a much more precise way to microdose than I would per se.

SPEAKER_02 23:54

I would also venture his tolerance is from what I understand much higher than mine.

SPEAKER_00 24:00

And I also have a very high tolerance. I mean, that tea break, um when I went back, it I did end up getting very stoned, but I I just with the microdosing and I still smoke, you know, um, I still have that pretty high tolerance. So the m I guess the microdosing goes into just overall throughout the day, kind of like an it's it's like an all-day thing. So I think of it this way trying to achieve the perfect amount of not medicated, because I feel I feel like when you use the word medicated, it people think sedative. Um so like that one's that one's just a hard, hard thing to describe.

SPEAKER_02 24:51

Um no, I think maybe if I can if I can sort of unpack what you're trying to say, so that I I make sure I understand it, is that you are sort of using small doses throughout the day to sort of keep yourself at a certain at a certain level, which you find is right, which helps with your mental health.

SPEAKER_00 25:11

Yes, thank you. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 25:13

Okay, so that's how I understand what you're saying. And it's you it sounds like to me that from the tolerance break, you were smoking really heavily before you took the break. And what I remember you telling me as well, like you smoked a lot, and then a lot of the times you didn't even really feel high from it. Right, yeah, found like a minimum effective dose, so you can like intersperse those doses throughout the day, and you're using less cannabis each time, right?

SPEAKER_00 25:40

And finding that functioning human being, and I can do things throughout my day and still be I can still be a human.

SPEAKER_02 25:50

Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:51

You know, why do we start looking at people as you know, cannabis users as you know degenerates instead of as humans?

SPEAKER_02 26:00

Well, that's part of the stigma that's taking forever to die, and one of the reasons why I like doing this show because I've interviewed a lot of people over the years, and one thing I've learned is that there is no one cannabis user, like they're they're all over the place, they're everywhere, they're and they come from all walks of life. So that stigma of the you know, lazy uh lazy stone or stereotype or whatever is the furthest thing from the truth, but that's just like the hangover from propaganda, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:31

The propaganda era years of yeah, yeah, just just all of the negativity, yeah, yeah, I can't stand it.

SPEAKER_02 26:39

But I have to say that like I was really impressed with how you managed that tolerance break because you pushed through even when you were finding it really difficult, and so I gotta commend you on that because uh for your first tolerance break in 15 years is no small feat, and you showed up every single day, even when it was like hard, because I know it was hard for you at some moments, and I just want to commend you for that because it's not easy to do, but you're doing something really positive for yourself and for your health and your family, and yeah, I'm really glad to hear that you were able to like have some ongoing positive impacts from that as well.

SPEAKER_00 27:21

Yeah, for sure.

Microdosing Tactics And Finding Dose

SPEAKER_02 27:23

Yeah, now would you do yeah, would you do a tolerance break again?

SPEAKER_00 27:27

In October, I would definitely do one in October. I'm never doing a dry January again. Oh my gosh. Well, the kids are still on school from Christmas vacation, and when you take your you know, your your one thing that is making everything better, and you know, they're still right up your butt until the time they go out to school. It's no set.

SPEAKER_02 27:53

I don't have kids in school anymore, so that's not something we have to deal with, but yeah, that's definitely an added layer of complexity because yeah, kids can try. I mean, kids are wonderful, but they definitely try your patience on the best of times, especially when they're like home all the time.

SPEAKER_00 28:09

So and I have I have my hands full because I have three very special boys. Uh, one, my youngest is physically disabled, so he can only he has limited maneuverability. My middle child is very, very intelligent, and we think he might be autistic in the way that he is too smart for his own good. Right, yeah. Okay, and then I have my oldest who is he has a learning disability, he's very hyper ADHD, and he's just he just he knows what he wants, and he's just not all there at the same time. Right. So I have my hands very full, and I also help my wife with the restaurant down the road because she's a manager down there, and so uh you know, trying to juggle all of these things while taking a tea break was very uh trying.

SPEAKER_02 29:02

Yeah, and it's like your hands are very full, your life sounds very rich. Um, I can see why January might not be the best time. I've had some people in the club also talk about how they might be interested in taking like shorter tolerance breaks as well. Like, I know there's a lot of science behind doing, you know, the month-long tolerance break, but now that you've done one, maybe you could also consider like a shorter one, more frequently.

SPEAKER_00 29:29

I've thought about a two-week break or trying even like a week break, or even just being like, okay, you know, not doing it for like a day or two. Um, that's definitely in my thought process. It's not something that I would not want to try.

