Dr. Amanda Reiman joins Diana to talk about the importance of accessibility with plant medicine. Reiman also talks about My Personal Plants, which is making education and growing available to novices.
Unknown Speaker 0:00
This is Jane project launched a compassionate care program called survivors without accepts in July 2021. After recognizing that many compassion programs only served veterans and other specialized groups. This is Jane project set out to ensure women and non binary people weren't left out of the equation. Together with Brand Partners ease and Lake grade cannabis. This is Gene projects. First, SB 34 compliant compassion program facilitated the donation of 120 ounces of medicinal cannabis to women and non binary survivors living in Los Angeles and San Francisco. To find out more about their compassion programs, and to find out how you can participate. Check out this is Jane project.com. Welcome to Your Highness podcast, a show where we get comfortable with the uncomfortable uncover areas of cannabis where accessibility and inclusiveness are lacking and elevate conversations about ways to affect real change in this space with a specific focus on folks who identify as women.
Unknown Speaker 1:31
You're listening to your highness podcast. This is your host I crash. And today I am joined by Amanda Ryman of my personal plan. How are you doing today, Amanda?
Unknown Speaker 1:43
I'm doing fantastic. I'm so glad to be here.
Unknown Speaker 1:46
I'm so glad that you're here as well. So, we're going to begin this episode as we do every episode with our recurring segment called vape pot and Fave not pot where each of us discuss our current cannabis related item that we're just feeling right now and our non cannabis related item that we're feeling right now basically what our favorite thing is, or what you know, it doesn't have to be your you're not committing to it like forever just today in this moment. So I'm going to start with my fav pot. And I'm not trying to make everybody angry, who's listening by saying that I'm not a Grateful Dead fan. I just want to preface this by saying that and also to say that I'm not like a huge celebrity cannabis brand follower. I just happened to get this at my local dispensary. It's the Garcia flower. And well actually now I'm on my third container of it. And I'm actually using their hybrid right now which has a really beautiful like marble green lid. And the container is this beautiful glass jar, which is definitely reusable. And the flower is just really great quality, which is a great relief, a nice break from the subpar stuff that I usually get here in Maryland. So that's my favourite now. What's your fav? Pot, Amanda?
Unknown Speaker 3:24
Right now my fav pot I would say is the emergence of cannabis drinks. So as someone who has always tried to, you know, moderate my alcohol intake, but still really enjoys kind of an intoxicating beverage, especially in a social setting, especially during summer, I have really been enjoying all of the amazing cannabis drinks that are coming on the market. And the way that the manufacturers are figuring out how to really emulsify the cannabinoids in the drink so that you get a really even effect, you get a pretty fast acting effect. And the taste is still really great. So the opportunity not only to swap out the alcohol, but swap out the sugar and swap out the calories, but still have that nice buzz afterward I think is really going to revolutionize how we view social consumption.
Unknown Speaker 4:14
Oh, absolutely. I have cut out alcohol out of my life for the last several years. You know, save for a couple glasses of wine. But I do a mocktail pretty much every night and I don't always have the, you know, sugar free. I usually use an elixir and I mix it with like a ginger rail or something like that at night. And I freakin love it.
Unknown Speaker 4:40
Yeah, it's great. It's great. We have an herbal elixir kit available on our website at my personal plans calm and it's that exact same mentality right folks still want to have a sophisticated tasting beverage. They don't want to just drink water, but they don't want the alcohol and so I'm really excited about what is happening in the cannabis drinks space
Unknown Speaker 5:00
Same. So my fav, not pot at the moment is The First Wives Club TV show. And I don't know, if you've seen the movie I'm sure many people have. It's a hugely popular movie. But the TV series is on BT. And it is definitely improved on the movie. In many ways. It's like modernized and updated a lot of things. But it's also hilarious. And it's a great show to binge when you need like a mental break. So I highly recommend it. What's your favorite pot?
Unknown Speaker 5:38
My fav, not pot right now is the show nine Perfect Strangers on Hulu. So if folks haven't seen it, I don't want to give too much away. But let's just say that it's really the first time I've seen the use of psychedelics in a mental health setting, approached in a mainstream way. And it's really exciting. And the way they do it, I feel is really respectful, the characters are really well developed. And I'm just excited for the conversations that that's going to spark around micro dosing and the use of psychedelics for mental health.
Unknown Speaker 6:09
I love that I didn't know it went into that at all. I, I refuse to sign up for Hulu again. But I love everybody that's in it and involved with it. So I'm sure I'll watch it at some point.
Unknown Speaker 6:21
Yeah, it's really quite good. It's quite good.
