Gone are the days when your average cannabis user was some couch-bound stoner with a Taco Bell habit. According to BDSA, cannabis sales are expected to reach 46 billion by 2026. In regions with established retail markets, cannabis use is downright mainstream.
For example, 67% of Californians say they are cannabis consumers or at least open to the idea. But numbers can’t tell us everything. These days everyone and their grandma is using weed, and the range of reasons for use and methods of consumption are as diverse and interesting as the plant itself.
When I began a survey on modern attitudes toward cannabis, I expected to hear from people of differing perspectives and backgrounds.
I wasn’t prepared for the volume of responses or the level of thought and emotion that people put into their answers. It turns out that a lot of people want to talk about their pot habits.
People wrote back about bowls, bongs, brownies, CBD patches, CBD-dusted nuts, dabs, joints, gummies, suppositories, tinctures, vaping, and volcanos. One respondent wrote, “I like to do what I call 'solar bowl' which involves a magnifying glass to combust the weed.
Also, I love a snow bong, which involves using a straight-chambered bong and packing it loosely with freshly fallen powder...”
A number of respondents were still buying their pot on the black market or getting it from friends. Others had been growing for years. But some said they wouldn’t be using at all if they didn’t live in states where recreational cannabis is legal.
Who Are Cannabis Consumers? How Do They Benefit From Cannabis?
Kris, a 65-year-old campground host, only started exploring the benefits of medical marijuana two years ago. She’d been on a dizzying regime of pharmaceuticals to treat anxiety, depression, insomnia, and chronic pain.
Now she wears a CBD patch every day and buys infused chocolate to make her own chocolate-dusted nuts and coffee beans. “I don't take any of the meds the doc had me on anymore,” she says.
When asked her favorite thing about cannabis, she replies, “It works where the meds seem not to...Panic attacks are rare these days. My husband says I'm a much happier person, and he’s right. I am.”
Pain and stress management emerged as clear common denominators. Many respondents saw cannabis as a viable replacement for mainstream medication.
Jim, 38, works as an audio engineer in Seattle and uses cannabis to relax, regulate his emotions, and improve his sleep. “It reduces anxiety and lets me focus more clearly on a few things at a time instead of being overwhelmed with hundreds of thoughts flying through my head,” he says.
But he also sees cannabis as a cultural conduit and a positive influence on his social life and his development as a person. Like many people I spoke with, Jim is not a new user. “When I was a teenager, I wanted to be a part of the counterculture.
I was always attracted to the type of people and mindset that surrounded cannabis use,” he says, adding that cannabis has helped expand his mind, start new friendships, and deal with the pain of loss.
Although some respondents said they were using cannabis in place of pharmaceuticals, more said they use cannabis in conjunction with pharmaceuticals, and some said they were using it for strictly recreational reasons.
Jack, 70, is a retired biochemist who describes himself as a moderate user. He’s a longtime and vocal proponent of legalization and acknowledges there are certain circumstances where cannabis might be regarded as medicinal, but says “I bristle at what I regard as Cannabis quackery.”
Like Jack, who started smoking in 1968, many respondents said they started young. But nearly as many said they hadn’t found the plant till late in life.
Stella,58, did not ingest cannabis until she was 38. “I have autism. Sometimes smells and tastes are very disagreeable.
Plus I grew up with cigarette-smoking parents, and I just didn’t like the idea of smoking,” she explains, adding that she thought weed was “a silly stinky hippy thing that made people slow and ineffective.”
She first tried cannabis for health reasons. “As an autistic person, I’ve always been prone to extreme motion sickness and difficulty eating,” she says. She discovered pot to be an effective treatment for her nausea, but she also found that it helped with her anxiety and enhanced creative thought and new ideas. “As a musician and writer, I welcome this effect,” she says.
Creative inspiration and focus are major draws for cannabis users. An owner of a creative firm says she Micro-doses when working on logo designs. A web support agent says cannabis helps her be more focused with her child during creative playtime.
An office administrator says, “I smoke for the creative vibes it gives me.” Jack, the retired scientist, enjoys vaping high-THC flower because he says, “I like the flights of fancy, by golly, flights of fancy.”
The flights of fancy are a primary draw for Dora, 22, who is a PR professional for a nonprofit. She only uses it occasionally and always in social settings. “I really like when it makes me feel like a little kid,” she says. “Watching TV with friends, laughing unstoppably for reasons I can't explain, eating junk food like it's the best thing ever.
One time I was high, sitting in a hot tub, and this guy fed me a microwaved taquito and I didn't even care it had meat in it because I had the munchies so bad. I was looking at him thinking, you are God.
I think I actually said that out loud. This sounds like bullshit but I like that feeling of mundane events being elevated to the status of divinity. I guess that's why people do most drugs.”
Kipling Honeypot, a 41-year-old comic book store owner with cystic fibrosis, says “cannabis tends to make me very silly and entertaining to myself and others” but he also finds edibles useful in the treatment of anxiety related to his medical issues.
In case you were wondering, Kipling Honeypot is not his real name. “My reasoning for wanting to conceal my identity at all is dumb, but unfortunately one I have to consider,” Honeypot says. “In order for me to be considered for a lung transplant, I can’t use marijuana, because the folks that make decisions don’t differentiate between eating and smoking it, so if you admit it using it at all they think you’re someone who doesn’t take your health seriously. It’s kinda ridiculous.”
Despite cannabis seeming nearly mainstream in states with recreational markets, only a few people agreed to use their full names.
Howard Fallon, 72, is a retired IT professional from the bay area who has been a regular smoker for 40 years and has vaped with a volcano for the past 15 years. “As a beneficiary of white privilege, weed has effectively always been legal for me,” he says.
Adrianna, a 24-year-old musician, gives me permission to use her first name only, but adds “I wouldn't be too personally worried about having my good name charred by casual cannabis.”
Mikelle Loar, 66, was also comfortable with using her real name. Now retired, she’s been using cannabis since she was 13. “I thought I was pretty cool at the time,” she says. As a kid, she smoked to get high.
These days she grows her own plants for medical reasons and to use as a sleep aid. But she still gets a lot of joy out of the plant. “I love the smell and feel, both physical and spiritual,” she says, adding “They are gorgeous plants and I love to watch them grow.”
This specific and evolving relationship with the plant is a common thread throughout my conversations.
People have different reasons for consuming, which may change over time, but they’re thoughtful about their relationship with the substance. As Mikelle says, “I really believe cannabis has its own personal place in each of our lives.”
