Being alive during this pandemic has been a heady, surreal experience. Unlike my apartment, I am not alone in living with anxiety issues. But the current situation has pushed that vulnerable part of my psyche into realms of worry I never even knew to consider. Such as…
Why is toilet paper all but impossible to find, yet toothpaste is so readily available? Is this an accidental indictment of our collective oral hygiene? Are all Oklahomans destined to look like Tiger King’s John Finlay (before the fame teeth)?
So many questions! But medical marijuana has helped me avoid being consumed by nonsensical worries and stay sane during the mind-fuck of isolation. I’ve leaned harder on cannabis than normal, and a recent report indicates I am not nearly as alone as I feel:
Via The Oklahoman:
“Tax collections from Oklahoma’s medical marijuana industry set a record high in March.
Cannabis dispensaries generated $7.8 million in total tax revenues last month, according to the Oklahoma Tax Commission. It’s the highest total since the first tax dollars were reported in November 2018”.
Isolated Oklahomans smoke a lot of weed.
Was anyone surprised by this? Steve Lackmeyer certainly wasn’t (we can’t slip anything past that guy). The reasons are equally unsurprising.
We’re medicating more. Duh.
We’re scared. We’re anxious. We’re wading through mountains of clean clothes we failed to put up just trying to find the cat, thanks to the depression demon (just me on that last one?). Cannabis is proven to help with all these things. Also, we’re really fucking bored.
We “stocked up,” smoked up…then had to re-up. Many times.
Oklahomans turned into die-hard pot preppers the moment Coronavirus shit got real. My source on that is common sense. And Reddit. Unlike our pro counterparts, pot preppers have zero self control. We buy as much weed as we can afford; ration it out; then get super high on our apocalypse supply. Oops. A month in to this, how many times have you “stocked up?” If quarantine has taught me anything about myself, it is how terrible I am at self-control and rationing. If we are ever stranded together at sea, I won’t blame you for throwing me off first.
But in solitude, we found solidarity.
Oklahoma doesn’t just have the biggest medical marijuana program with the best sales month ever; it has the biggest heart. Our cannabis community responded quickly and responsibly to the direct challenges of COVID-19, keeping us safe and supplied. Oklahoma City-based, family-owned Fire Leaf Dispensary took it a step further.
Via KFOR:
As a record number of people file for unemployment during the COVID-19 pandemic, an Oklahoma dispensary is hoping to help those in need during these uncertain times.
“With so many people without jobs, and struggling as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, I wanted to find a tangible way to help out,” said Fire Leaf co-owner Tyler Doolittle.
Doolittle decided to order 1,500 meals from The Yellow Rose Theatre in Moore in order to hand out to people in need.
Over the next three weeks, select Fire Leaf locations will provide free catered boxed lunches to anyone who could use a meal on Thursdays and Fridays.
“You don’t need be a patient, or even have an OMMA card to get a free lunch. If you need a meal, come get one. It’s that simple,” says Doolittle.
For someone named ‘Doolittle’ it seems to us he does a lot. You can catch the Fire Leaf lunch crew from 11 a.m. 1 p.m. on Thursday, April 16 at Fire Leaf Stockyard and on Friday, April 17 at Fire Leaf South. They want to feed anyone in need, so spread the good word.
—Big love and appreciation to all the budtenders and staff at each and every 2,200-ish Oklahoma dispensaries. We can’t imagine doing #covidlife without you. ♥