SPEAKER_02 29:46

Yeah, because I've heard some people say, like, you know, maybe they do a couple days a month for a year or something like that, or a week one, take a one-week break every quarter or whatever.

SPEAKER_00 29:55

Like, it doesn't always have to be like all or nothing a whole month long, even though there's obviously your brain repair itself a little bit, because not saying that cannabis is harming our brains, but the our brains have so many receptors, and when the receptors are like it's kind of like when it when something sticks to the receptor, it's done. You know, the receptor's not there anymore. So when you start running out of those receptors, you know, that's when it's like, okay, I think I need to stop this for a little bit so that you can start getting growing those things back.

SPEAKER_02 30:30

Yeah, like you have the receptors, and if you're over consuming perhaps, or you've been consuming for a while, then your own like internal systems are going to downregulate how much they're producing as well. Like endocannabinoids that the body is producing goes down because you're supplying it with so many external ones.

SPEAKER_00 30:46

Right, right.

SPEAKER_02 30:47

And so taking that break sort of resets that system so that when you do consume again, you're going to get more benefits from it, which is exactly what happened with you for the month-long tolerance break. Now, it sounds like your tolerance is still relatively high, comparatively speaking, to someone like me per se. Do you find that your tolerance is still lower than it was before you started as you're microdosing?

SPEAKER_00 31:09

I'm sure. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:11

Yeah.

Stigma, Functionality, And Daily Life

SPEAKER_00 31:11

Yeah. Cause I can I can smoke weed with friends now and feel like, and I think that part of it was recognizing. Right. You know, when you don't feel like you're high, you don't recognize that you're high. You know, so maybe you are a avid con consumer and you smoke so much and you just don't feel high. Well, maybe that's because it's become so regulated to you that you can't you're not recognizing when you are feel feeling it.

SPEAKER_01 31:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:47

You know, so that was a that's been a big thing now that I've come back is being able to, you know, when I am taking some days and I'm, you know, taking more, you know, uh indulging, when I become more indulging, um, I am making sure that I notice when I'm high, and I'm not just smoking to smoke, because that's a lot of it for me, is I'm a smoker, and I hate to admit that, but I am, and I just like to smoke. So for me, I'm not looking to smoke to get high. I think I'm just beyond that point, and I'm gonna be looking into some more um CBD and other CB, you know, strains to test those out because where cannabis is right now, it's all bred to be very high potent THC. And the THC is what I feel is numbing us all out.

SPEAKER_02 32:47

So I think uh you really hit on something there, and I would highly encourage you to check out C BD dominant strains or CBG or like all the other ones that are coming out.

SPEAKER_00 32:58

I want to try C B V, honestly.

SPEAKER_02 33:01

I'm not familiar with that one.

SPEAKER_00 33:03

What's the what's the ADHD one?

SPEAKER_02 33:07

I are you thinking THCV? I mean, that was the one I think, yeah. There's also an appetite suppressant, and maybe that's the one that they're using.

SPEAKER_00 33:18

Maybe that's the one, yeah. It's the it's they all got so many acronyms.

SPEAKER_02 33:24

I know. I I was interested in trying that one too, but they're definitely because they're minor cabin cannabinoids, they're harder to to find. But you are right that throughout history, most of the cannabis that's been grown because it was illegal, if they're gonna do it, they might as well make it as potent as fucking possible because otherwise as potent and as fast flowering as possible. Yeah, no one's gonna risk their livelihood uh to grow a plant that's non-intoxicating, which is what your C BD cultivars are. But as someone who consumes a lot of CBD, I definitely recommend it. And I love mixing it with my THC dominant flower. I mean, I guess you can get ratios now too, but um it's kind of nice to have separate plants sometimes or separate cultivars because then you can mix them however you choose to do. And I read a book a little while ago. I would love to get her on my show one of these days, but a woman named Miyavi Shields, she's a scientist in the cannabis space, and she's a huge advocate for using uh blends of THC, CBG, and I think CBD flower because that's how like she has a particular blend and she's neurodivergent and you know is a big advocate for cannabis around mental health. Yeah, I think exploring. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:40

Because yeah, I'm definitely interested in that. I am full of neurodivergent.

SPEAKER_02 34:46

Yeah, yeah. So I think the CBD has a lot of potential to sort of just take your cannabis journey that much farther. And now that you're in a place where it's legal to do that, that's that's kind of cool too.

SPEAKER_00 34:59

For now, allegedly.

