Episode 6: Find Your Perfect THC Match with Elaine
For this special Valentine's Day episode, we asked sales guru Elaine to explain how listeners can find the perfect THC strain for their needs. During her conversation, she tells Lalita how she plays matchmaker with her clients. Listen in for advice worth its weight in (green) gold, as well her hilarious story about the perils of CBD bath bombs. Capability Elaine strikes again!
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CREDITS
Host & creator: Lalita Khosla
Producer: Theo Nogueira
Marketing Manager: Sarah Thibault
Production Assistant: Sophie Pelosi
Special thanks to our sponsor Raaka Chocolate
Lalita Khosla: Welcome to The Bad Mommy Experience , the Bad Mommy Potcast: your guide to the best people, products, and practices in Cannabis 2.0. I'm Lalita Khosla, founder of Bad Mommy Edibles, a microdosed chocolate brand for moms based in California. We'll be coming soon to a dispensary near you.
Even though I am Indian and look like I play a doctor on TV, I am really not a doctor. So any information you learn about cannabis in this podcast is definitely designed to help you, but please discuss any new program with your medical professional first.
Hey, welcome back to The Bad Mommy Experience , the Bad Mommy potcast. Today we have a very special VIP guest, Elaine, who is a sales guru amongst many other things in the cannabis space. And I love calling her Capability Elaine because she, like– you want anything done? You get Elaine on it, and it's done. What do you think, Elaine?
Elaine: Well, thank you. I appreciate that, Lalita. I try my best, that's for sure.
Lalita Khosla: You try your best and you do your best! [Laughs]
Elaine: I certainly put the effort in, no question.
Lalita Khosla: So I'm speaking of Capability Elaine, one of my favorite topics when it comes to cannabis is the stereotype of the lazy couch potato stoner. And I know when I entered the industry, I was amazed to find so many cannabis enthusiasts who were so highly functioning. Now that is, of course, my little joke about “highly functioning.” Most of the time, I've noticed that you know, you keep your cannabis separate from your professional life, and then at the end of the day, it's how you decompress. But what do you think, Elaine; you've been in the business several years now. What do you think is happening to this stereotype?
Elaine: Well, to be quite honest with you, I have been a consumer since 2013, when I entered the medical market as a consumer, not as a businesswoman.
Lalita Khosla: Sales Guru?
Elaine: Right, or sales guru. So, for me, I entered the market because of a back injury and I get a little bit of swelling in my hands. I was a very aggressive athlete as a young girl. So I was a ballet dancer for about 18 years. I was a gymnast, and just basically bought that what I was doing was extraordinary. But actually I was beating my body up.
Lalita Khosla: It's a lot of repetitive motion. Right? And impact.
Elaine: Exactly. So you break down the cartilage in your body. You don't realize it, but that's what I was doing. So as far as being highly functional, I'm extremely competitive, very focused. And what I do in business back then I was doing in sports. So as I got a little bit older, I started noticing the swelling, I hurt my back in the gym, and my son said, "Mom, you need to try CBD." So I went to his medical cannabis doctor in San Francisco, I was introduced to CBD with a very low amount of THC. And to be quite honest with you, I was shocked at how amazing I felt.
Lalita Khosla: Really? So how long did it take to feel an impact?
Elaine: I'd say probably about one to two weeks, and my son was on me; "Mom, be consistent. Just do look very low doses, do them every day at the same time," which I did. I was doing it in the morning and at night very small amounts. So I think I was starting out with like five milligrams of CBD and one of THC. And he and the doctor were adamant about that little bit of THC. So I'd say within a week, seven to 10 days, I just felt amazing. The pain in my back from my injury from working out was gone. I was able to move about quite freely. I noticed pains in other parts of my body were gone.
Lalita Khosla: Wow. And what product were you taking?