Unknown Speaker 6:24
Awesome. So if you listen to this podcast at all, you know that one of the main driving forces of the show is accessibility? Can you talk about how personal plants is making every element of plant medicine accessible to novice users?
Unknown Speaker 6:42
Sure. So my background is as a social worker. And one really big aspect of social work is this concept of meeting people where they're at. So really understanding where somebody sits in their life and in their experience, and instead of expecting them to come to you, you go to them, and you create opportunities, information that really speaks to where they are right then without expectation of growth. And I think when we're talking about an area like plant medicine that has been so highly stigmatized, where there's been a lot of criminalization around its use, which definitely leads to stigma, you have individuals who aren't quite ready to adapt the identity of a psychedelics consumer or of a cannabis consumer. And so for personal plants, our idea was to create an environment that feels very welcoming to people no matter what their previous experiences, and one of the ways that we do that is by bringing content on herbalism cannabis and psychedelics together under one platform, which really hasn't been done before. You have to kind of go the psychedelics route, or the cannabis route or the herbalism route. But bringing them together, I think is one way to show the general public that it's time to move past the stigma. And it's okay to adopt an identity of someone who appreciates plant medicine. So it's that theory of meeting people where they're at, that we really tried to use to drive the site.
Unknown Speaker 8:14
I love that. Because I I write about the topic of, you know, trauma and how it informs your health long term a lot. You know, epigenetics and a scores and all of that fun stuff, right? And I'm really obsessed with the idea of how that intersects with plant medicine. And so I was really excited to go on the website and see so many offerings that were in that ballpark, because you really don't see a lot of that. At least I don't I haven't yet. So I think that's really exciting. Well, thank you. So in what ways do you think personal plants can impact the normalization of home gross?
Unknown Speaker 9:03
Well, I think similarly to you know, what I was saying before, it's really about people getting used to it and seeing it in their daily life. And one of the big drivers for the changing stigma of the cannabis consumer was when the people who were your neighbor, your teacher, your friend, your mom came out and said, I use cannabis. And when that happened, the mind frame that people had around who a cannabis consumer was started to shift from like a stereotype Cheech and Chong, Bob Marley person, to the every person. And that was a really key piece and moving policy forward because it started to become more about everyone rather than a very small select group of consumers. And I think it's really no different with home grow. For a long time. People who are growing cannabis at home had to do so in their basements where no one could see it and it was all about odor control and light control and not letting anyone know what was happening. And now we're seeing cannabis being planted alongside roses and other plants and people's gardens. And that is really going to help normalize the act of consuming cannabis, the act of cultivating cannabis, because once you see it growing alongside the tomatoes, once it's being grown by the same people that are growing your fruits and vegetables for the farmers market, and it's really out in the open, it becomes harder to look at it as something that is so dangerous to society that it needs to be kept under such strict lock and key.
Unknown Speaker 10:32
Absolutely. I can't wait for the day that I get to do plant mine next, my plants, you know. And so in that vein, what can people who live in states where personal cultivation is illegal hope to learn from personal plant?
Unknown Speaker 10:48
Well, that's a really great question. And I think that education should always come prior to access if possible. So if we're going to give people access to plant medicines, cannabis, psychedelics, we want them to have education around it, right, we want them to know how to approach these medicines, how to best use them, how to reduce the potential harms that might come from using them. And all of this knowledge can be shared even prior to access. So I think if you're in a state that doesn't yet allow access to these plants, and with cannabis, that's not that many with psychedelics, obviously, it's a lot more, spend this time educating yourself, you know, learn about the different ways these plants are used, learn about their history, learn about the indigenous cultures that used them for for 1000s of years. And that way, when you do have access, you're going to be ready to use the plant intelligently. And I'll also mention that on personal plants in our marketplace, we very strategically do not offer any products that are age restricted or that can only be sold in certain markets. We did didn't want to facilitate this idea that plant medicine is only for a select few. But that no matter where you live, you can take advantage of plant medicines right now. So we have products that are CBD that are hemp derived, we sell hemp seeds, we sell hemp plants, we sell grow kits. So no matter where you live, you can still have access to these products. Even if your state does not yet allow THC or psilocybin. I
Unknown Speaker 12:19
saw those kits and I'm really excited. I can't wait to order my first. I was like, Okay, I know this is going to require some education first, even though I've done research, I feel like I really need to do a lot more first before I enter that. But there are a lot of other things on the website that are accessible to someone who might be a little bit intimidated by that prospect. And you mentioned earlier like making your own elixir and there is one for I will sit bath salts. I know that's not what it is.