SPEAKER_02 35:02

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 35:02

Yeah, we're gonna keep it there, yeah.

THC Potency Myths And Better Shopping

SPEAKER_02 35:04

So if you have a recreational market, can you go in and buy CBD flour?

SPEAKER_00 35:08

Like, although I have to admit, up I would have to find a shop that only sold CBD specific. So right now I don't I only go to like a few places because once it went so first weed in Maine became medically legal, and then when you started seeing the dispensaries started popping up, all of the weed kind of went what so so back in the day when you first got your weed, you had either merch or you had green bud, nobody had names for it. Right, yeah, you know, and so after the medical dispensaries came out, there was green bud everywhere, but to me you had your merch green bud, and you had your your gank or your super fire or whatever you wanted to call it, you know, your good stuff. And so around here, to me, a lot of the places only have mediocre herb, and maybe I'm just a snob, but you know, so I only go to a few different recreational places because I know what I'm paying for and I know where they grow it, and I'm really super friendly with all the people, and they're very friendly to me, and they'll chat my ear off about their operation. So, like it's a very like close to home sort of place that I go. Kind of, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:34

Do you have FarmGate in Maine?

SPEAKER_00 36:36

I don't I don't know. I don't even know what farm gate is.

SPEAKER_02 36:39

I think it's so that's just when like cannabis farms can sell like at their place of business.

SPEAKER_00 36:46

It you must you must it must be because I know that the place that I'm talking about, it's called Blue Sky Maine at their medical shop. It also acts as their the whole backside of that is their outdoor grow area.

SPEAKER_02 37:01

Yeah, I wonder if that's under that kind of umbrella because it might be you can do that, which I think is really cool because that's kind of like getting let's like going to the farmer's market and meeting the the people that are growing your food and you're buying the carrots from them. Like that's I love that, and but they they don't really carry C BD flour that you know of.

SPEAKER_00 37:21

Not that I know of, right? And and I when I used to frequent a lot before I started growing my own, and that was that's the big thing about growing your own, is not spending so much money because it's so damn expensive.

SPEAKER_01 37:33

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 37:34

Um they never really had like CBD dominant strains because I feel like they're with dispensaries, they've got a certain market they're selling to. They're not trying, it's not a medical dispensary, it's a it's a recreational dispensary that I'm going to. I don't have a med card. I don't have my I don't have access to medical prices and medical things that would probably have more of those CBD flowers in their shops.

SPEAKER_02 38:08

Well, and I suppose there's probably just generally overall like less demand for CBD flour in the shops. And I used to work at a dispensary in my town uh a few years ago, the first legal one where I live, and we sold CBD flour. And uh quite a few people came in to buy it, but it it was okay. I wouldn't say it was like awesome because I would get CBD flour from a grower friend here in Canada, and that shit was dank. It was so good. And I had never experienced that in the in the uh dispensary, but people still always came in and would be like, What's the highest potency flour that you have? Yeah some of those customers would buy that flour regardless of anything, any other factor. Like it could be a a$60 eighth and they'd be spending that money just because it was high potency.

SPEAKER_01 39:01

Yeah.

Terpenes, Testing, And Conscious Consumption

SPEAKER_02 39:02

Um I think that's sort of a limitation of the legal market as well, because we hear a lot more about like cannabis use disorder and hyperremes, cannabis hyperremesis and all these things. And there's a lot of studies that are talking about this stuff, but there's still skepticism, I think, sometimes from the cannabis community around that. But I don't know if they're considering that the legal market has an imperative to bring new products to the market for people who want high potency products, and so they're getting more and more potent, and you're seeing like vapes and brand new categories that didn't exist before.

SPEAKER_00 39:40

Another thing that I have really thought was kind of interesting is when they started getting out of like they call it sativa or indica, but now that we know that they're just genus names, and then it doesn't actually mean that it like you could still smoke a sativa dominant and it could still put you in the couch, like an indica could. Yeah, you know, they're also mixed and inner in between, but they still label them in the dispensaries as a sativa or an indica, like or or the hybrids that they have now, which pretty much everything is a hybrid. When you think about it, yeah. So one cool thing about the dispensary that I go to, and um, we got talking about that recreational bud that goes out in Maine has to go through specific testing by Mafka, the main organization, Maine Organic Farmers Growers Association. Anyway, um, so but they have to go through so many testings before it can be put on the shelf because there was a grow in Maine that was all it had mold in the weed, and they were selling it. So um yeah, so they got they got tagged, and so now all of it has to be um it has to be very regulated, and I don't remember where I was going from there because my ADHD went off the rails.

