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A Delicious Solution to a Debilitating Problem » Emily Kyle, RD
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In this episode, you will meet our guest Cathy who has been dealing with chronic pain, arthritis, anxiety, and migraines for almost 25 years. After struggling to find relief with over-the-counter and prescription medications, she discovered the power of edibles, which have helped her manage her symptoms and improve her overall quality of life.
Features
- Release Date: Monday, June 12, 2023
- Episode Number: Season 1, Episode 22
- Special Guest: Cathy Suggs
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Why You Will Love This Episode
Meet Cathy Suggs, a 59-year-old woman who has been dealing with chronic pain, arthritis, and various health issues for almost 25 years.
Despite having two fusions – neck and low back, a total knee replacement, anxiety, occasional panic attacks, and migraines, and how her life changed for the better after discovering edibles.
She shares how edibles have helped her sleep better without pain and without the need for sleeping pills. Edibles also helped with the inflammation in her body, which is a significant factor in her arthritis.
Additionally, edibles have helped her relax and reduce stress, which, in turn, has led to fewer migraine headaches.
Cathy believes that cannabis is a highly beneficial alternative to over-the-counter and prescription medications that often come with harmful side effects.
If you’re someone who is dealing with chronic pain, arthritis, or any other health issues, you don’t want to miss out on this insightful episode.
Tune in to hear more about Cathy’s personal experience and learn how using edibles for chronic pain has improved her life.
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Full Transcript
Cathy: If I had found edibles or the possibility of edibles, I think that would be the main thing. Learning how to cook and doing edibles has eased a lot of the pain physically that I have been through.
Announcer: Welcome to the Well With Cannabis Podcast, a show dedicated to telling the life-changing stories of those who live well with cannabis all while teaching you how to do the same. Meet your host, Emily Kyle, a registered dietitian nutritionist turned certified holistic cannabis practitioner. Emily changed her life for the better with the help of the cannabis plant, and now she’s committed to helping others do the same.
Tune in each week to hear heartwarming stories and gain the knowledge you need to feel connected, inspired, and supported on your own cannabis journey. Whether you’re a new cannabis consumer or a lifetime lover, you’ll benefit from these uplifting tales of real-life journeys that will show you how you, too, can live your best life well with cannabis.
Disclaimer: Hi there. Before we jump into today’s episode, I wanted to share a note on potentially sensitive content. The episodes on the Well With Cannabis Podcast are created for adult audiences only. We will, at times, cover sensitive topics, including but not limited to suicide, abuse, mental illness, sex, drugs, alcohol, psychedelics, and the obvious use of plant medicine. Explicit language may be used occasionally. Please refrain from watching or listening to the show if you’re likely to be offended or adversely impacted by any of these topics.
The information on this show is for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute medical advice. If any of the content on this podcast has brought up anything for you, please reach out or speak to a professional or someone you trust.
Emily: Hello, and welcome back to another episode of the Well with Cannabis Podcast. I am Emily Kyle, here with our friend Cathy. I’m so excited to get into your story and talk about all things edibles. Hi, Cathy, how are you?
Cathy: I’m doing great, Emily. Thank you. Excited to be here.
Emily: Thank you so much for coming on and sharing your story. I’m super intrigued because you’ve dealt with chronic pain, and you’re now using cannabis to manage it. I’d love to explore your story and how you got started here.
Cathy: I was injured years ago on a job, and unfortunately, it led to surgery on my back. I have some fusions in my spine, and I used to use cannabis recreationally years ago, and the pain is just; it can be debilitating. With meds, you can only take so much to where it makes you tired. It messes with your digestive system, you know, the side effects. I decided to start doing edibles, and I had never tried edibles before, but I had heard a lot about them. I went to one of the local dispensaries here, and I purchased some items; some worked really well, and I enjoyed them.
Cathy: They gave me a different feeling from smoking cannabis. It’s more of a physical, and it eliminates my pain. It helps me to sleep better at night. I also deal with arthritis, I have it really bad in my hands, and that helps. It helps with the inflammation, the pain, just being able to do things that normally it’d be like, “Okay, well, I got to wait till that mellows out.” I have found a positive way to use cannabis in my life.
