#CannabisJournalism — Naive opinions to factual thoughts: The progression of a cannabis newbie
It’s week two of Cannabis Journalism and I have to admit–I still feel relatively naive when it comes to our cannabis discussions.
Granted, I’ve learned way more than I anticipated (and we still have three days of “class” remaining) in the past week and two days and my knowledge on this topic has definitely increased from a two to a six on a scale from one to 10.
But, this field of study is so vast… I seriously think you could learn about this stuff for years and still be lacking some interesting and crucial details.
Alas, it’s like anything though, right? Plus, the cannabis world is constantly evolving and I can’t imagine how difficult it is to stay up to date with absolutely everything that’s going on. We’re trying though; and we have certainly accomplished a lot.
Walking into this course a little over a week ago, I definitely knew the very, very basics of this industry, but now, I feel like I’m slowly grasping the nitty-gritty details of what makes this new trade flourish.
From our discussions with various cannabis leaders like Ricardo Baca, Mason Tvert and Sam Kamin, along with tours at The Denver Post and Sweet Grass Kitchen, I’ve really been exposed to the ins and outs of all things cannabis. As a newbie to this stuff, these experiences have been vital to my growth and understanding about both cannabis and all its facets and I can honestly say that this is has been both fun and interesting for me.
Twitter has also been a great source of knowledge for me and for my growth as a #cannabistjournalist. Following a variety of cannabis news sources like The Cannabist and High Times has really expanded my base on this topic and has given me ideas and information that I can use in both my daily Medium posts, my final project and within our group conversations with guest speakers. Below are a few of my favorite #cannabistnews articles that I’ve discovered:
Published by The Cannabist, this article talked about something that I feel some people, including myself, tend to forget: cannabis is an global industry, not just one that’s found in a select few states.
This article focused on a specific village in India where their №1 industry is cannabis; the people there live and breath this stuff, but the local police force has been creating chaos within their farms and in turn, destroying their livelihood.
The government wants this region to completely halt growing and selling cannabis, but the community plans to persist because for many, it’s their only option for an income.
To me, this was an eye-opening article and I apprecaited it because it talked about cannabis on a global level, when I’m usually only used to only seeing things related to Colorado or sometimes the United States as a whole. As a cannabis newbie, I really liked the varying perspective and news aspect that this story provided.
I also really enjoyed the above article that was published by ESPN. This piece discusses the use of medical marijuana among professional athletes and the reprecussions that these individuals can face by using an illegal substance.
One specific Buffalo Bills player was suspended from 10 games on Nov. 29 for using medical marijuana to treat Crohn’s Disease. To me, this is a great example about how yes, the substance might be legal in some states, but how over all cannabis is still federally illegal. This article and discussion is a frequent one, especially in the world of sports, and I’m curious to see how it will play out/evolve or change in the coming years.
More to come tomorrow. In the meantime, shoot me a follow on Twitter (
) to stay up to date on all things #cannabis! Thanks for reading.