SPEAKER_02 41:06

But well, we were talking about the high potency products that you see, uh, and I suppose also what I'm hearing you say.

SPEAKER_00 41:12

Okay, yes, yes, okay. So um I can go into my dispensary and they have on a card what what different percentages are in the the bud.

SPEAKER_02 41:25

Right.

SPEAKER_00 41:25

So whenever I go in, I'm not looking at the THC potency that's the number one label that they throw up there. You know, I'm gonna go up and I'm gonna look at the index card of information that they have on it. And one cool other thing that they have is a binder that has all of their like a genetic lineage of all of their seeds that they've grown that they sell personally at the store.

SPEAKER_02 41:50

Oh, that's cool.

SPEAKER_00 41:52

Yeah, yeah. Um so I love that they that if you're a more conscious consumer, because that's what the cannabis community needs, is more conscious consumers, is to go in and actually look at these different compounds that are in the plant or the strain that you're gonna ingest and get the feelings out of that, and it's not just the THC that's that's gonna do it for you.

SPEAKER_02 42:22

Percent. And I I understand what you're saying too, but like the dispensaries always distinguishing between the different types of flour with like hybrid sativa indica, because I think that's like what most people understand right now, as far as you know, how to shop for flour. But then when you look at like the terpenes, a lot of the times they say terpenes is what drives effects, and maybe a lot of sativas have specific types of terpenes, which may be why it's generally speaking more uplifting for right, those more limanine and other things like that, those uplifting yeah, tend to be tend to be more in sativas, but not necessarily, which is why you also have to like like try a bunch of different strains to see what works best for you, because you could try a limonine dominant sativa that puts you to sleep because that's your unique biology, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 43:13

And yeah, and that's another thing is is working and recognizing your own body chemistry. Yeah, yeah, it gets confusing.

SPEAKER_02 43:21

It turns out we all we are all really special snowflakes, after all. Yes, yeah, but I love that your your dispensary has like the certificate of analysis available for all the flour, and you can look up like lineage and terpenes and compounds and stuff, because all that stuff is really informative. And I don't know about you, but in Canada, we don't have the ability to like smell the flour before we buy it or even really see it yet. I think they're bringing in clear packaging soon, but you know, in the absence of that, you have to kind of work with the other information that's available.

SPEAKER_01 43:56

Right, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:58

And a lot more companies here descriptors, yeah, and a lot more companies here are listing like terpenes and the terpene percentages on their packaging as well. Uh, from what I remember, I don't like you, I don't buy a lot of flour here anymore because I do grow my own too.

SPEAKER_00 44:14

Right, right.

SPEAKER_02 44:15

But yeah, it's uh that's valuable information that tells people a lot of a lot of stuff.

Advice For New Consumers

SPEAKER_00 44:21

If you get anything out of me, I would definitely say that what you're consuming because it, you know, you you might think that you're going to get the dankest weed because it's high THC, but maybe that, you know, that lesser amount that has more of that CBD and will kick your ass heavier than any any potent THC would.

SPEAKER_02 44:42

Yeah, and I'm sure we've all smoked flour that was like 27%, and then you're like, eh, that was okay. And then you start with 18%, and you're like practically drooling, and you're like, okay, well, obviously THC percentages don't matter as much as the industry would like us to think it matters, because I think it's like really easy for them to slap something on a label that says 27%, and then people will buy. But I think as the consumer gets more sophisticated and more educated, then they'll start to demand better, honestly.

SPEAKER_00 45:13

And that just takes time.

SPEAKER_02 45:14

It really does. Yeah. So, what advice would you give to someone who's new to cannabis and they're curious, but maybe they're not sure where to start?

SPEAKER_00 45:22

So, as being a person who has totally done this and has done it the peer pressure way, um, make the experience enjoyable and don't be out doing something with a big crowd of people or don't be in an uncomfortable environment, you know, close friends, good music, and good vibes, and just let them go at their own pace. Like that's that's the biggest. Advice I can go. You know, let them go the slow route if they want. If they want a little more, all right, let them have it. You know, if it's their first time, make it a good time. Don't like make them smoke as much as you, who's been smoking forever, right? Smoke that amount with you to the point where they're having a panic attack, they don't know where they are. You know, don't make that first experience terrible because I've seen a lot of people be turned off by having a bad first time.