Emily: I’m so happy for you. Pain relief, everybody deserves that, and everybody deserves to feel better. Did you have a transition time when you transitioned from pharmaceuticals to cannabis? How did that evolve for you?
Cathy: I was doing a combination starting out because I didn’t know how cannabis would be. You have to learn your dosage for one. You can’t just jump into and eat the whole thing and go, “Oh, I’ll be fine.” You’ve got to take it in small bites, literally, to see how your body would respond and to see how well it works with your body.
Cathy: Then learn the different types of cannabis as well because each one works a little bit differently. That’s where I got started. I started with a brownie bite. I can’t remember the name of them, but I recognize them when I see them. The brownie is the reason why I started making my own that the brownie that I ate, it worked, but it was more like cardboard. I was looking more for flavor, but also have it work as well. So I started my journey of making my own.
Emily: That’s so exciting.
Cathy: It is, and I’ve looked at your website, and I have you on my email, and you’ve been a big help. There’s another person that I look at on YouTube as well. Between the two of you, I’ve started ordering books on cannabis, different cookbooks, and experimenting. That’s where I’m at at this point.
Emily: That is so exciting. That’s a brave step to get ready and experiment. What made you say, “Let me step out of my comfort zone of the dispensary and move into the world of edibles?” At home, I should say.
Cathy: One, I can control what goes in it. I know where the product comes from, and then I can adjust it to my taste as well. It’s a combination of things. I can adjust the dosage because sometimes I might need something a little bit stronger, and sometimes not so strong. What you buy at a dispensary, it’s hard to tell exactly. “Okay, is this exactly what I need or want, you know?” I decided to start doing my own thing, and I am educating myself, and I’m getting ready to take a class soon about all the cannabis parts tried and true recipes from a world-renowned chef that has done it for years.
Emily: That’s so exciting.
Cathy: I’m so excited. I can’t wait to do the class. Going back to school is going to be a little bit different, you know? The subject, some people get really touchy about it, I’ve noticed. I’m careful who I talk to about it.
Emily: Yeah. It’s reading the room a bit and seeing how people react.
Cathy: Yes, definitely. I’ve had a few requests to make things for certain people. I have got a lot of rave reviews from the people I have helped.
Emily: Isn’t that such a good feeling to help someone else get out of pain or find that relief? It’s such, for me anyway, I’m like, wow. When I worked in the hospital as a dietitian, I never felt like I helped anyone. Now with cannabis, I feel like I’m actually helping people. With your products, you’re helping real people. It’s so exciting.
Cathy: Yes. It’s because, you know, you’re helping them and giving them relief. Because pain, as I said, is very debilitating, and people don’t realize how much it affects everything in your life. Not, not just the physical, but your relationships, your thought process, and your choices. Being able to learn from you and the other one has helped me tremendously.
Emily: I’m so happy; I’m so glad that you were brave enough to say I’m going to explore this and give it a try. Was there anything that pushed you towards cannabis specifically?
Cathy: It’s more natural. It’s not a pharmaceutical drug. It doesn’t have the side effects that a drug would. I like that when someone’s already dealing with so many things, you try and eliminate certain things to make your quality of life better. With this being a natural product, it makes a big difference, I believe. There’s still, of course, the stigma to it. Or people just want to smoke to get high, or you want to eat to get high. That’s not always the truth.
Emily: In most cases, it’s actually not the truth. Everybody that I’ve talked to they echo the same message. I’m not here to get high, not that there’s anything wrong with getting high, because if you enjoy it, go for it. But everybody’s intention is to feel better. I’m so glad we have these conversations to continue to squash that stereotype because it’s just so false.
Cathy: It’s very much needed. I agree. I think the more education and understanding people have, the more they’ll stop and think, “Well, maybe I’ve been looking at this wrong; maybe this can help people with depression and these types of things.” They start seeing things differently. I believe that it can help people with depression and anxiety and pain and other issues that they might have, you know, they’ve been using cannabis for cancer patients for how long, you know, to get them to eat.
