With the near year approaching, now is as good a time as any to re-evaluate your life and your relationship to cannabis. Maybe you’ve been feeling slow and hazy, or maybe you don’t make space in schedule life to sit back with a joint and contemplate life. Whether you want to use cannabis more often, less often, or more intentionally, here are some things you might want to consider as you embark on a new year.
Ask yourself how weed makes you feel
Do you feel more creative when you consume cannabis? Does it make you tired, aroused, anxious, or calm? If you feel your needs are being met with cannabis, then great! But if you feel that the plant is either not serving you, or could serve you in a way you’re not using it for, consider how you could change up your habit.
Ask yourself why you consume cannabis
Not only is it important to contemplate how the plant makes you feel, but be sure that you’re using it intentionally to improve your life — whether it stimulates you to work on a creative project, helps you calm down at night, or eases your pain allowing you to get through the day. If you realize you have no good reason or intention behind your use, meditate on how you could use it more effectively, or if you need to be using it at all.
Switch up your strain/dose/mode of consumption
If you feel that cannabis isn’t serving you as best it could, maybe you’re too habituated to your current dose and mode of consumption. Whether you want to lower your tolerance or achieve a different feeling with cannabis, now is a time to try new things. If smoking isn’t helping your back pain try a topical; if edibles make you anxious, try a dose-controlled vape pen.
Ensure you’re supporting ethical cannabis brands
As legalization takes hold, where you buy you cannabis will be an increasingly political decision. Not only do you want to ensure you’re supporting brands that don’t spray your bud with toxic chemicals and pesticides, but you also want to be sure your weed money supports businesses that treat their staff and trimmers fairly, that comply with state and local law, and that exercise best practices in looking out for the environment.
Don’t take your cannabis consumption for granted
Even though more than half the country now lives in a legal state, cannabis policing is still disproportionately racialized and many people are still going to jail for pot crimes. Check your privilege when it comes to smoking in public (even if it’s still illegal, and especially if you’re white), having the ability to go to a store and simply buy weed, and at the voting box when you elect representatives and best policies to support an ethical and equitable cannabis industry all around.