Elaine: Oh gosh, it was a tincture. I don't remember the exact brand but I started with a tincture. Now I use, well, Bad Mommy chocolate [Laughs], as you know, which I absolutely love! And I use some different little mints and some other products that are all like one-to-one-to-one. Some may have CBG, CBD, and THC, so I do little combinations. And I can microdose during the day even when I'm super busy. And then later in the evening, like on a Friday night for instance, I'll take five milligrams of THC. That's still a microdose; it could be a Bad Mommy Cameo, actually.
Lalita Khosla: And then you also like the sublingual products, right?
Elaine: Love them. Yes. So sublingual products to me are, well, they're discrete consumption. So if I'm out and about, I'm starting to feel a little bit achy and I know it's gonna be a long day, I will take a sublingual. I just put it right under my tongue.
Lalita Khosla: Which sublinguals on the market do you like right now?
Elaine: Well, I use the LEVELs because I really like those. They have some nice combinations. There's one called Stimulate, which has THC A, which– or THCV. So Stimulate THCV. And THCV in conjunction with CBD and THC is a stimulant. So it's only one milligram of the THCV, but it's very uplifting, and energizes you. So that's one I could take first thing in the morning, to be quite honest with you.
Elaine: Another one I like are the aloe strips. They taste minty. They're very easy to carry around. They're just in a little packet. And then of course, your Ganache is something else that I love. That I'll do in the evening, like a little half a teaspoon, with a cup of hot tea, just to kind of relax and it helps me sleep through the night.
Lalita Khosla: Yeah, I have a Mommy friend who, once COVID hit, she's like, "I need some ganache!" She told me that it's saved her day because she would walk by it and stick her finger in the jar. [Laughter]
Elaine: That's the problem with that, though! Speaking about microdosing...I mean, I do about a half a teaspoon, but it's very tempting to go back and take another half a teaspoon. So you have to realize and understand, even though some of these products taste awesome, you still have to manage your dose. [Laughs]
Lalita Khosla: And that is always the trick.
Lalita Khosla: Now, in case you're wondering, “What is a Bad Mommy potcast?”: It's basically a series of freewheeling conversations with people I've met in the cannabis world. And that includes both customers and creators. It's just honestly such a great self selecting group of people that I have to share.
What would you say to somebody like me, even, say, what with I try CBD products all the time, both ones that have, you know, a ratio of THC to them, so, you know, I get that at a dispensary. And then the ones that are just hemp-derived and so have really the technical amount is less than 0.03%.
Elaine: Yes.
Lalita Khosla: Yes. So they have to have less than that concentration of THC. And I've tried all those products that I just find it doesn't really do anything for me.
Elaine: Well, I like the full-spectrum CBD products derived from hemp. They do only have 0.3% of THC, but if you get a full spectrum product, then you're getting some of those other cannabinoids, which to me are extremely valuable. So for instance, my mother is 81. She has arthritis in her left foot. Took me a long time to get her on CBD, and of course I had to start out with hemp-derived. Now she's been on it for 12 months. She absolutely loves it; it was a game-changer. She goes, "I feel about 90% better. I might have 10% pain here and there." But her pain, her inflammation went down immensely. And just recently, and I'm sure this is because of this COVID situation, she called me up and said, "You know, I think I'm ready for a little bit of THC." [Laughter]
Lalita Khosla: So what CBD product had she been using, and then what THC-CBD product did you recommend?
Elaine: I have her on the Medosi; I think I gave you one as well. It's a CBD product. It's what they call whole-spectrum, but it's very comparable to a full-spectrum product. That works extremely well for her. It tastes minty, so she loves it, and it's good ingredients. I try to stick with the best ingredients I can find. And then with the THC, I just got her the Kikoko mints, the Focus.
Lalita Khosla: Those are great, yes.
Elaine: So they're three milligrams CBD, they have a little bit of B12 in them, I think B6 and one milligram of THC. I just got them for her. So what I'm going to do is start around a half.