Emily: Yes. To make them feel better. Bring them comfort.
Cathy: Yes. Yes.
Emily: Everybody deserves that. Everybody deserves pain relief and comfort, and relaxation. It makes me sad that not everybody has access to this plant because it feels like a human right. We all should have access to the plant freely.
Cathy: I agree. I agree. They legalized it about two years, I think ago, in Alaska.
Emily: Oh my gosh, yay.
Cathy: It’s nice because we don’t have to worry about trying to get it and be quiet about it. We can just literally go to the dispensary and get it legally.
Emily: Isn’t that such a great, crazy feeling? Do you remember what your first dispensary trip was like? Tell me about it.
Cathy: I went with my husband, and it was interesting because, of course, you have to show your ID to show that you’re of legal age. We got there, and he knows a lot more about it than I do; I’m also learning from him as well. I was asking him questions, and he was showing me different products, knowing that I prefer edibles. He introduced me to a lemonade, and he can drink the whole bottle with no problem. I take it, and I’ll sip on it. I’ll take a little bit at night before I go to bed and put the rest in the fridge. He goes, you’re a lightweight. I said that’s okay. I don’t mind being a lightweight.
Emily: That sounds so exciting because I have not seen products like that available here in New York. For someone to hear that you could get a lemonade is so, it’s so exciting.
Cathy: Oh, yes. They have lots of new products out up here. Lemonade, tinctures, and ointments that you can use. There’s taffy and brownies and cookies. My thought process, I would like to get it more towards savory things or like granola. Different things that you don’t see in the market. Eventually, I would like to be at that point where some of these things I could market. Butter is very common, I always got a gallon jar of it in my fridge, and it’s in there.
Cathy: I was cooking with it one day, and I asked my husband; I said, well, what do you think? He goes, it tastes really good. I said, “Well, I used some of the cannabutter in it. He’s like, no wonder it tastes so good, you know? I was experimenting one day, and I decided to make fudge with cannabutter. Unfortunately, I have an issue with my one arm, so I couldn’t beat it to the thickness it needed to lose that gloss.
Cathy: So I converted it to an ice cream topping. I had already made brownie bites for New Year’s Eve, so we had some remaining, and he had come home to see me eat this one night. I had taken a couple of brownie bites and then some vanilla bean ice cream, and then some of the canna-fudge topping. I was eating, he goes, “I want to try some.” I said, do you want me to make you some now? He goes, no, I just ate. He said, let’s wait till tomorrow. So I was like, okay.
Cathy: He got home the next night, and I was like, you ready for your dessert? I asked him how many brownies he wanted and how much ice cream. I got it exactly the way he liked it. He sat down and was eating it, and he only had about four bites in, maybe five, and he goes, “I’m getting high already.” He cleaned the bowl. He said, “Babe, that was awesome. That fudge topping. Oh, my goodness. With the brownies and the ice cream. Yes.” I gave you a friend of mine some of the fudge toppings, and he loved it. He was like, that is so good. I’m experimenting with things and finding different things to do besides just the brownies that everybody wants and talks about. I consider that a staple.
Cathy: I like to find alternative substances that I can use with the cannabis and create something new. I think the more we experiment with cannabis, the more we’re going to find products that it’s not always sweets. There are a lot of people out here with type one, type two diabetes, or pre-diabetic, which makes it harder for them with the sugars and that type of thing. I’m looking to infuse maple syrup because I want to use that on my granola.
Emily: Yeah. Yum.
Cathy: Another one is honey, which it’s coming out now, infused honey. I have. Have you tried it?
Emily: I have. Aside from making it at home, I’ve never seen it available for purchase.
Cathy: Oh, yes. We have it up here. A friend of mine gave me some. She had bought it, and I ate it straight out of the tube.
Emily: The best way to do it.
Cathy: Then I made some tea for my husband with the rest, and it was just a small tube. It wasn’t anything big, but he liked it and said, that’s different.
Emily: It is so nice. I’m so glad you mentioned experimenting because so much cannabis is experimenting, whether it be different dosages, strains, or recipes. I feel like it can really blossom into this new hobby for a lot of people that are really enjoyable. Do you find that?
