Friends in High Places

You make friends in the strangest places. In today’s times where social media is continuously bringing people together, it’s amazing you can still be surprised by who you could meet, and where you’d find them.

You might think because I tend to be up early I’m in bed fairly early, while that may be the plan most nights, it rarely turns out that way. While I’m aware of people who may turn to comfort food to go to sleep, and in many ways, I do too, but if I’m going to eat something I know is junk food that late at night I have to prepare myself. I break out my glass jar full of goodies.

Tonight’s munches would be sponsored by Durban Poison. I checked online for a review of this strain, so I knew what to expect, I went to work fashioning a joint. Within minutes I was sitting back on the couch taking a deep inhale of my blueberry jay. Like most of the time, my phone was in my hands and I quickly scrolled social media just seeing what everyone was talking about. Thanks to Instagram’s strange way of ordering posts, my feed often looks like chaos but I came to a podcast I remember listening to as a suggestion from someone. CashColorCannabis, I saw they recently had a follow up to the Danksgiving event. I missed the event due to my schedule but I knew I had to meet the puppeteer behind these events.

I didn’t see any new events planned by the podcast and thought it may be a missed opportunity. I thought back to a conversation I had with Manny, the mastermind behind Recreational420. He reminded me that at the end of the day we are all people, the worst thing the person running this account could say was no, if even that, more than likely if the host was not interested he would leave me on read and we can call it a day from there. I was fine with either of those options if it happened to pan out that way.

I remember writing out a message to the CashColorCannabis IG account expressing my interest in his show and the events he threw. After I was finished I realized I wasn’t hungry anymore, I was, however, aware of how tired I was, and to my surprise, it was still early for me, as I pressed send I was suddenly aware of the time, 1:12 am. My first thought was, “This guy’s going to think I‘m a lunatic,” I set my phone face down across the room and proceeded to my nightly routine before bed.

The next day started off horribly. Georgia’s fickle weather drained what little life I had left in my car battery while I was already running late for work; just this little act was enough to send me over the edge. I immediately had a panic attack, unreasonable I know, but anxiety isn’t much of a negotiator. I remember coming into the house and my wife reassuring me we’d figure it out because one way or another we always did. I rolled another jay and after coming back to my senses, I knew I still had to move. One phone call to my mechanic and he was over to change out my battery and get me going again. While waiting for him to get an invoice ready I got a message on Instagram. It was CashColorCannabis, inviting me to sit in on the podcast recording. Just the invitation to sit in on the show was enough to boost my mood even further.

Looking more into Mehka, the man running CashColorCannabis, I saw he was going to have yet another person I followed closely on social media on his show that night. Attorney Shequel Ross, HuffPost wrote an article about her sparking “Massive, Nationwide Change In 2017”, I told Mehka about a conversation my wife and I had, after following Attorney Ross for some time I told my wife if anything were to happen and I was to be arrested she needed to contact Shequel Ross, I had a strong feeling that no matter what, she’d find a way to get me out of trouble. Mehka confirmed she was guest and like that I was locked in.

I pulled up to the studio a little early; everyone was still setting up for the show. After shaking hands with Mehka, he directed me to some pieces he had partnered with to promote. I could tell this man was about his business, I should’ve expected no less from the man behind Danksgiving. I snapped the usual social media pictures and took a seat. I watched as the show came together and as more people came in. Before long Attorney Ross was there, she had a personality unlike many of the lawyers I’m more familiar with. She was charming, funny, witty, and above all, brilliant. She broke down the laws governing marijuana and criminal law in general. The show was incredible, Mehka, an excellent host, and Attorney Shequel Ross, an outstanding guest. I was even lucky enough to get a shout-out in the show.

As the show wrapped up I noted the room had a couple new people. After the attorney left I came to a realization. I had originally reached out to Mehka to speak about the past events he hosted, instead, I was happy to find out that this was how those events came together, the room was full of all sorts of creatives who all had ideas left and right. What was so amazing was that everyone came from all walks of life. Parents, travelers, yoga instructors, and so much more now filled the space; a wide array of people who all had one common interest; marijuana. I recalled being in a full panic earlier in the day and the same thing that I use when I’m stressed was interesting to this room full of entrepreneurs that were all eager to work.

The entire experience, from the recording of the show to the wrapping up of everything, and calling it a night, was exciting. I was grateful to be part of the show, even if as a spectator. I was even more grateful to share Manny’s vision of Recreational420 with the creator of CashColorCannabis. In the days following the shows taping, I was able to come up with some exciting ideas to do around the city, all with like-minded individuals who are all motivated to bring their talents to life in any way possible.

Georgia is slowly becoming more open to the idea of marijuana, and Atlanta is going to be at the forefront of a lot of the changes the state is going to go through. I can see cannabis culture spreading nationwide and I feel privileged to be in a position to experience the changes over time and share the evolution of an industry with tons of opportunities for the right individuals to take them.

"There’s a change coming to Atlanta and there’s a group of young entrepreneurs that are ready."

While it’s easy to get discouraged that Atlanta doesn’t have legal marijuana, I do recall Manny saying the states where marijuana is more open don’t get this type of unique social events. If this was something that was out of the ordinary, I was glad to be a part of it. I was more than happy to offer my unique perspective to anyone interested, and after speaking further with Recreational420 and CashColorCannabis, they seemed very interested. There’s a change coming to Atlanta and there’s a group of young entrepreneurs that are ready to back up these changes and bring people together and move cannabis culture forward.

I’d like to thank Mehka for having me, @CashColorCannabis on social media. Make sure to check out the show on all your podcasting apps. Also at 9pm every Tuesday stream the show live on LiveHipHopDaily app.

CashColorCannabis: A Higher Level Of Conversation.

A huge thank you goes to Attorney Shequel Ross. Her contact information is listed below:

IG: @shelawoffice

Phone number: 855-5-SHE-LAW

Website

Is SHEquel Your Attorney? ™

-Rob Holloway

IG: Ak_Word