Lalita Khosla: Right.
Elaine: Yeah, just do a half every morning and every night, get her used to that little bit of THC. In about a week, I'll have her go to a full mint. And then hopefully, eventually, she can take a full mint every morning and every night in conjunction with her CBD tincture.
Lalita Khosla: So what's the potency of the hemp-derived CBD?
Elaine: I want to say it's like 50 milligrams, but all I have her do is half a dropper. So she's getting 25.
Lalita Khosla: 25 milligrams.
Elaine: Yes, and she's splitting that up between morning and night.
Lalita Khosla: I find that with my own CBD explorations, you really need at least 10 milligrams.
Elaine: I think so, too. When you're starting, you can take less, but as you know, we start to build a little bit of a tolerance towards it. So I am very comfortable with having people increase their dose, and splitting it up between morning and night seems to be the best way to do that. Some people claim that it will make them too energized, so they don't want to take it at night.
Lalita Khosla: Right, but isn't that about the blend? Isn't it the formulation?
Elaine: Yes, because others will have the opposite effect, and go, "Oh, gosh, it made me tired, so I'm just doing it at night now. " So I think it does depend on the blend, and it depends on your body. We're all different. We all have an endocannabinoid system, but the way each of us reacts to cannabis is a little bit different. So you have to experiment.
Lalita Khosla: And then you also have to take the same amount every day, right? What your son told you, to be consistent.
Elaine: Absolutely, yes, thank you.
Lalita Khosla: And you need to do it for about 15 days, right?
Elaine: Yes, I'd say at least a week or two of being very consistent, like taking your half a dropper at 8am, taking a half a dropper at 8pm, and doing that every single day, not missing a beat. Do that for at least one to two weeks. And by the end of that two weeks, you're definitely going to notice a difference, to the point where you're going to be wowed. I certainly was. And so was my mother, and everybody I've introduced to it.
Lalita Khosla: Do you think you should be taking a total of 10 milligrams a day or 20 milligrams a day?
Elaine: Well, it depends on the reason that you're taking it for. I find some people that have anxiety need a little more. And again, like you say, it depends on the blend. So I really think it depends on the person, what they're taking it for, and what the blend is; what other cannabinoids are mixed in there and how they personally react. But I think 10 is a very safe place to start, perhaps five in the morning and five at night. And do that for a few weeks, maybe even for a month, and then shift into maybe 10.
Lalita Khosla: But definitely look for a product that says full or whole spectrum.
Elaine: Absolutely. And then what are your favorite– you mentioned THCV... Name your favorite lesser-known cannabinoids and what they address, what conditions they address.
Elaine: Well, CBN is a great cannabinoid for sleep. So if you're just looking to relax, it gives you a nice beautiful chill feeling.
Lalita Khosla: And I think Kikoko has a tea with CBN in it.
Elaine: They certainly do.
Lalita Khosla: They're very science-driven. So, yeah.
Elaine: Yes. CBG... I don't know what all CBG does, but I'm taking something right now that has CBG in it, and it seems to be the new miracle cannabinoid. So there's a lot of buzz around CBG right now. CBN, as we discussed, is for sleep. CBD, for me, is just a powerful anti-inflammatory. The THCV is a stimulant and here's the other big benefit of THCV– it is also an appetite suppressant.
Lalita Khosla: Oh, really?
Elaine: Yeah.
Lalita Khosla: We'll talk about that when we get back to our stereotype talk. But that's a stereotype, right? Munchies. So that will– TCHV...
Elaine: It kills your appetite. So if you're wanting to lose weight, it's great for a workout. Absolutely incredible for a workout. My other two favorite cannabinoids are CBDA and THCA. Why? Because they're also powerful anti-inflammatories. So, somebody like myself, who's broken down cartilage from being this hardcore athlete as a kid... Those in conjunction with my CBD are really a powerful combination. And I learned that from the President of the American Cannabis Nurses Association. Yeah, she took a look at my hands and went, "You need to add in THCA and CBDA to your CBD, and you're going to get even more of an effect."