Cathy: I do. I enjoy baking and cooking; that is my happy place, I guess you could say. I love to get in the kitchen and try new things or put a spin on something that is a staple in our life. To give a little bit of difference, make it a little different. Change it up some. My husband doesn’t cook because he’s like, “I like what you do.” Even if I’m cooking something quick and it’s a package item, I always do something different to it, so it makes it more homemade.
Emily: Man, your husband’s got to be a happy, happy man that you have done cannabis and are now cooking all of these amazing things at home.
Cathy: He is. He loves it. For my next one, I have started doing sourdough, o I’m trying to figure out a way to do sourdough with cannabis.
Emily: Oh my gosh. How are you envisioning that? I’ve never made bread before, so I don’t even know what goes into it.
Cathy: Oh, it’s, I’ve been making bread for years, and everybody loves my banana bread, but that would be too easy because it requires butter. With cannabis, I’m looking more at an oil. I had infused two different oils about six months ago, and I had put some straight cannabis into the jar with oil. And then I added garlic to it. What I did was I took, I decarbed some cannabis as well, and I did that in oil, and then I mixed the two, and I let them sit.
Cathy: I would rotate them. Of course, you can’t keep all of the oils mixed in all the time. So figure along the jar; you got to shake it and warm it up. But it is totally different. I’m hoping to use those oils in the sourdough bread because you need oils.
Emily: Oh, that would be perfect.
Cathy: That’s my goal. I just haven’t had the time recently to make it because it’s a day-long process, basically.
Emily: It’s a labor of love, isn’t it?
Cathy: It is. I believe that when you cook for someone, you show your love and the care that you have for people. People, if they stop and look at it, we connect when we break bread together; it can be your friends, your family, and it can be a business as well, which is where I’m hoping to go into with it. I’m really excited about this because it’s, it’s opened a whole new world for cooking.
Emily: That is so exciting. When you make a meal for someone, infused or not, you’re sharing and showing your love, but then add the cannabis component on top of it, and you’re adding in healing and well-being; it is the perfect marriage.
Cathy: It is. I just recently found a place where I can get cannabis raw for CBD. That is something I am going to be exploring more. I’m excited about it because CBD helps me physically as well. I would like to get to the point where my business when I start really growing it, I can do the cannabis and then tone it down with the CBD.
Emily: Oh, that is perfect. That’s so good to mention, too, because a lot of people assume it’s just THC. But there’s CBD, and there are so many other cannabinoids, and just because they don’t “make us high” doesn’t mean they can’t make us feel well in other situations. What do you like to use CBD for?
Cathy: It helps with the arthritis in my body and the pain. Cannabis is great. It, it’s more than just a high, like you said. It helps so much in your body that when you’re taking it, you feel great. And it’s like, “Wow, this is amazing. I haven’t felt this good in I don’t know how long”.
Emily: Yes.
Cathy: Then if you run out of the CBD, which I have done, and it’s like, “Why am I hurting so much? What is going on here?” It’s because I ran out, and it’s like, “Oh yeah, you forgot to go to the store and get the tincture.” I would like to produce my own. That’s why I had looked into finding the CBD raw, just the CBD, and making my own tinctures so I can have it on hand all the time and eventually help others. I’ve got a friend who uses CBD, and she’s the one that introduced me to CBD.
Emily: Nice. How did that happen?
Cathy: She has back issues as well. She had fractured one of her vertebrae in her back, and it’s healed, but it still causes trouble sometimes. We had gone for coffee, and there’s this place up here that does the CBD in the coffee.
Emily: See, we’re not allowed to have that in New York. That’s so exciting.
Cathy: Really? Wow. Yeah, it was great. She goes, “I’m going to take you to get coffee” because I was hurting really bad that day, wintertime and stuff. I was like, okay, so we went and got coffee, and she said, told them how much she wanted in each cup. They were like, no problem. I started drinking it. It was like, “Oh wow, this is amazing.” I learned something new that day; I was introduced to a new product, but being able to blend it was something else. I could drink it while I’m out. I don’t like to eat edibles and be driving. I prefer to stay home, be safe. The CBD I can take it without having that worry, so it makes a big difference.