Unknown Speaker 12:58
But we have we have a kit for a CBD and Arnica infused bath salt that comes with like three different kinds of salts and four different botanicals and Chai oil and CBD oil. And you know, again, it's this opportunity for you to get hands on with these medicines for you to get used to the smells, and how they work together. And really develop that relationship with wellness. You know, we're so divorced from our wellness regimes through the pharmaceutical industry. And you know, we're told to, you know, take this pill or take that pill for insomnia or anxiety or depression, without really thinking about the whole picture. And I think plant medicines really helps people slow down and look at the whole picture. And the DIY aspect of it is what really feeds that opportunity.
Unknown Speaker 13:46
I 100% agree that was more of what I was trying to say earlier. Is the holistic approach is so important. That I don't understand I don't think that people really get it, you know, I shouldn't say people, I'm generalizing, obviously. But I thought when I first started writing about holistic medicine, that it was just basically interchangeable with homeopathic medicine, and I didn't really understand it. And now that I do, I feel like it's just something that, that people really need more resources about, because it can impact your life in such a phenomenal way when you look at your whole picture, instead of just treating like these little parts, you know, here and there. Because as someone with several chronic conditions, you know, I've gone through that, you know, rollercoaster ride of the doctors just treating this and that and then and all of that and ending up being counterproductive to say the least because none of those people were talking to each other. None of those specialists were communicating, or even reading my charts. Fully, so nothing was really being treated. And it wasn't until I, you know, got out of that system that I realized that it is about the whole, the whole picture. The whole body, you know, the whole body, you have to treat the whole body. And that includes your mind. It sounds so simple, but it's not really that simple, right? Oh, not
Unknown Speaker 15:25
at all. And I think you're right, it is treating the whole body and the whole mind with the recognition that everybody's mind and body is different and has different needs. And you know, we all have a nervous system, and we all have an endocannabinoid system, but how those systems function, and what they need to maintain homeostasis, and function properly is going to vary from person to person. So the idea that we wouldn't take into account holistic wellness, that we wouldn't include nutrition and exercise and mindfulness and meditation and plants as part of a wellness regime really shows us why we have a country with so much illness. And I do have hope that individuals are going to learn more about plant medicines, you know, through sites like personal plants feel more comfortable learning about this whole other side of wellness that doesn't involve the traditional medical system,
Unknown Speaker 16:18
right, and they can feel comfortable not being mocked by, you know, people who are still feeding into big pharma as lies basically, because the media surrounding that is like, you know, go to the doctor, the doctor knows best, you know,
Unknown Speaker 16:32
this system of not questioning, right, that's really been frustrating for a lot of medical cannabis patients, because they don't teach about cannabis in medical school. And so you know, you have patients who are going to doctors for very real symptoms and issues, who have done a lot of research themselves into the use of cannabis, and bring that research to the doctor's office, and the doctor doesn't want to talk about it. And part of that is because they don't want to challenge to their authority, and part of it is because they didn't learn about it. So they didn't really have an answer. So it's still, for a lot of people who want to use cannabis and other plant medicines, there's a lot of kind of taking matters into your own hands and figuring out on your own what works best for you, which can be a very long process. And so we really want to facilitate the knowledge that people want to gain and have to gain in order to make that process successful for them.
Unknown Speaker 17:25
Right. It's, I always refer to it as like an ongoing process. That is always I'm always adding to it, you know, editing it. Because I you know, having written about it, when you take when you share your perspective, people are like, well, well, is it working? What's What was the cure? You know, what was the thing that got you off of the painkillers and all of that? And it's like, well, I mean, it's it's ongoing, I, you know, sometimes my body doesn't respond like it did, or, or maybe the product isn't available anymore, or I have to I decided to add, you know, Ashtanga into it or something like that, you know? And so I'm just saying, it's just something that I think is just, it's the learning process, that is always going to be a process, but I think it's worth it.
Unknown Speaker 18:13
Definitely, absolutely. You know, one of the things we really believe at personal plants is putting the power of plants in the hands of people. Because once you understand how to work with plant medicines, how to make different preparations, it's really like a whole world opens up of opportunity. And then you become really excited about ways you can tailor make these medicines to even fit what you need, you know, even more closely, you want to talk about it with your friends, you know, it becomes kind of this passion because you understand more about how your body interacts with its surroundings, once you understand that that's one of the first keys to making yourself feel better.
