Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
A van full of seniors from El Dorado West in Burien recently visited a marijuana store in Seattle for a Pot 101 tour.
They came away with tinctures, ointments and a new understanding of a substance few had tried.
"I didn't know what to expect," said one resident (age 84 years young), of the field trip she and other residents of the assisted-living community took to the Seattle pot store. "I was raised at time when you didn't do marijuana."
After a tour of the Vela store in Sodo, and getting a look at Suncliff, an adjacent growing and processing business, they came away impressed.
"It was very professional. I'm hopeful. I think a lot of people should open their minds to the health thing." said one resident.
With walkers and wheel chairs, residents left the store with varying containers of an ointment infused with cannabidiol (CBD), a chemical in marijuana believed to relieve pain without getting you high, or very high. Some said they bought it for their children's arthritis. ("I don't have arthritis yet," one resident explained.) But they said there was a good chance she would try it.
The visit to Vela was part of a Pot 101 trip several seniors from El Dorado West in Burien took to learn more about the cannabis plant, its products in the legal market, differences between them and their therapeutic properties.
Research shows that pot use by older Americans is on the rise. For Washingtonians 65 and older, the proportion consuming pot in the previous month increased almost threefold from 2011 to 2014, from 0.9 percent to 2.4 percent.
"We've had a lot of questions about cannabis," said Tracy Willis, director of corporate development for Village Concepts, which owns the Burien community and 16 others in Washington state. "The idea is to demystify it."
To that end, many residents got an earful during the lunch-hour visit. They heard about sativa (more uplifting) and indica (more sedating) plants. They learned about terpenes, or aromatic oils that give strains their signature smells. They were briefed on differences between smoking, vaporizing and eating marijuana.
And, they got a warning about Maureen Dowd, The New York Times columnist who ate an entire pot-laced candy bar in a Denver hotel room and lay panting and paranoid for hours. Go slow on edibles, they were advised, and have a little bit at a time because it can be an hour before you feel any effects, and you don't want to overdo it like Dowd.
Another resident, who cleared the store's ID check by 70 years, said she had never tried marijuana. But as a gardener, she said she wanted to grow a pot plant because they're good-looking. She bought a container of a CBD tincture. "I'm going to try this tonight," she said, for her sciatica pain.
And she said she might just grow that plant, though it would be illegal unless she got a medical authorization.
"I'm 91," she said. "What are they going to do about it?"
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Seniors from El Dorado West visit legal cannabis shop for a 'Pot 101' tour | The B-Town (Burien) Blog
Author: Scott Schaefer
Contact: Contact | The B-Town (Burien) Blog
Photo Credit: Scott Schaefer
Website: The B-Town (Burien) Blog | "Best Hyperlocal Website" in the Northwest by Society of Professional Journalists for 2010, 2011.
They came away with tinctures, ointments and a new understanding of a substance few had tried.
"I didn't know what to expect," said one resident (age 84 years young), of the field trip she and other residents of the assisted-living community took to the Seattle pot store. "I was raised at time when you didn't do marijuana."
After a tour of the Vela store in Sodo, and getting a look at Suncliff, an adjacent growing and processing business, they came away impressed.
"It was very professional. I'm hopeful. I think a lot of people should open their minds to the health thing." said one resident.
With walkers and wheel chairs, residents left the store with varying containers of an ointment infused with cannabidiol (CBD), a chemical in marijuana believed to relieve pain without getting you high, or very high. Some said they bought it for their children's arthritis. ("I don't have arthritis yet," one resident explained.) But they said there was a good chance she would try it.
The visit to Vela was part of a Pot 101 trip several seniors from El Dorado West in Burien took to learn more about the cannabis plant, its products in the legal market, differences between them and their therapeutic properties.
Research shows that pot use by older Americans is on the rise. For Washingtonians 65 and older, the proportion consuming pot in the previous month increased almost threefold from 2011 to 2014, from 0.9 percent to 2.4 percent.
"We've had a lot of questions about cannabis," said Tracy Willis, director of corporate development for Village Concepts, which owns the Burien community and 16 others in Washington state. "The idea is to demystify it."
To that end, many residents got an earful during the lunch-hour visit. They heard about sativa (more uplifting) and indica (more sedating) plants. They learned about terpenes, or aromatic oils that give strains their signature smells. They were briefed on differences between smoking, vaporizing and eating marijuana.
And, they got a warning about Maureen Dowd, The New York Times columnist who ate an entire pot-laced candy bar in a Denver hotel room and lay panting and paranoid for hours. Go slow on edibles, they were advised, and have a little bit at a time because it can be an hour before you feel any effects, and you don't want to overdo it like Dowd.
Another resident, who cleared the store's ID check by 70 years, said she had never tried marijuana. But as a gardener, she said she wanted to grow a pot plant because they're good-looking. She bought a container of a CBD tincture. "I'm going to try this tonight," she said, for her sciatica pain.
And she said she might just grow that plant, though it would be illegal unless she got a medical authorization.
"I'm 91," she said. "What are they going to do about it?"
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Seniors from El Dorado West visit legal cannabis shop for a 'Pot 101' tour | The B-Town (Burien) Blog
Author: Scott Schaefer
Contact: Contact | The B-Town (Burien) Blog
Photo Credit: Scott Schaefer
Website: The B-Town (Burien) Blog | "Best Hyperlocal Website" in the Northwest by Society of Professional Journalists for 2010, 2011.
