cannacurious
Started in 2022, but revved up in 2025.
My captivation with cannabis.
When people were signing up for YouTube and Facebook, I was reading health and nutrition textbooks.
In 2017, I taught myself basic pilates and breathwork techniques, making it a habit to do them every morning. Skincare advice and beauty culture, in particular french skincare and beauty tips, have been a continuous interest for a while, beginning also around this time. I taught myself how to heal my acne naturally and started going to a specialized clinic. In 2020, I taught myself how to do keto. In 2023, I listened to a podcast episode about a woman who had her own cannabis product line after becoming a radical feminist (radical feminism vs. third wave was a topic I was listening to a ton of at that time).
In 2024, I worked at a cold pressed juicery for two weeks, learning about adaptogens (which I later discovered via my voluntary, independent self-study, aside from learning on the job, are plants that supplement bodies and heal from the inside), why cold-pressed juice is better than store-bought juice. I discovered what the adaptogen lions mane does as opposed to the adaptogen maca (I personally like maca even more after discovering that it boosts energy and hormone levels) while making a beet root powder latte with reishi.
Now, that captivation with health and wellness is channeled not inside the white exposed-brick walls of a local juicery shop ringing up dark leafy green spirulina juices in glass bottles or a one-off podcast episode about the “cannamama,” but into another learning project that started summer 2025.
Even though in 2022, I smoked with friends socially, I couldn’t even imagine this plant had been used for millennia both medicinally and for the purposes of anti-aging, beauty, and weight loss! I’ve had to unlearn a lot of things these past few years. I’m not surprised there is yet another one.
I enjoyed this first time that I got high. A brain break. Sometimes during these smoke sessions, I would be with my friend overlooking the dusky, glittering salt lake valley.
Last summer, when I was lightly browsing a used book store to escape the confines of cabin fever, I came across the book “A Woman’s Guide to Cannabis: Using Marijuana To Feel Better, Look Better, Sleep Better - and Get High Like A Lady” by Nikki Ferrer.
Instantly intrigued, I bought it on the spot, desiring a lady-like high.
This blog post is what I learned about the plant from this initial self-study session.
Did you know that we have a system in our bodies that creates feel-good compounds, the same compounds that scientists discovered are in cannabis? No one told me! It’s called “The Endocannabinoid System.”
Our brain and nervous system houses receptors called CB1 and CB2 (in addition to others but those two are the main ones) and these compounds in cannabis lock into these receptors, activating our endocannabinoid system. The cannabinoids that we possess naturally are called “endocannabinoids.” In weed, the two biggest cannabinoids, also known as chemical compounds, are THC and CBD. Minor cannabinoids examples are CBG, CBN, and CBC in addition to others. The reason why we even have a system to begin with is for the body to maintain balance. That is why we respond to cannabis so well (in general!). It balances us out!
Scientists started doing research on the plant starting in the 1980s so the research and the industry is still so new. I like to be a part of emergent industries. Per past posts, I possess a proliferating passion for the car-free, sustainable mobility, micro-mobility lifestyle. Persuading people to abandon their car-centric practices for alternative, healthier, more sustainable modes of transportation is also still so new.
I find it fascinating that both industries I’m caught up in right now — sustainable mobility and cannabis — are green: cannabis literally, mobility environmentally.
During this research, scientists discovered that strains are the variants of the plant. These strains are different in color, size, and density. Each variant is so unlike any of the other variants because of how it is cultivated and harvested according to the methods of each farm.
In addition to cannabinoids, odor is the one of the differentiating factors between strains. Also in fruit and perfume, this aroma is called terpenes. Terpenes come from glands that produce aromatic hydrocarbons (the same glands that produce cannabinoids). Terpenes like myrcene, limonene, caryophyllene, pinene etc. produce either alert or sedative effects.
Flowers are sorted into three categories, indica, sativa, and ruderalis. Hybrids have both but are dominant in either sativa or indica. Indicas reduce anxiety, insomnia, & pain, while sativas give you that cerebral, creative high, energizing and uplifting your mood.