SPEAKER_02 46:16

Yes. Yep. Yeah, I I second that a hundred percent. And people talk about set and setting a lot when it comes to mushrooms, but that applies just as much to cannabis, and you definitely want to be in a place where you feel safe and you're comfortable. And I think a lot of people underestimate if you've never smoked weed before, you can literally take a puff, wait and see how you feel, and then go from there. But a lot of times that's all it takes is like one puff. And you might feel like if you're brand new, you might feel something. In fact, sometimes that's all it takes for me.

SPEAKER_00 46:49

Tell you what, after the tea break, I took one puff and I'm like, I felt it immediately. I was like, whoa, yeah, this is this is what I remember. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Beyond THC: CBD, CBG, THCV Curiosity

SPEAKER_02 46:59

It really does. Uh yeah. So the start low and go slow definitely applies to that too. And just the set and setting. Like, you want to be in a place that's comfortable. If I think as well, like the my worst nightmare would be like trying weed for the first time at a concert or something like that. Like, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 47:15

Especially if you have anxiety to begin with, you know, and then you do that because one thing I've noticed tremendously now is that cannabis will do this thing where it makes you second guess yourself, it makes you anxious about the stupidest stuff that you wouldn't have even felt anxious about. And then you're like, oh, wait, is everybody gonna think bad of me because I thought that or I said that? You know, and so those are the thoughts that I struggle to deal with some days because I'm like, no, no, stop. You know, you're you're overthinking this. This isn't you thinking, you know. So uh yeah, yeah, just def definitely making people as comfortable as possible for your first time is the best thing to do.

SPEAKER_02 47:59

Yeah, I totally agree. Now, also, is there anything that you would like to know about cannabis, but you were afraid to ask?

SPEAKER_00 48:06

Uh, and what's funny about that is I just bought a book called Weed and Everything You're Too Stoned to Ask. Okay, that's cool. Um, I haven't gotten to a chance to read it, but I'm not afraid to ask anything about the plant because I'm a scholar at heart and I love to learn, but I'm more curious on growing strains that aren't THC dominant, like we just touched on. You know, that's the big thing that I want to know more about cannabis, is working with these other um I don't I'm not because like I don't know if you can use the word chemical compound, it's not a chemical, you know, but these compounds in the plant, these different compounds that aren't just CBD and THC, I want to be able to grow these other strains that have all of these different qualities because it's you know, um I was listening to Mackie's interview with the swan lady, I think that's her name. The she does the herbal medicines. When you combine cannabis with other herbs, it brings out other potencies of the other terpenes and cannabis that it wouldn't otherwise be able to put out on its own.

SPEAKER_02 49:22

Oh, interesting. So is she growing them like together somehow?

SPEAKER_00 49:28

So think of it as a sachet.

SPEAKER_02 49:30

Right.

SPEAKER_00 49:31

Okay. Um, when you're taking herbal medicines, you have a certain ways that you can do this. So, like if you were making a s a topical salve, throwing rosemary and other things like that are gonna help bring out the CBD and things like that in that salve. So it all comes down to not just cannabis has terpenes, every plant has terpenes, you know, everything has terpenes, your fruits, your vegetables, you know, it's so it's it's finding the giant concoction of the certain terpenes that we need in either ingesting it, um, smoking it, drinking it, or suppositories, just any way that you can get it into your bloodstream, you know, that's what medicine is is it's a combination of all of these different things that you've taken, and it's your medicine. It's that's why I love herbal medicine. It's it's so cool, it's so fun, it makes me happy. Yeah, you know, to do this thing on for yourself and to help other people to not you like I just found out today that one of the medicines I take, if I stop taking it altogether, I could get this syndrome where my skin can slough off, and I'm like, oh, and my psychiatrist goes, Yeah, but there's also a lot of medications that we do for people that that could happen. We just don't tell people, I'm like, oh yeah, that's great. Yeah, so I'm definitely like I do do those kind because I I have the chemical imbalance in my brain, so I need those sort of medicines, but if I had the opportunity and the time and the place and just to experiment and research the more medicinal side, I would go that route, but it's just not available to me right now. Yeah, so you're working with what you've got.

Education, Reclassification, And Hope

SPEAKER_02 51:25

As far as like growing CBD cannabis, like CBD dominant cannabis, I would assume that it's like the same exact process.

SPEAKER_00 51:33

Yeah, I would. Um, so when I was looking at Royal Queen Seeds Seed Bank, they have CBD and CBG specific strains. And um they just say that they're feminized blah blah blah strains. So I would assume that you would grow it just like any other cannabis plant. It's still cannabis. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 51:57

So yeah, exactly. It's just not gonna have the same psychoactive effects or sorry, intoxicating effects. I always like to correct myself because CBD is psychoactive. If it wasn't, we wouldn't be using it, right? Because like a lot of people find it helps reduce anxiety or it like helps with sleep or all these things. That's because it is psychoactive, but it's not toxicating.