Emily: I’m so glad you said that. I just cannot wait. I’m sure there are so many people listening, thinking, “I cannot wait for the day I can walk into a coffee shop and have them put cannabis or CBD oil in my coffee.” I just can’t believe that that’s a real thing. It makes me so happy to see that.
Cathy: Oh yeah. Well, you can do it at home.
Emily: I know, but there’s something special about going out with a friend and a friend introducing you. Imagine how easy it would be for people to be introduced to cannabis if a friend could just take them on a coffee date, introduce them, and order for them. It sounds so romantic and, not in a romantic way, but what a great way to introduce someone to cannabis. It’s safe; it’s comfortable. You’re with a friend.
Cathy: It was, it was. And you know, I hope more people realize that just because it comes from cannabis does not mean it’s a bad thing. It doesn’t make you high; it doesn’t give you that body high or mental high. It helps ease the pain. I love CBD, and you can get it in cream forms or ointment forms now, too. A lot of people don’t realize that, so I hope from this podcast and others that I know you’re doing, I hope others realize there’s more to cannabis than just a recreational high. And our society needs it. The pharma companies are poisoning us with the meds. Occasionally I still have to take them, but I limit myself.
Emily: Right. And there’s no shame – if you need to take one, you need to take one. If it makes you feel better, I’m all for that always.
Cathy: Right, and I mean, who can go to work and be doing edibles? I wouldn’t be able to concentrate, to be honest with you. The CBD and, of course, the pharmaceuticals, they all, they all have their place. I think the more people realize there’s a natural product out there.
Emily: I think it would make a big difference in their life, their thought process, you know, and how they feel. And that’s the main thing. How does it make you feel?
Cathy: Especially when we live in a crazy world like we can all use as much happiness and relaxation and calmness as we can get.
Emily: Definitely. If people feel like they can’t find those things and cannabis could be an answer, I really hope people really give it a chance because it’s made a difference for me. It’s made a difference for you. And we’re just regular real people trying to show everyone else that there is a really great alternative out there.
Cathy: Definitely; now, what differences do you see between smoking cannabis and edibles? I mean, you’ve got experience with it. I would like to hear your point of view and your journey.
Emily: I will preface by saying I love smoking. It is my favorite avenue. I think that stems from when I first started using cannabis over 10 years ago. That’s all there was. I didn’t know anything about edibles, really. It was just you roll a blunt, you smoke a pipe, that’s it. That was my, always my first and only introduction to cannabis. As I’ve learned and as I became a mom, I really wanted to smoke less because I hate smelling like it. My big thing is smelling like it. It’s always bothered me because I don’t want people to smell me. I don’t want my kids to smell me. It would tip people off that I could be a cannabis consumer.
Emily: Everything that I’ve learned, from an education standpoint, is that smoking, the reason people love it, the reason I love it, is because it’s instantaneous.
Cathy: Yes.
Emily: You get that relief in one to three minutes. So I just tell people if they are in immediate pain and need immediate relief or have anxiety, smoking might be an alternative because it works fast.
Cathy: Right.
Emily: Now, on the other side, it doesn’t last as long as edibles. Depending on how much you use, it could be one to three hours. Some people might find that they have to smoke more. Then with smoking, we have all of the drawbacks of actually smoking. A lot of people really have a hard time with smoking because smoking’s not healthy. And if we’re incorporating cannabis, the goal is health. So how do we intersect that? And thankfully, someone came up with like the most genius, perfect solution. Have you heard of a dry herb vaporizer?
Cathy: Yes.
Emily: That has been the perfect medium of “Okay, you can have your cake and eat it too.” You can have that instantaneous relief without having to worry about the negatives associated with smoking. I’ve played around with a couple of different devices. There are tons out there, and I think that people, anyone listening, has to know that there’s like a little learning curve. You have to be patient and willing to work with it. But once you figure it out, for me, I hardly smoke at all anymore unless it’s a social thing.
