Meet Enthusiast Reporter Sandie

My name is Dr. Sandie Stringfellow. I am a 46 year old Japanese-American mom from the 'burbs of Philly, who has been in San Francisco since 2007. I'm better known to people on social media as @raging_asian_cannamom, where I'm known for my big glasses, colorful hair, workout videos, my cheeky children, and for consuming quite a bit of cannabis. My IG was created in part to normalize the idea of a middle-aged Asian mom consuming plant medicine publicly, and to contribute to changing the outdated stereotype of what kind of person is a stoner. I am a mom, a wife, a daughter, an athlete, an educator, a cannabis professional and someone who wants to live life to the fullest. I am a middle-aged-career-transition-er, having had an almost 20 career in public education before moving into cannabis at the age of 45.

To say that plant-medicine has saved my life would not be an understatement. Plant-healing has been part of my protocol for managing both my mental and my physical health for years now, and I am so grateful that people in California can legally and safely access this modality of healing. I use cannabis to manage anxiety, depression, ADD, insomnia, sensory issues, and fibromyalgia, but I also really love how cannabis frees my mind and allows me to get into creative flows when I am writing, journaling, or creating content. Plant-healing has been a huge part of my own self-re-discovery journey, which followed a very long and serious period of serious mental health struggles.

My advice to new consumers would be to start with the non-psychoactive cannabinoids like CBD, CBG, CBN, THC-A, and CBD-A. These are most often found in products that are consumed orally or are used topically. They provide relief and a lightly elevated feeling, but don't get you "high". If consumers feel that they enjoyed these cannabinoids and if these cannabinoids helped the consumer achieve the desired physical or mental state, the consumer may choose to explore THC. Or, perhaps they may feel that their personal journey with cannabis does not need to go any further and they stick with the non-psychoactive side of things. Another piece of advice would be to document their experiences, so they can fine tune what the right product, brand, dose, strain, terpene, etc. is best for them. (I don't do this and never have, but I should!).

Personally, I prefer to have some ratio of THC in my products because it provides me with the most relief for my fibromyalgia. I consume some form of cannabis all day every day. On work days, I might use topicals or tinctures throughout the day, whereas on an off day, I will usually consume both edibles and inhalants. At night, I love to sit and reflect on my day and think about the next day with a nighttime smoke. I finally learned how to roll joints (quite badly) last year (this year I will learn how to roll blunts), and enjoy a joint or two in the evening, sometimes using a cute little blunt bubbler. Other times I love to use a bong or I will consume concentrates in my rig, which is known as dabbing.

I really and truly love a lot of cannabis brands and products. My absolute favorite flower and concentrate brand is 710 Labs, absolutely everything they produce is exquisite and I am a proud member of their coveted Drop List. I really enjoy Ojo De La Sol for topicals, she has a great bath salt and a salve which I am obsessed with, as it really helps my fibromyalgia pain and with sore muscles from working out . And I personally think that the best gummies in California are made by Elefante. Elefante also white labels for many other very large brands. There are way too many unbelievable products out there to mention, and I already feel badly mentioning only three, because it means I am not mentioning dozens of other tremendous products!

Overall, discovering plant-healing has been one of the biggest joys of my life. It has benefited me mentally and physically, which in turn has benefited my family. I have met some of the most kind, compassionate, interesting, weird, fun people that I have ever met in my life during this last year working in cannabis. It has honestly been one of the most years of my life, and I am so happy to be out of the cannabis closet, showing people that cannabis consumers are as diverse as can be - and yes, you can be a medicated mama and still be a great parent, partner, friend, employee, and human. I am so grateful for this plant and this community and for all the lessons life and the Universe have bestowed on me recently. If I can help just one person in the world feel comfortable using cannabis and being themselves, then this journey I am on will be a success.