Lalita Khosla: So, what is Cannabis 2.0? It's this whole new, wide, wonderful world of regulated, lab-tested products. And we're here at Bad Mommy to guide you to the best people, products, and practices in this marketplace.
So listeners, as you know, cannabis in both the CBD, THC, and many other forms, it is very confusing, and there's a reason for that, because it's complex. But once you have somebody like Capability Elaine walk you through, you can take down your cheat sheets and say, "Okay, well if I'm looking for anti-inflammatory effects, I definitely want a CBD that combines...tell me again, Elaine?
Elaine: CBDA and THCA.
Lalita Khosla: Right, okay. So that will actually probably significantly narrow down a lot of products, right? Because I mean, and to further pursue confusion. If it says it's full spectrum, that doesn't mean it has every single cannabinoid, right it just means it has the whole plant.
Elaine: It has the whole plant and we don't know what the dose of each cannabinoid is. And that's the beauty of being able to isolate these cannabinoids and then blend them. So it's a big opportunity for us to be able to really experience these different effects by isolating these different cannabinoids, and then bringing them together to create a powerful combination, like CBN and CBD for sleep.
Lalita Khosla: But then that might not be full spectrum, if you're using isolates and blending them, right?
Elaine: Right. Well, I think most of the products I use are full spectrum. But when you get to the like, the little LEVEL tabs, I'm pretty sure these are isolated cannabinoids that they're blending in. And that's how they're dosing them precisely. When I read it, I know I'm getting one milligram of THC, one milligram of THCV, one milligram of CBD. So they're definitely pulling those out and blending them together.
Lalita Khosla: But it's still effective.
Elaine: Extremely.
Lalita Khosla: So then what should consumers look for? Should they be looking for full spectrum? Or should they be looking to pinpoint the appropriate cannabinoids for their condition,
Elaine: I do both. So I take full spectrum CBD every single morning like clockwork, because I want to make sure I'm getting as many cannabinoids as I can in that full spectrum product. And then I'll do my little LEVEL tabs during the day. And then again, perhaps in the evening, I might do a CBN tea; I love the Kikoko tea. I may do a little piece of a chocolate, whatever it may be, to just relax at night and to make sure I sleep through the night.
Lalita Khosla: Right? Because I think that's a lot of things that people might not know THC is actually the effective cannabinoid for sleep–
Elaine: It's extremely effective, and it's also euphoric. So to me, if you're consuming three or four milligrams of THC in the evening: A. You feel great. You're very relaxed. It completely takes you out of the stress of the day.
Lalita Khosla: It really is, it's magic. It's magical.
Elaine: Yes.
Lalita Khosla: I mean, you know, we're recording this Potcast right now, and it's in the middle of wildfires, and the air is opaque, and it is just so oppressive. And [Laughs] you take a little bit of THC, and you're like, "Oh, well."
Elaine: You feel better!
Lalita Khosla: "Well, this sucks, but I'm not gonna let it get me down." [Laughter] I'm gonna go see Capability Elaine!
Elaine: And that is the beauty of it. And also, I think a lot of us ladies, especially corporate women, they're working, they're managing families, managing their homes, some of them are traveling.
Lalita Khosla: Ugh, it's exhausting.
Elaine: It is exhausting.
Lalita Khosla: And then you try to, you know, self medicate with wine and then you can't sleep and then you're more exhausted the next day. So that's why I find, like, THC is so wonderful because it boosts your mood, and it helps you sleep.
Elaine: And you wake up and feel fresh and pretty amazing in the morning. The key is not to take too much. So focusing on being a microdoser and managing your doses is really key, in my opinion. If I consume, which I have, let's say 10 milligrams on a Friday or Saturday night... I might feel it a little bit the next morning.