Emily: But at home, I can use my dry herb vaporizer, it doesn’t smell, and I don’t have to worry so much about my kids. I can still smoke, but I have fallen in love with edibles. Once they came on the scene, at first, I was like, “I don’t like edibles” because I didn’t know my dosage. I was always really nervous about it. Once there were products with dosages on them, not just like a baggie from a friend with a random brownie inside, like once I was like, “Okay, I know if I take this, this has five milligrams” I could track my dose and understand what my body needed.
Emily: I think for me, that was most helpful in knowing. Now I’m like, “Okay, I know I can handle 12 milligrams, no problem.” But still, to this day am very hesitant to try even my own homemade edibles because of the dosing. I find it the hardest, trickiest part. Have you experienced that as well?
Cathy: Yes, and when I make something, I make small bite size.
Emily: Yeah, yes.
Cathy: I test it that way. That’s the best you can do until you can figure it out. If you make your recipe the same every time, and then you take individual small bite sizes, not a big bite size. Now my husband always wants a big bite size. I’m like a third of what he does. But until you get the idea and understanding of what your body needs and how much you can take and stay in that parameter, then you’re good. Until that point, you have to experiment and find out, you know, okay, where am I at? Because one dosage for you might not be enough for me, or vice versa.
Emily: Exactly. What works for your friend isn’t going to work for you.
Cathy: Exactly, yes. Because we’re all different, all of our chemistry is different. If we know what’s in the product and how much is in there, then we make smaller doses in smaller bites. I like to call them bites because some people look at a bite of brownie, and for me, it would be two or three bites.
Emily: Yes.
Cathy: That’s where people, a lot of people, make the mistake with edibles. They consume the whole thing, and then it’s too much. And that’s not safe. And that’s why you feel sick. Some people, you know, end up–
Emily: Having anxiety attacks. Yeah. I mean, it definitely is not an experience I am ever trying for, that’s for sure.
Cathy: Yeah. No, I prefer to be mellow and feel good.
Emily: Yes, exactly. That’s why I’m so glad that you brought this up because starting with a bite-size bite is the right thing to do. Always start small because you can always take another bite, but you can’t un-take that bite.
Cathy: Right, and you need to give time to let it affect you. I knew somebody that had a brownie, and it was a regular-sized brownie. I said, “Do not eat the whole thing. Take a little bit off, eat it, wait a half hour or so, 45 minutes an hour, depending on your body, and see how it goes.” My concern is their safety and not being sick. I want them to feel good and know that they’re safe. Because when they don’t do it properly, a lot of people tend to panic, and they don’t feel safe.
Emily: It’s true, and it’s like you hear all these news stories of rises in ER visits after cannabis has been legalized, and it’s just the people eating too many edibles and having a really hard reaction to it. You’re not going to die, but at the moment, it actually does feel like you’re going to die. The whole goal of education and using cannabis responsibly is teaching people, “If you’re going to try this, you can do it responsibly.” We don’t have to eat the whole thing. I’m so glad you’re saying this because that’s how we act as responsible cannabis consumers.
Cathy: That’s right, and people need to understand it may taste good, and that’s why you want to eat more. But just because you want to eat more doesn’t make it act faster.
Emily: Right, and we’re all so different. I mentioned I like smoking because it works fast, whereas edibles will take much longer to take effect, but it’s still different for everyone. It could take 30 minutes; it could take two hours. It can depend on your digestive system, what you’ve eaten for the day, and other medications. With edibles, it really is about patience. I know that’s hard for people. I find a lot of times; people still have that pharma mindset where they’re like, “Just give me the pill, give me the solution, give me the single dose.” They’re not used to having to experiment and be patient. That feels awkward for people. But I like to assure people that’s the journey.
Cathy: Yes. I was watching a show about chefs that use cannabis in their cooking, and I’m not going to name it, but they were doing a contest, and the chef had to put so much in. They had to let them know what was in there, the host and the hostess. Then they had a panel of people that they invited to try it out, and they were talking about don’t eat everything if you are not used to it; take small bites. They didn’t serve massive amounts when they did it. They would do smaller bites and say, “Hey, there’s three grams in there total, so if you are not used to it, take only a bite.”
