Melanie Abrams
Melanie Abrams is the author of The Joy of Cannabis: 75 Ways to Amplify Your Life Through the Science and Magic of Cannabis and the novels Playing and Meadowlark. She is a developmental editor and photographer and teaches writing at the University of California, Berkeley.
Melanie’s FAQs:
I find cannabis most useful for:
Music, sex, sleep (in that order of appearance).
If I could get high with one person living or dead it would be:
The Beatles. All of them. Ideally in India.
Left to my own high devices, I will eat this for dinner:
All the cereal. Also fries. And Halloween candy. And that Pirate Booty my kid left in their lunchbox. Also, ice cream, definitely ice cream.
Advice for a first timer:
Go old school and light your flower on fire. Even a first timer can take a small hit and amp up if needed. I’m a big believer that the best high is a combustion high. As long as you have a low THC strain and a friend to work the lighter and teach you how to cover the carb, you’ll be golden.
First time/high memory:
Nothing says I’m getting high for the first time like the backseat of a station wagon, a coke can turned smoking device, an illegally procured dime bag, and a semi-irresponsible older cousin.
Favorite strain, brand, or delivery system:
All flower, all the time. Despite knowing that cannabis has become so inbred that there’s a good chance that what you think is a sativa or an indica is really a hybrid, I’m at heart a sativa girl. And, if I had to choose one strain to smoke for the rest of my life, it would be Durban Poison – always a sexy, energizing, happy making high.
Favorite thing to do high that we couldn’t figure a way to put in the book:
Parent! By the time the next edition of The Joy of Cannabis comes out, I hope that the world has changed enough that there’s the same amount of stigma for imbibing “mommy juice” as there is for partaking of cannabis (i.e.: none). A little bit of cannabis at the end of the day, makes cooking dinner and helping with homework a pleasurable experience, but the bigger pay off is falling even more in love with your kids than you were before. Cannabis keeps you in the moment and helps you recognize and relish all the ways your children are extraordinary, beautiful little humans.
Larry Smith
Larry Smith is a journalist and storytelling evangelist touted by O: The Oprah Magazine as “on a quest to spark creativity in everyone.” He is the founder of the Six-Word Memoir Project and book series, editor of the book The Moment: Wild, Poignant, Life-Changing Stories from 125 Writers and Artists Famous and Obscure, and speaks on storytelling in schools and at companies and conferences.
Larry’s FAQs:
I find cannabis most useful for:
What she said.
If I could get high with one person living or dead it would be:
Carl Sagan, he would do all the talking.
Left to my own high devices, I will eat this for dinner:
Bowl of salted edamame, truffle fries, glass of good red wine.
Advice for a first timer:
Get high with a friend who’s a regular user and talk with them about what (the best strain), how (the best delivery system), what (to do once you’re high). Your first time can be as simple as taking a puff of their vape or bite of an edible and taking a walk with someone you love.
First time/high memory:
I can’t remember the first time I got high, but I clearly remember the first time I was made aware of cannabis. For my older sister’s sixteenth birthday, my family went to a Fleetwood Mac/Steve Miller concert. With wide thirteen-year-old eyes I asked my dad, “Why are those people smoking that funny cigarette with a tiny scissors?” My folks laughed, and knowing them, surely told me the truth.
Favorite strain, brand, or delivery system:
I love Terra Bites, 5mg Milk Dud-like edibles that bring me a joyful and often productive buzz. At night, I swear by Papa & Barkley’s 1:3 CBD:THC Releaf tincture, a game-changer for my sleep regime.
Favorite thing to do high that we couldn’t figure a way to put in the book:
I love watching my kid watch something that absolutely delights him. A few years ago the Harlem Globetrotters came to town and off we went (via Lyft) and for two hours I had the most amazing high time watching him watch them. We were both in our own version of being in “the zone,” and I remembered how much I loved seeing the Globetrotters with my dad when I was his age.