Lalita Khosla: Yeah, that's true, too. You can have something that we call a "dopeover."
Elaine: And unfortunately you don't know until you do it and you're like, "Uh oh!" [Laughter]
Lalita Khosla: You wake up the next morning... and so, what is the dopeover? It's never as bad as a hangover.
Elaine: Never.
Lalita Khosla: It doesn't– it's more of a mental feeling than a physical feeling. Right, like a hangover slams you mentally and physically, a dopeover you just feel a little bit foggy the next morning, and, you know, if you have like a quadruple espresso, you could typically get over it quickly. [Laughs]
Elaine: The best way to avoid a dope-over –which we do, now and then, we're just human beings; we take a little edible, let's say it's three milligrams, maybe it's five; it's a Friday night, within a couple hours like "Gosh, you know, I don't feel it!" And then we take another one. Which is a huge mistake. I have found that there have been times where it takes maybe three hours to arrive. I don't know why! Maybe I ate when I took it, maybe I didn't eat. I don't know why. Usually it's around two hours. But I have found that there have been times where I'm a little antsy; "Where is it? It hasn't arrived. It didn't work." I eat another one, I'm like, "Oh, no." [Laughter]
"I took way too much," because it certainly seems to all arrive at once, right?
Lalita Khosla: But then you have a quick fix for that. Right?
Elaine: I do have a quick fix for that. Go get your CBD tincture and take about 20 milligrams. Put that under your tongue, let it sit for about 30 seconds. Don't drink anything, swallow that down. And within an hour or two, you're going to come down.
Lalita Khosla: You're going to come down. But you could probably actually do that CBD tincture and then take a shower.
Elaine: Absolutely. I have taken cold showers. I've made myself a cup of tea. I've done different things to pull myself down, but I highly recommend CBD. Another thing if you're really tripping out, which can happen, is they have various pens. There's one by Dosist called Calm, which has quite a bit of CBD in it. Just take a hit off a pen, a CBD pen, and that's it, within 10 minutes that's going to pull you down. So that's the fastest way to come down, is to smoke CBD.
Lalita Khosla: Right. Yeah. And then also you love CBD bath bombs, right?
Elaine: Oh my gosh, heaven. Yes, huge fan of CBD bath bombs. I even use a CBD sunscreen. I use a CBD skincare program. So I am huge on CBD. But the baths are the most relaxing, amazing, feeling. Not only do you feel internally chill and relaxed, but your skin comes out like silk.
Lalita Khosla: Yeah, yeah. That's actually a very interesting aspect of cannabis; it's hugely hydrating.
Elaine: Mmhmm, very! Yes, those baths are just heaven. So I think you just tried a brand, or I just suggested a brand to you-
Lalita Khosla: Yeah, I'm very excited, but we're in a renovation so don't have a bathtub yet. So I might have to come over and use Capability Elaine even for a bathtub!
Elaine: You are more than welcome to my bathtub, and trust me, once you try those bath bombs you're never gonna not take a bath without one.
Lalita Khosla: And does it really matter– because I know they get more expensive with the number of milligrams of CBD per bath bomb... Do you really need a certain amount? Do you think?
Elaine: You know, I have to be honest with you. My son and his fiance bought me a bath bomb that is THC and CBD. And it was 25 milligrams. I had taken a little edible, but not much. I don't remember what it was maybe three to five milligrams? And I went and took the bath with the CBD and THC and I got so high I had to get out! [Laughter]
I had to take a cold shower! I got out of the bath and went, Okay I feel better now. Now did dose matter? I felt like it mattered in that instance, but it was 25 milligrams!
Lalita Khosla
Right, right.
Elaine: Now was I absorbing that? Because usually it has to be transdermal to get through your skin. But maybe it was the combination of consuming, soaking, breathing it in; I have no idea what happened. But I did have to get up and put some cold water on my face.