Unknown Speaker 18:50
Yes, absolutely. And so how is your platform making the world of psychedelics accessible to the general public? I know you just already spoke about that a little bit, but you learn to
Unknown Speaker 19:01
Yeah, you know, like I mentioned right now, you know, if you want to learn about psychedelics, if you want to learn about cannabis, there's a lot of opportunities, but those areas are still very siloed. You know, it's like just psychedelics or just cannabis. And because of that people that access this information, in a way, feel a bit pressure to assume the identity of a consumer of one of those substances in the process of accessing information. And not everyone's ready to do that, you know, I was in Idaho A little while back presenting at an event. And hemp is legal there. But that's really about it when it comes to medicinal plants. And people were telling me that they're afraid to even Google cannabis, because they're afraid that someone's going to find out and it's illegal. And so I think that there's a huge job that needs to happen to move these medicines and the knowledge around them outside of the early adopters, you know, outside of the group of people that are already primed and okay with that identity and into the white space of individuals that really Have not had an opportunity to learn about these plants, and in a lot of ways could benefit most from the opportunity to learn about plant medicine because they're on a lot of pharmaceutical drugs for things like stress and things like sleep and things like depression. So I think that it's really about helping people understand that psychedelic plants are part of the plant queendom that they provide a lot of medical benefit and healing benefit, and that there's an education that has to happen just like any other plant, whether we're talking about psilocybin, or we're talking about ashwagandha. There's an education that has to happen and a normalization that then follows
Unknown Speaker 20:38
Yes, absolutely. I mean, I can totally understand that fear, because even as a writer, like some of the things, you know, seven years ago that I was, I was Googling, I was like, oh, you know, am I putting myself? Because you never know, really, I mean, but it is so important to meet people where they are because I have seen some incredible situations where people who are just like, anti everything, plant medicine, completely do a 180. Because out of desperation, so, I mean, it happens, right?
Unknown Speaker 21:16
salutely Absolutely. And legislators as well, you know, when we talk to legislators who used to be anti cannabis and came around, I would say 99% of the time, the reason they came around was because of a personal experience. Either they use cannabis beneficially, or someone they know did, or they heard a story of someone who did. And so again, we talked about that normalization, like that's what it takes it takes to get to a point where everyone knows someone that's benefited. And when you get to that point, it's like, well, how can we keep it criminalized anymore? You know, how can we? Why would we keep it out of the hands of people, when so many of us know people that have benefited? And that's really where you have to get to as a society, for us to start adopting a new way?
Unknown Speaker 21:57
Yes. And so before we go, how can the cannabis community best support you both professionally and personally?
Unknown Speaker 22:06
Well, I appreciate that question. So our website just launched. So I would really encourage folks to check it out. It's at my personal plants.com. And we've got the content divided up into learn, make and shop. So you know, your first step is to learn. We have a lot of great content interviews with amazing women in the plant medicine, space, talking and sharing their knowledge, then you're going to want to go on to make where we have all of our how tos and recipes. So you can kind of learn how to apply that knowledge practically. And then in our shop, you're going to find all the tools that you need to make it happen. So if you read about growing your own cannabis, and you really want to try it, but you live in a place where it's not legal, visit our shop and get some hemp seeds, grow some hemp at home. So you know, we have opportunities for people to really go all the way from learning to doing. So I would encourage people to check it out and even more. So I would encourage people to share it with someone in your life that you really feel could benefit from plant medicine, but they've been really reluctant to investigate it. And it could be because they had a bad experience. It could be because of their beliefs around the use of drugs or the use of substances that aren't quite legal. But I think you'll find that the way we've set up the site is very accessible and very palatable to people that are just dipping their toe into plant medicine. So you know, if there's been someone in your life that you've like, you know, I really wish they would learn about psychedelics, or I really wish they would consider cannabis. Send them the site, and I think they'll be pleasantly surprised.
Unknown Speaker 23:36
Awesome. So did you have any personal calls to action? Aside from that?
Unknown Speaker 23:42
Well, I would say in terms of a personal call to action, pay attention what's happening with cannabis regulation in your community. Even if you're somewhere where cannabis is already legal. It's important that people have access to growing their own plants. It's important that we monitor what's happening in the marketplace, we want people to have access to healthful cannabis products. So even though cannabis is legal, there's still a lot of work for activists to do to ensure an equitable industry to ensure a healthful industry. And of course, we have many jurisdictions like Idaho, where people are still at risk for prison in by using cannabis. So as I'm out in California, enjoying legalization, having any number of dispensaries that I can go to and purchase cannabis. It's important that we really remember the folks in Alabama, Mississippi, and other places where there are still hefty penalties for accessing this plant.
Unknown Speaker 24:35
Thank you for referencing all of that. And thank you for putting out such an amazing resource for everyone. I'm learning things from this website, and I can't wait to dig in more. And thank you for sharing your time with us today.
Unknown Speaker 24:51
I was my pleasure. I was really happy to be here.
Unknown Speaker 24:54
I was happy to have you. Like awesome, of course. So until next time stay high and beautiful. Bye. Thanks for listening. You can find us on Instagram at Your Highness podcast, or on Twitter at Highness podcast. Be sure to rate us on iTunes and subscribe.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai