Over 55 and Considering Using Cannabis

Greetings, and special greetings to my more senior friends out there. I’m The Rev, and I’m halfway through my 60’s at the time of this writing. I have been a cannabis enthusiast, grower, and breeder, for over half a century now, so I know a little bit about this subject. I’m going to try and give you guys a bit of an overview regarding some of what I think are the most important points if you are over 55 and considering using cannabis. Especially if you have never tried it in the past, or are otherwise unaware of the many aspects around this new cannabis endeavor.

I have been growing and using cannabis for over 50 years and I have written a few books on the subject as well. Here’s a link to my latest book about growing cannabis—mostly in containers—all naturally (organically): True Living Organics The Druid’s Edition by The Rev.

So, basically this is an article from me to you, covering what I think are the important points you need to consider when approaching cannabis use for the first time. No stupid AI slop here folks. Cannabis can have many wonderful effects. There are other aspects of using cannabis that can be downright shitty, should you blindly wander into them. That’s why I’m here—king of jungle only here to help—heh heh, let’s roll…

Where Should I Source my Cannabis From?

Ideally, you have some kind of family or friend connection that grows cannabis organically, and is really good at it. A couple of things that I think matter big here when considering this type of a source are:

• You want to know if they have garden pests, and if so, what methods they use to deal with them. There are pesticides you do not want to be consuming. Big-time, do your homework here.
• You want to know what they grow, as in which varieties. Everyone thinks they have a Sativa when in reality hardly anyone actually knows what a true Sativa is, or can do. I love a real Sativa, but I also like to have some other varieties on hand as well. Cannabis enjoyment is like music enjoyment. You have different moods and situations that call for different music choices, just like with cannabis. Ideally you want an older grower here, at least a 20 year veteran. However, there are some youngsters that do know their shit. All of them think they do—LoL, but, you know how that goes.
• Now, trust me when I say, you absolutely want your source, whatever it may be, to be organic. Synthetic grown cannabis sucks compared to organically grown, and not by a little bit. Not to mention organic smoke is much smoother, cooler, and more elegant. I’m no doctor or scientist, but I would definitely say health wise it matters a lot as well—from my experience.

Sourcing from Shops

If you are over 55 and considering using cannabis, you are most likely to use cannabis shops—ugh—and I have to say up front I am not a big fan of most shops. Everyone thinks they are an expert. And in my experience, 99% of the time, they are not. So take their advice with a grain of salt is my advice. They are there to sell you some cannabis, first and foremost—you savvy? Okay, this will be hit and miss for you. You need to try many different things and get a feel for what you like. This is actually a cool aspect of shops allowing you to try out a lot of flavors and complex cannabis varieties. However, once again, in my opinion and experience, most shops (shop employees) really have no idea what a real Sativa or a real Sativa experience is. You owe it to yourself to quest for a real Sativa or two so you can see what they are all about and how they differ from basically all other varieties of cannabis.

Over 55 and Considering Using Cannabis Edibles

This will be my biggest warning to you here. A lot of people find edibles to be a fantastic way to experience cannabis. Personally speaking, I don’t like them, and I never have. The high is a lot different and has a lot more “body” to it. I find it to be far more narcotic in nature than smoking or vaping cannabis. Speaking of vaping cannabis, check out my last article about the PAX vaporizer here: Using the Pax Plus Flower Vaporizer by Rev. This very well may be “the ticket” for you too, and I love this vaporizer. Not a sponsor by the way, just my own opinion.

Using edibles incorrectly, and by incorrectly I mean eating too much, can ruin your cannabis experience forevermore. Yup,

have seen it several times. Here’s my advice when it comes to trying out edibles to see if you like them:

• Try a very small dosage at first. Seriously like 1/4 of whatever the “dosage” is, say a gummy. Then, make sure to wait at least 2 1/2 hours before judging. This is huge for you, when eating cannabis, the effects take much longer to “set in” and hit you than when smoking or vaping.

This may be perfect for you, or it may not. Cannabis has different effects on different people, just like any drug. Just make sure not to overdose, make sure to wait that 2 1/2 hours before judging the effects.

Growing Your Own?