SPEAKER_00 52:17

So yeah, yeah, yeah. And that's that's again, you know, we also have to break that stigma. It's I don't think it's so much as a stigma problem as it is an uneducated problem. The more we can educate people and and not be uneducated ourselves when trying to explain the this, that's gonna help us in the long run. Is trying to understand this ourselves so we can try to get others to understand it will help break that stigma on its own.

SPEAKER_02 52:48

Right. Yeah, and I think that takes, like you said earlier, that takes time just because we've been fed so many lies and there's still stigma that exists, and it takes time for people, especially if you're like a lot of people who aren't really in this space or like really involved. I mean, that's why it takes so long because a lot of people are like, well, I don't really care, it doesn't affect me that much. But over time, people will come to see the cannabis plant, probably just like any other medicine or herb or whatever. It may not be in our lifetime, but that would be nice.

SPEAKER_00 53:20

I I hope because and where it's hopefully gonna be looked at again in the US about being you know uh reclassified. I'm excited, you know. There's the whole divide of people out there that are like, yeah, but yeah, but the plant's gonna be able to be researched and get the dedication of research that it's been neglected for so long. Like, why can't we take the positive out of this instead of just looking at it as a negative?

SPEAKER_02 53:51

Yeah, I I totally agree, but it this stuff it seems like it always goes at a snail's pace, which is really annoying because Yeah, well, yeah, you know, the the tortoise and the hare, you know.

SPEAKER_00 54:03

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sometimes that's just the way it has to be.

SPEAKER_02 54:06

Yeah. Now, just uh a couple more questions for you today. Uh, what would surprise people about you, Madison?

Madison’s Personal Notes And Community Support

SPEAKER_00 54:13

Uh, honestly, that even though I appear like a pretty happy-go-lucky guy and that I'm doing great, I struggle with my own inner demons and self-doubt, feelings of not being able to do enough for my friends and family, and that's why I try to do that's why I try hard at whatever it is I am doing, especially in the communities I put myself in. Um, yeah, and that I just I I I'm an empath and I feel and I care too much, and uh I do struggle with that a lot. So if you ever see me, and you know, don't be afraid to say hi because words mean a lot more than anything else.

SPEAKER_02 54:52

So yeah, and I think that's a nice reminder too that a lot of the times when we're out and about, people are struggling with shit that we have no idea. And it's always better to give people the benefit of the doubt because you don't know what that person is dealing with, it could be all kinds of things, and I think we need more empathy in this world, not less. Now, finally, uh, so you were part of the Bite Me Cannabis Club. How has how has that experience influenced your cannabis journey?

SPEAKER_00 55:19

You inspired me to take the break. I mean, without your community, I could not have been able to do this. They've they're they're such a great supporting community. Um, and sometimes peer support's all you need just to just to make sure you're you're going, you know. That's what that's what made me keep going, is the you're doing great is such an uplifting feeling, you know, the you're doing this, you know, and that's why I try to do that for others so much, is because those little bit of words are so helpful to everybody in their everyday life. So I'm just thankful for your community because they, you know, you inspired me to take the break, your community helped me keep going, and you talk about some really amazing food. So I do I do listen in from time to time when I get the chance. So for letting me.

Closing And Community Invitation

SPEAKER_02 56:11

I appreciate you too, and uh just the commitment you made to yourself and to the community. I mean, but that was totally optional, but you made a commitment to yourself and you stuck with it. And I think uh, you know, keeping commitments to yourself is a really valuable skill to hone. So I appreciate you showing up every day, and I appreciate you sharing your your journey and a little bit more about yourself with me here today.

SPEAKER_00 56:34

Well, thank you for having me. I really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02 56:36

Friends, I hope you enjoyed that conversation as much as I enjoyed having it. If you could do one small thing for me right now, pull out your phone, share it with somebody that you think would also enjoy hearing Madison's story. If you're interested, you can be part of the conversation too. If you're a member of the Bite Me Cannabis Club, a listener of the show, I'd love to feature your cannabis journey in a future episode. It is a great way to share your own story, inspire others, and deepen your connection to the incredible Bite Me Cannabis community. With that, my friends, I'm your host, Margaret. Until next time, stay curious, stay high.