A New York Stoner Moves To Los Angeles

Terpenes? Cannabinoids? Cannabidiol? Full-spectrum? So… there’s not just “loud” and “reggie”?

Let me start by saying, as much as I loved smoking weed in my hometown of Queens, NY… since moving to LA, my love for everything cannabis has truly been magnified. (A large part of that has to do with the fact that I now work for LA’s best dispensary).

Any time I smoked publicly in NYC, it was a whole production — from finding a secretive nook to light your blunt to holding it in your hand a specific way so no one could tell it was you smoking, to walking and smoking so as to not “make it hot.” 

I mean damn, I even jumped out of a moving vehicle once as we were hotboxing in my college days and I thought I heard the cops. I walked 10+ blocks back to campus, paranoid, only to find out that the sirens were in the song.

Although I now live in a state where recreational cannabis is legalized, I still sometimes feel that inherent need to hide the fact that I smoke. Blame it on the New Yorker in me. But my narrative is slowly shifting with each beautiful, high day I spend out here.

Here’s a POV of the day in the life of a NY stoner:

You wake up to the usual sounds of car horns and *ahem* eccentric people yelling obscenities right outside your window. Nevertheless, your mood is joyous because your plug just got back to town from their weekend away. You shoot him a text, requesting his time and weed—“yo can I get a quarter?” To which he responds, “Yeah I’ll be there in an hour.” 

Your heart starts to flutter… you’ve been out of flower for the weekend because you had no idea he was going out of town, and truthfully, because you’re a woman, he gives you an excellent discount… so you decided to wait for your re-up instead of finding a back-up.

One hour passes… then two. If you’re being honest with yourself, you knew he wasn’t going to pull up that quickly. Plus, he doesn’t even have a car so factor in additional train time, his unreliability, annnnnnnnd you’re pretty much screwed. 

Three hours later, you send him a follow-up text. “My bad, I’m pulling up now,” he responds. After five hours, your old college pal weighs you out as you make some small talk. He’s out of baggies so you throw it in a red solo cup & immediately get to rolling up a joint.

You take a few hits and… start feeling a little anxious. It must be a Sativa. You never ask because, most of the time, he doesn’t even really know what he’s giving you. Disappointing, but you’re not going to NOT smoke it, so you go about a week smoking on some flower that makes you feel anxious and paranoid.

Fast-Forward to October 2020

My first experience with an LA dispensary was a trap shop. You know, those spots that have no windows and look like abandoned buildings? Jars of weed—the most I’ve ever seen in my life—grace the glass cases. The budtenders are holding up open jars for customers to take a whiff while hitting the joint with their free hand. 

While it was a lovely and more relaxed first experience with buying flower in LA, I doubt I’ll be visiting any trap shops soon. And here’s why: on my very first day working for The Higher Path, I learned about an amazing, unique, and abundant compound of the cannabis plant: terpenes. 

If you don’t know, terpenes are compounds that are most commonly associated with the cannabis plant, but they can also be found in fruits and other herbs. They’re largely responsible for how a strain will smell (cheesy, loud, sweet, etc) but they may also interact with your endocannabinoid system in ways that relieve stress and help you calm down. (Click here to learn more about terpenes.)

In New York, strains either produced anxiety or that couch-lock feeling. I had to get really lucky to get my hands on a strain that would uplift me without causing the shakes or immediately making me want to crawl into bed.

Now that I know limonene is one of my favorite terpenes for mood booster and anti-depressant properties, I choose strains and products that are abundant in this terpene. It’s what works best for me and produces euphoria without overthinking.


Now, I can and do start my mornings with a few hits that mellow me out without making me too high to function. If there’s one thing moving to LA taught me, it’s that there really is a strain out there for everyone. 

Anxiety, depression, insomnia, appetite, you name it. If you haven’t found your favorite terpene just yet, you’re in luck! Our live chat function is available every day for you to ask our knowledgeable budtenders for help with finding the perfect product for you. I encourage you to do some research to find out which terpene might work for you, you might just stumble upon your new favorite strain.

#NewYorkerOut

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