.Hot Boxed: Receiving Pandora’s Pot

When the package arrived at my front door, I opened it immediately and thought, “Pandora’s box.” There were more cannabis products than I could reasonably consume in two or three months. A nifty problem.

In case you don’t remember, in Greek mythology Pandora opens a strange parcel and releases a slew of curses upon humanity. I felt cursed to try everything in the package I received. There were drops, joints, gummies, vaporizers and gels in all kinds of flavors—from “huckleberry basil” to “wedding cake,” “peach chamomile” and “gelato.”

At first, I thought I might give away some of the gummies to the homeless on the street where I live. But I didn’t want to be responsible for them, so I nixed that idea. I knew I had to make a dent in the samples, and chose the pen with a cartridge. One puff and 30 seconds later I was stoned. Three hours later I was still stoned.

Before I got into bed, I ate a gummie, went to sleep and woke several times in the night feeling pleasantly stoned. I also hallucinated. The colors were trippy. By morning the cannabinoids had worn off and I was back to normal.

Care By Design and other manufacturers of cannabis products aim to target all the many different demographic groups. There’s something for everyone. Experiment on yourself and find what you like and what works best for your own internal chemistry. Cure yourself, patient. You’re the Doc.

The label for the Care By Design gummies reads, “onset time varies per individual so please consume accordingly.” The website urges users to figure out by trial and error what ratio of CBD to THC is most effective. It could be 40:1—which is 40 parts CBD to one part THC—or 1:1—which is equal parts CBD and THC. The combination of the two is recommended for optimal effect.

Whatever package or packages you purchase, forget about Pandora and the curses and think instead of help for insomnia, loss of appetite, stress and also aid in focusing on a hobby or a project.

What I don’t like about some of the new products on the market, including the gummies, is that they contain sugars. I’m diabetic and don’t need them. The products also have calories. The containers are childproof, which means that some adults, like me, have trouble opening them.

At a Fourth of July party in Marin, I met a woman who had cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy. I gave her a dozen gummies with THC and CBD. “Bless you, sir,” she said. “Bless you.” I felt like a good samaritan, and, since it was Independence Day, an American patriot. 

Jonah Raskin is the author of “Marijuanaland: Dispatches from an American War.”
spot_img
North Bay Bohemian E-edition North Bay Bohemian E-edition