Lalita Khosla: So let's just say you do the CBD ones alone, because those are easy to procure online, right? You don't have to go through a dispensary or anything.
Elaine: Exactly.
Lalita Khosla: So, I mean, you can get those going up, I think, to about 150 milligrams CBD. But what do you really need to get that nice body high?
Elaine: I would say about 20 milligrams.
Lalita Khosla: Twenty, okay that's all.
Elaine: 10 to 20
Lalita Khosla: Good enough.
Elaine: It is good enough, because the whole idea is to relax.
Lalita Khosla: Yes.
Elaine: And again, they're very healing to the skin. So, the whole experience is beautiful. Plus those ones that you just ordered. They have a nicely scented... they're just incredible.
Lalita Khosla:Yeah, yeah. And that one that we just ordered, listeners, is called Warfighter Hemp, right?
Elaine: Yes. Exactly. Right.
Lalita Khosla: Yeah, they're very good company.
Elaine: Yeah. They're awesome people. I met them at a trade show. They're veterans, and 10% of their proceeds go back to veterans. Just a lovely group. So, because I liked them so much, and I bought some of their products at the show, now I'm a fan of their products. But it was really because they were just such cool people. Yeah, these guys are just great. So I went over there and started talking to them, and bought some items from them, and now I'm hooked on their products.
Lalita Khosla: Yeah, yeah, no, they source very ethically as well, which is super important.
Lalita Khosla: Hey, you're listening to The Bad Mommy Experience , brought to you by Bad Mommy Edibles: Chocolate with Benefits. The Bad Mommy Experience is also brought to you by Raaka Chocolate. You can find them at RaakaChocolate.com– that's r-a-a-k-a– and they are the finest unroasted chocolate you will ever find and exactly what we use in our premium quality edibles.
Elaine has just given us so much great advice, that, don't worry listeners, I'm going to write up a Potcast cheat sheet for you, so that we're gonna have all of the cannabinoids that Elaine mentioned and their specific benefits. And then we'll also give you some websites and product names. And now we'll turn back to what we were talking about before, about the stereotype of the stoner and you know, when you go to business events now, you don't see any of those people at all. Everyone is like, super professional.
Elaine: Yes. And listen, we're all executives. We're all working constantly. We are managing our stress with cannabis. We're not high. We're not out there being rowdy and partying. We're not drunk. We're not. We're not doing these things. And, I mean, I was taking it because of an injury that I got working out, and I use it to work out. So there are times I'll take a very low dose; like I say, that THCV will stimulate you. And I'll get one heck of a workout in.
So, based on how you use it. And again, this is really about microdosing. Once you find your perfect formulas, and your perfect combinations of cannabinoids based on whatever feeling you're seeking, I find it can be very productive. You can be very focused on cannabis. You can be active, you can be very fit. Extremely successful. I know quite a few executives that own companies that use cannabis to manage your stress. That's all they’re managing, and they're extremely successful. So that stoner thing is out the window.
Lalita Khosla: Yeah. How do you think cannabis got such a bad rap? Because I know, even, you know, I first started entering the industry in 2015. And even back then, it was like, not a roomful of stoners at all, you know. But I was like, trepidatious about it. I'm like, What is this business community going to be like? And then I just cannot tell you how many great people I've met. I mean, it is such a beautifully self-selecting plant that– and so many women too. And I think that's great. It's such a female-friendly place to be and so collaborative,
Elaine: It's a superfood. That's basically how I see cannabis. This is a superfood. It's extremely nourishing, it's plant-based medicine. It's safe. Nobody's ever OD'd from cannabis that I'm aware of. So I would say it's one of the safest choices that we have to manage stress, manage pain, whatever it may be, anxiety. It really can address quite a few different things. And it's extremely easy to do, we can consume it very discreetly. We don't have to worry about not waking up in the morning. Right?
Lalita Khosla: Right.
Elaine: So yeah. I think that's why women embrace it.