If you are a good organic grower and successfully grow different veggies outdoors, then you can likely grow cannabis outdoors too. Growing in your own backyard is the ultimate here if you can pull it off. Here’s a few things you should know about doing this:

• Neighbors! Yep, they can suck. Thieves are your major concern here so tell no one about your plants. Make sure they are out of sight from neighbors.
• Your plants will need at least 6 hours of direct sun exposure per day, and more is better.
• Darkness during flowering is important. During their darkness period while flowering if plants are exposed to any (even very subtle) light, they will get male flowers that will pollinate and seed up all your buds—hermaphrodite flowers—and needless to say, that is very bad. Headlights, motion sensor lights. Even a porch light within direct line of sight within 60’ will trigger this unwanted reaction of hermaphrodites.
• If you live on the coast you will need a greenhouse equipped with a dehumidifier. If you are inland at least 10 miles you should be okay and it’s normally a dry enough season inland to avoid mold and mildew.
• Cannabis plants can get BIG! Really big. Keep this in mind when selecting your spot.
• Grow from seed. Importing clones can cause you a ton of issues just up the road. Like hitchhiking parasites or other unknown issues. Switching synthetic grown plants over to organic is hard, so avoid having to do this as well.
• Indoors growing is much harder to learn.

Bongs and Doobies and Vapes, Oh My!

Being over 55 and considering using cannabis is going to include some “tools” you are going to need. Now, I recommend the PAX vaporizer (PAX Plus) for vaporizing with. Don’t bother getting a cheap vaporizer, seriously, they are trash and won’t give you a real vaping experience, in my experience.

Bongs:  I love these (my two favorites below). Here’s my advice. Get a glass bong with an ‘Ice Dam’ which is just a little modification to keep ice cubes suspended up higher in the bong. The ice really cools the smoke down and I almost always use ice. Doing bong hits—a bong is basically a high performance water pipe—is very economical when compared to smoking doobies and your cannabis will last longer for sure.

Pipes: Pipes are the most common tool of the trade I would say. Not as elegant to smoke through as a water pipe or bong in my opinion. But, a better option for saving weeds than doobies. I like glass pipes. If you get small pipes they might get too hot with heavier use. Make sure and get a big enough pipe to suit your needs.

Doobies: First, you’ll need to be able to roll a doobie. Now I love doobies but I rarely smoke them for the mere fact they really burn through your bud resources very fast, literally. They are really awesome from time to time and I like using the pre-rolled ‘cones’ because you can just stuff them full and it’s easy peasy.

Over 55 Considering Using Cannabis Health and Safety Points

I think we can safely assume that smoking anything is not as healthy as not smoking, yeah? With that being said, once again I would recommend using a quality flower vaporizer here. The PAX Plus set on low power is a very mild vaping experience and very easy on the lungs. I think doobies are a little worse for you than pipes and bongs simply because of the added paper.

Bongs are very cool and you can just load them with very small hits to keep from blowing your lungs away. A lot of quality cannabis will expand in your lungs. When you take what you think is a normal hit it turns into a big ass hit and you end up coughing your brains out. Small hits baybee.

Stale smoke will also be a major thing you will want to avoid. Once any smoke has just sat in your bong or pipe for about 10 seconds it becomes ‘stale’ and it will gag you hard. Always blow through or blow out any residual smoke from your last hit before taking your next hit.

Needless to say, you will not be crisp, or sharp under the influence of cannabis. Impaired is a very good word here for this. Take it seriously. Hiking or walking are both awesome. Bike riding or driving, not so much and you can end up getting really hurt—guess how I know? Everything does seem more fun to me when high on cannabis, and you’ll likely agree. Just use some common sense is all I’m saying, it is a drug after all.

Afterword

I hoped my little over 55 and considering using cannabis overview has helped to open your eyes a little bit. If you do feel like growing your own, start with some good quality cannabis seeds, like Kingdom Organic Seeds (KOS) available here: KOS Genetics at JBC Seeds. You’ll thank me later heh heh. And if you want to try a real Sativa, I have to recommend KOS’ Black Forrest at JBC Seeds—yikes!

If you have a desire to watch an old guy grow cannabis and babble about it, check out my YouTubes channel here: Rev’s YouTubes Chennel. Well, us old growers gotta stick together man. Corporate bullshit is sweeping the markets. Home grows, lots of them, are the way—yessir! Well, I’m outta here for now, but I’ll be back soon with another article, so keep a look out if ya wanna. L8r G8rs.

– REv 😊