So far, I’ve only partaken of indicas and indica-dominant hybrids. I’ve used an indica vape cartridge before taking a bath and before bed. That was one of the best sleeps of my life the first time I tried that newly-purchased indica strain. I didn’t even need my butter coffee!
Instead of shopping for sativas, indicas, and hybrids, the author recommends shopping by terpenes and asking for the lab test results (in pharmacies, they are already provided). You can tell if something is indica or sativa by the terpenes.
Next up is potency. Potency is one of the most important characteristics in cannabis. Potency refers to how strong each cannabinoid is in the strain and the amount of a drug needed for a certain effect or intensity. Little potency is 1 to 5% and 5-10% is considered balanced.
Potency is expressed in percentages. Over the years, potency has increased which just means that we don’t need to take as much of the substance to get the effect we desire. Lower potency produces a mild effect and of course higher potency produces a moderate effect. THC potency can be anywhere from 1-30%. 5% THC means 50 of the thousand milligrams in a gram is THC while 10% THC means 100 of the thousand milligrams in a gram is THC. This also applies to CBD. 1-5% with a bit of THC/CBD is balanced.
Lab testing also checks how much each terpene is in the strain, showcasing its terpene profile (dozens of terpenes).
What makes each strain different is the amount of each of these cannabinoids and terpenes combined in the plant. This combination is what boosts the effectiveness of each medicinal compound! If single cannabinoids & terpenes are isolated from other cannabinoids & terpenes, compounds will be less effective than the full range. This combination is called the “entourage effect.”
Examples of this “entourage effect” include strains with lots of THC, no CBD; 1:1 THC/CBD, or a strain with a bit of humulene sprinkled with pinene. The difference lies in the amount of each cannabinoid & terpene in each strain. CBN is sedating, so a strain with CBN and THC in it will be more relaxing than if it just had THC. If you want the opposite effect, choose a strain with pinene.
Dispensaries and pharmacies display their products by strain name, but again, best to search for potency lab testing.
I’m personally more interested in CBD (cannabidiol) & not so much THC (tetrahydrocannabinol). Why? CBD reduces pain, anxiety, its antibacterial, analgesic, reduces blood sugar levels, reduces tremors and depression, and is an appetite-suppressant. Also, adding CBD to THC extends & enhances high.
Wild plants bear mixed cultivars, but because of the law, cultivators had to breed plants indoors resulting in plants bred with more THC.
In this day and age, there are new cultivars — CBD-rich plants, because of the current popularity of CBD.
Different kinds of highs consist of high THC and low CBD, low THC and high CBD, and 1:1 THC/CBD (mild high and lots of pain relief). Also, there is the aforementioned indica-specific “body high” and the sativa-specific “cerebral high.”
There are many methods to do cannabis. Sublingual (under the tongue) methods include tinctures, mints, sprays. There is also transdermals and topicals (one of my favorites, being a skincare enthusiast) in the form of creams, lotions, & balms. For inhalation, vape pen cartridges, prerolled joints, blunts, pipes, tabletop vaporizers etc are options.
Concentrates are a new product in the cannabis market, which is when the medicinal compounds are separated (or at extracted) from the plant matter. These are specifically designed to be vaporized, while flower can be both smoked & vaped. When flowers are turned into concentrates, several grams of flower are turned into 1 gram of concentrate. Flower is 20% medicinal compounds (cannabinoids & terpenes) & 80% plant matter. Concentrates have different names based on their texture.
I appreciate that the author, Nikki Ferrer, recommends different amounts of cannabinoids & terpenes for desired effects like sleeping, socializing, working out etc. For losing weight, she takes 10mg of CBD to reduce appetite, either by inhalation or as a sublingual. For creativity, one option she recommends is vaping a 1:1 THC/CBD strain for creativity. Before and after a workout, you can take a hit of a low-THC/high-CBD strain or add an infused pain cream.
I’ll experiment with some of these recommendations and see if they work for me. They might not, as each body reacts to cannabis differently.
It’s thrilling working in an emerging, female-friendly industry, with a healing plant. I healed my body with breathwork, pilates, cold-pressed juice, clean skincare ingredients. It’s the same with cannabis.