Lalita Khosla: Right, right. And you mentioned that really, your experience with CBD started back. what, you said 2012 or 2013?
Elaine: 2013, so seven years ago.
Lalita Khosla: But you've been a cannabis enthusiast, THC enthusiast, for longer than that.
Elaine: Almost my entire life. I grew up in the Bay Area, so as a teenager, we were introduced to cannabis in high school. I mean, it was there. It was everywhere. And I was one of those kids– again, we were working out hard, we were training hard, and in the evenings, we would smoke a joint, you better believe it. But we weren't sitting under the tree stoned all day, I can assure you. We were bouncing up in the morning and right back in the gym and doing what we had to do and training hard. So there were at that time, there were the kids and I'm talking back in the early 70s, right? And in the Bay Area, we had the whole spillover of the hippie movement. And I think that's probably where some of the negative connotations came from. I also think there's a lot more to it than that. It was also a financial thing. And hemp is a very strong plant. It can be used to make sails for sailboats. They were making Levi's jeans out of hemp; the cotton industry came up against them. So there were financial reasons, as well, that cannabis became....
Lalita Khosla: Stigmatized.
Elaine: Exactly, which was kind of ridiculous, because it's such a valuable plant. And it's really heartbreaking that this poor plant has been punished for so many years.
Lalita Khosla: But it's having its comeuppance now.
Elaine: Yes. And, you know, I'm very grateful for those that cleared the path for us. We have these growers up here in Northern California that just kept doing their thing, even though they were getting raided, and they were at high risk. But they understood the beauty and value of this plant. And I'm grateful to them, because here we are today because of them.
Lalita Khosla: And so you know, as a consumer, you enjoyed the beauty and value of it. But then you– Capability Elaine, of course, on every front capable, has three children. So how did you navigate being an enthusiast, and also raising your kids?
Elaine: Yes. And I did smoke while I was raising my kids. Very discreetly, of course, because I didn't want to introduce them when they were too young. I sat in the garage with my neighbor. So the kids would be done with their homework. They'd be upstairs, maybe watching a show or whatever it was. My neighbor would ping me, we'd go meet in my garage. I had two little folding chairs out there. We'd fold them out. We'd light up our little joint, we'd share it, we'd talk about our day, and then I'd go back up to the kids and nobody knew quite what was what was going on. So um, I did that for quite a while.
Elaine: And then when they were teenagers, I used to travel a lot for business and for pleasure. And I'd tell the kids every time we went out of the country, "Listen, don't do anything crazy." I never caught them doing anything but they were teenagers. So you know, we're always tempted as a kid. "Don't do anything crazy. Don't buy any illegal drugs, please. We're in another country." Well, lo and behold, one of my children decided to buy some cannabis in another country. [Laughs] And we were all sitting at a bar and a friend of mine who lived in the country we were visiting, I'm not going to mention it, where we were, but he goes, "I think your younger son is purchasing cannabis right now." And I go, "You have got to be kidding me."
Lalita Khosla: [Laughter] "I just gave him a whole lecture!"
Elaine: I did. They got lectures every time we left the country. Don't buy anything, don't do that. So I go, "You're kidding me." He goes, "No, I swear to you, he is negotiating a deal right now." [Laughter] He was maybe 15, 16. My older son was sitting there with us, and he's looking at me smiling, like, Wasn't me. So my friend goes over to this gentleman and he says, "What's going on over here?" And this guy says, "Well, he's wanting to buy $20 worth of"–I don't know what he called it– "ganja. "Yeah, whatever was whatever term he said. "And I want him to give me the money right now." And my friend said, "Absolutely not." He goes, "I'm gonna buy you a cocktail, and then you need to go away."