Cathy: See how it goes. I mean, they even talked about it on the show. People need to be aware that we’re not doing this to tell them what to do. We’re telling you this for your own safety, you know, your own well-being.
Emily: I feel like we’re trying to share wisdom with others. I feel like our parents, most of them teach us how to drink responsibly, but we don’t really have anyone to teach us how to use cannabis responsibly. It’s kind of like a PSA, like woman-to-woman or adults-to-adult, “Hello, we’re just trying to help you.” We’re not trying to tell anybody what to do but just offer that guidance and reassurance. I think a lot of people who are scared to take edibles might actually just love this conversation because they know that they can baby step it, and that’s the right thing to do.
Cathy: Yes, that’s how I did it. I baby stepped because you got to have a healthy fear of knowing what your body can handle. That’s with anything.
Emily: True.
Cathy: Even pharmaceuticals. So if they’re like, okay, a cancer patient, they don’t automatically put them on 50 milligrams of morphine, they small dose it until they find out what works. Cannabis is the same way. You have to have a healthy respect for the plant and what it can do for you. That is what people don’t think about, unfortunately.
Emily: Well I’m hoping these are great, wise words help. I’m hoping people listening on the other side are going to be like, “Oh, well, like no one’s explained it to me like that before, but this is great.” I feel like this is the best advice for anybody listening who has wanted to try edibles but has not been ready to. This will give someone the confidence needed to be like, “Oh, okay, if, you know, if Cathy can do it, I can do it.”
Cathy: Yes, definitely. I’m glad that I was able to share that with you, and I’m glad you understand what I’m talking about.
Emily: Oh, absolutely. And I have a feeling a lot of people are going to listen to this and be like, oh this, I mean, my hope is that someone out there who maybe hasn’t tried cannabis before is going to listen to Cathy and be like, “Wow, you know, she didn’t do cannabis before, and I don’t want to smoke, but I could try an edible. And she just told me how to do it safely.” It’s perfect; it’s a win-win because I feel like anyone who uses cannabis and feels so much better, just want to help someone else. By sharing your experience and your story, you are helping other people. So thank you so much.
Cathy: Oh, you are so welcome. I wanted to put it out there that I am in my late 50s. I am not a young girl running around doing this. I wanted to break the age barrier. For women or men that are older, you can use cannabis, and you can use it safely and give it a shot. During my timeframe, my era, it was taboo for a lot of years. We were always told, “oh, well, if you’re doing that, you’re bad. You’re on the wrong side of the track, so to speak.” And it’s not bad; it’s a plant. You have to use your brain when you’re starting out; use your common sense.
Cathy: Just because I’m of an age doesn’t mean that you won’t get relief from it. Just do it responsibly. Try it; it might work for you. If you try it and it didn’t, well, go back to what you were doing before. You know, I’m sorry it didn’t work for you, but open yourself up to it. Think about it, check it out, do a little reading, educate yourself. I don’t want people my age to be afraid of using cannabis for pain, arthritis, anxiety, depression, or whatever the case may be. Younger people are more open most times. A lot of people my age are somewhat closed off. I’m hoping this helps them to understand that it’s not just the younger generation that can get some relief. They could get some relief as well.
Emily: I’m so glad you shared that because our older generation, I’m finding, are the ones that are most in need of cannabis, most interested in cannabis, and most ready to use cannabis. I hope your words echo out into the ears of anybody who is of a certain generation who is waiting. I think those are the best words you can offer them. Just give it a try and see what happens.
Cathy: Yes, just start off small, please.
Emily: There you go. Yes. Now I want to be respectful of your time. Before we go, I ask all my guests the same four questions. Are you ready for them?
Cathy: Yes, ma’am.
Emily: All right, to date in your life, what are you most proud of?
Cathy: I think raising my kids alone.
Emily: Gosh, it’s hard enough to do it with a helper; doing it alone, hats off to you.
Cathy: And them understanding what I’m doing now.
Emily: Are they supportive?
Cathy: Yes, very much so.
Emily: Oh, I’m so happy to hear that.
