I'm coming out…As a stoner
Cannabis and I go way back. 15 years back. And the relationship, like most, has had its fair share of ups and downs. But despite any challenges, I fucking love weed.
So why hide it?
The Shame Game
Coming out of the “green closet” proved to be more difficult than I expected. To friends in my college days, smoking weed made sense. But as the years kept coming, it began to feel more like something I needed to hide. I became a wife, a mother, a homeowner, and a therapist. If I could do all that while still getting high, why feel ashamed?
To sum it up in the simplest of terms: reefer madness.
For years, cannabis was stigmatized for so. many. reasons. (More on that another time). But that stigma still lives, haunting the perfectly lovely lives of stoners everywhere. Fighting this stigma, I realized, is scary. And so I hid. I hid my status as a stoner and a cannamom just like I hid in my car to enjoy my beloved cannabis.
How it Started
I found cannabis through recreational means, aka: college. Many social situations included weed and I soon found that this was a relief for me and my social anxiety. The benefits of this sweet, sticky substance became abundantly clear to me after one particularly horrible night. I can’t recall the gritty details of my sexual assault but the way it left me feeling will stay with me forever. I’m so grateful I had cannabis to ease the anxiety, depression, and anger that would otherwise rage inside me.
How it’s Going
The days of college have passed but the benefits I receive from cannabis remain to this day. I feel far less anxious, more creative, better able to connect with my son, and even more connected with myself.
So all of this led me up to a moment, an epiphany, or maybe divine intervention when I finally thought…FUCK. THIS. SHIT.
So I stopped hiding, stopped living a life I didn’t fully believe in, and stopped pretending like cannabis was a problem. Because I believe in it. I left my role as a therapist to come out of the green closet to the world as loudly as possible. I now work as a certified cannabis health coach and content creator helping others find their mental and physical wellness with the help of cannabis. And I’m ready to kick some stigma ass.