So he did. He bought the guy a cocktail, a big one, like this big fancy cocktail, hands it to the guy–it looked like a meal– and the guy took off. So, and then we sat my son down. I go, "What are you doing? That's the only thing I asked you not to do. Why? What were you thinking?" "Well, we're on vacation, and I thought it'd be nice to just have a little bit, you know, I smoke here and there, Mom." I went, Okay. That's what it is. So my friend said, "I have some at home. Let's let's all go and we're gonna smoke some cannabis together."
So we go, he rolls a joint. He has the funniest goofiest hat, grabs all the hats, puts them on our heads. He goes, "If you guys are gonna act stupid, you're gonna look stupid."
Lalita Khosla: Do you have a picture from that time?
Elaine: I wish I did. So the kids can remember it very well, though, I can assure you. So there we were. We rolled the joint, we all took a few hits together, and that's where we broke the ice.
Lalita Khosla: So, did you know at that time that your son was experimenting with cannabis back home?
Elaine: I didn't know, but I suspected that they may have been, but I didn't know. I never caught them, they never caught me. And then I said, That's it. Why am I sitting in the garage?
[Laughter]
Lalita Khosla: And now we should also be–full disclosure that– one of Elaine's sons is in the cannabis industry.
Elaine: The one that I caught! [Laughter] Yes, he's working in the CBD industry right now. He's doing extremely well. He's very good at it. He's with an amazing group of people. So they're working with the extractors and they're really booming right now. So he's doing fabulous.
Lalita Khosla: That's great to hear, great to hear.
Elaine: It ended up becoming– He has a business administration degree, college degree. And that's exactly what he does for them. He gets their licenses, he helps manage all the business aspect of their company, and he's happy, they're happy. So he ended up becoming a part of this whole industry.
Lalita Khosla: Okay, well, there you go, listeners. You can start enjoying the blunt, and maybe even give your kids a career opportunity! [Laughter]
Elaine: Never thought it would lead to that, but here we are.
Lalita Khosla: All right. Well, listen, thank you so much Capability Elaine, for joining us. And listeners, I think we're going to do an "Ask Capability Elaine" potcast. So send us all your questions, send all your cannabis-related questions to mommy at bad mommy.com that's mommy at bad mommy.com and we'll have Elaine back to answer peoples' questions.
Elaine: Absolutely; I'd be happy to. And my last thing before I go is if you're just starting to experiment with cannabis, just go slow and go low. Take low doses, do it slowly. And after a couple of weeks, start to understand what works for you. But don't be in a big hurry, don't take any big doses right out of the gate.
Lalita Khosla: Right. And also the one piece of advice is, don't take other people's advice. [Laughter]
Elaine: And they're saying "Just try this," and it's a good 10 milligrams, don't "Just try it"!
Lalita Khosla: Because everyone is so different. Yeah, the only advice you should be taking is from me and Elaine. [Laughter]
Elaine: Or somebody who is very experienced and that you trust, and that's mature enough not to get you too high out of the gate.
Lalita Khosla: Yeah, don't, with THC, don't ever start with more than 2.5 milligrams and then with CBD, I think we're agreed on 10 milligrams, or even five milligrams to start.
Elaine: Sure. Yeah.
Lalita Khosla: Just be aware that THC and CBD are dosed very differently, so you have to really be conscious of that. Really read your labels. And the other great news I have coming up is that Bad Mommy is going to be publishing a cannabis journal. And that is going to really help you track your experience, because it is a complex plant to onboard, especially if you're using it to treat specific conditions. So the journal is going to really help you track it, and it will soon be available on our website, Badmommyedibles.com. So thanks for joining, Capability Elaine.
Elaine: Thank you.
Lalita Khosla: We'll have you back soon. All right, cheers.
Okay, that's our episode for today. Thanks for listening. You can find us at BadMommyEdibles.com, or on Instagram @BadMommyEdibles. Please consider subscribing and sharing with all of your Bad Mommy friends and your friends who also want to be Bad Mommies.
Until next time, I'm your host, Lalita Khosla: the original Bad Mommy.