Cathy: They are into cannabis. They have smoked it, and they have tried edibles. They understand what I’m going through physically, and they said, “Mom, just be safe, like you tell us.” Be safe. They are behind it 100%. And actually, my son will be handling my website when I get it up.
Emily: Yay.
Cathy: My daughter wants to come home and help be a part of the business. I’m hoping that’ll work out in the next year or so. So, my husband, of course, supports me. I’ve got some friends that support me. And so, the journey with my children and having open communication about everything, including cannabis.
Emily: That is beautiful. This plant brings your whole family together, and the future looks so exciting for you. I’m so happy to hear this.
Cathy: Thank you. I am excited.
Emily: I guess on the opposite side of that, the next question is, what would your life look like if you didn’t have cannabis?
Cathy: Oh my goodness. Restrictive movements. A lot of pain with the infusions, with the fusions in my back, my arthritis. I’ve had a knee replaced. I played a lot of ball growing up and blew out my knee, so I had to get it replaced. I would be dealing with a lot of pain and a lot of limitations in my life. I’m more active knowing I have relief than if I didn’t. And the medication, pharma medication, can cause depression. Just not wanting to be around people. Pain already makes you tired, and the medication can make you doubly tired. I prefer to limit that as much as possible and use something more natural. Cannabis, CBD at home, and be able to function and get some relief from that pain.
Emily: Oh my God, I’m so glad you found cannabis. I mean, I just am so happy for you. Suppose you could go back 10, 20, or 30 years ago and give yourself just a little piece of cannabis advice. What would it be?
Cathy: I would tell myself to change and start using it in my cooking. Unlike you, when I had children, I quit smoking cannabis because you want the best for your children. You want them healthy. It’s there, but there’s time for that down the road. It wasn’t regulated back then, either. That’s a big thing to me. If I had found edibles or the possibility of edibles, I think that would be the main thing. Learning how to cook and doing edibles ease a lot of the pain physically that I have been through.
Emily: I’m so glad you found cannabis when you did. I always ask this question, we look back, but you know, hindsight is always 20/20. Pathways lead us to where we’re supposed to be. Our last question, and I’d love for you to tie this in with your new business and talk a little bit about that, but what would you like to be most remembered for in the cannabis phase?
Cathy: I would like to be remembered, I don’t want to say mature, but as someone from another generation that has opened their mind to what cannabis can do, what cannabis can do for everyone, if they open their mind to it, and of course educate themselves, that’s the priority. You have to educate yourself. Don’t just go out there and do it. I hope to leave a legacy of edibles and the thought that you can experiment and take a chance, not just with edibles but with different types of recipes and different products to use cannabis with. Find out what works for you. That’s what I’m basing my edibles on.
Cathy: Right now, I am just doing it by word of mouth. People ask me, “Hey, do you have some butter?” Or “Would you make me some brownies?” Or even asking me, what do you do with your cannabis? How do you incorporate it? And the oil is a basic, the butter is a basic, to me, the brownies are a basic, they’ve been around forever. But like the ice cream, the fudge for the ice cream, I don’t know of anybody that’s done that. Nobody’s done the granola that I know of. These are things that I want everybody to realize they can do. Explore, experiment, but just be safe with it.
Emily: It’s so perfect advice as we wrap up this conversation. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom. I hope that people listen and are like, “Ooh, I cannot wait to try edibles.” Any last words of advice, wisdom, or any other information to share?
Cathy: My name for my business is Cannabis Edibles. Keep an eye out for it; we’re coming.
Emily: When you get your website up and running, let me know, and I will link it so anybody who listens to this podcast episode can find you and find. I’m going to need some fudge for my ice cream in the future. I’ve like literally been thinking about it this whole interview. “Oh, it sounds so amazing.” For anybody who wants to keep up with you, I’ll make sure to get your information in there so they can stay in touch.
Cathy: Emily, thank you so much for everything today. It has been a joy and my pleasure to sit and talk with you this time.
Emily: Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom and your experience. I know everyone is going to love this episode. Thank you, thank you, Cathy. Have a wonderful day.
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