Plant Mama Jazzie Blayze On Growing Cannabis In A Red State To Medicinal Farming On The Island of Hawaii

While cannabis legalization seems to be sweeping across the country, there is, undoubtedly, a long fight for equality and access for POC. Plant mama and pro-pot activist Jazzie Blayze is not only growing her own medicine to supply her needs and the needs of those around her, she’s doing the work to legalize cannabis in a nonlegal red state where she currently live with her husband and pets (which are another form of kids!).

It’s easy to criminalize black and brown people who use cannabis, after all there are years of propaganda and misinformation about the plant and people who use it that have led to the mass incarceration of people of color. The statistics of people in jail on nonviolent drug offenses show this. Blayze is no stranger to the harsh realities this creates for families. She grew up in a high-traffic drug area, watching family members go in and out of jail, and decided not to carryon that family legacy.

But in her late twenties, as a successful IT Health professional, wife, and mother, she started to become knowledgeable about the health benefits. “No one in a suit and tie is smoking and still functional,” she thought. But she started using cannabis as a stress reliever and to combat alcohol abuse after a friend from Oakland taught her methods of consumption, how to use cannabis as a wellness tool, and helped reintroduce her to weed by exposing her other working professionals who used cannabis as well. Since it isn’t legal, finding quality and trustworthy sources is hard. After finding a seed in the weed she purchased, she decided to give growing a shot. What started as a interest in learning proper pain and stress management led to her life’s work as an advocate with long-term goals of growing medical cannabis in Hawaii where her and her family own land.

Green Goddess Glow: What inspired you to start growing cannabis?

I started growing cannabis out of sheer curiosity. I love to watch and see things blossom at the care of my own two hands. So, as an avid home gardener to begin with, I stumbled upon a few seeds out of my personal stash and decided to throw it in some soil and see what would happen. And 3 years later, here I am—still growing my cannabis and learning about the plant each day.

GGG: What does growing your own cannabis do for you? Do you consider it a form of self-care?

Being able to grow and know where my herb comes from is rewarding in itself. Not only am I providing medicine for myself mostly, I’m able to share in my bounty with other fellow enthusiasts or users that need it. I suffer from several ailments, so being able to grow an herb just like mint out the garden—although a longer and more painstaking process—I can provide free medicine for me and my family that gets us off the prescribed, manufactured zombie pills doctors try to give us that is supposed to make us feel better.

I wouldn’t say growing Cannabis is a form of self-care, but rather a form of self-discovery. You learn a lot about yourself and your characteristics: flaws or positive traits as you grow. Cannabis is a high-maintenance plant. You have to have the patience and aptitude to adjust if you want a positive result and outcome. I’ve had to become more disciplined, patient and compassionate with growing. She requires a lot of time and effort to be at her full potential. Learning more about myself as an individual and grower has been one of the biggest takeaways aside from the actual fruits of labor. 100% input should yield 100% output.

GGG: The biggest challenge with growing cannabis has been…

Being able to get in a consistent routine, have all my supplies ready to go and being discrete. Being in a non-legal weed state forces you to be cautious about when you start a grow and how you finish it. Sometimes I like to start my seeds outdoors and as they grow, it becomes harder to conceal from nosey neighbors or nasty critters. Then when bringing them indoors for flower, the smell is quite overwhelming! Even with finally buying grow tents with the ventilation holes, I still don’t have all my supplies on hand. Having to keep things organized and in stock has also been a challenge since I am working in several different places around my home and even in other locations. I’m still trying to get my grow basement in tact—setting up second tent! But I love this process of trial and error.

GGG: The most rewarding thing about growing cannabis has been…

Of course being able to see the plant blossom and produce its fruits. I’ve never seen anything as miraculous as watching a tiny seed bloom in to a large, tall, leafy, buddy specimen with all the beautiful different colors. Outside of admiring the physical aspect of the plant before you cut it, of course the smoke! It’s very rewarding to be able to taste what you’ve grown, critique it and share it with others. I love how cannabis brings people together and to say “Hey, I grew that and I want to share my love and labor with you” it fills my heart with joy. The looks I receive from people is hilarious—that of awe and sheer bewilderment. It tickles me pink, but I never feel more proud!

GGG: Tell us about yourself and how cannabis fits into your lifestyle.

I’m a 34-year old Journalist, writer, editor and content creator. I currently write for the first ever minority-led digital focused Cannabis strategy and management consulting firm, MJM Strategy, and serve as the Cannabis beat reporter for a major digital healthcare technology publication, HIT Consultant.

Cannabis was initially a way for me to escape the stress and frazzled state I used to find myself in and the end of a long week filled with client demands and overlapping deadlines. As I continued to consume the plant and started writing about it, I was able to learn about different ways the plant could touch my life on a daily basis: from different strains that help with creativity and focus to write, to pain relief for my physical pain and ailments of cervical spondolysis and IBS. I network and meet new people who I may never ordinarily crossed paths with: white, Indian, moms, business owners, lawyers, celebrities, etc. Cannabis brings people together!

The plant has ultimately affected my life in more positive ways than I could have ever imagined. I’ve introduced family members to CBD for their pain since educating them on all the ways the plant can be used and know people who use Hemp as another spinoff from the plant. One of my good friends nursed her baby on Hemp milk after breastfeeding! This plant is life changing and so versatile; And I never see cannabis leaving my lifestyle, but ultimately evolving with it.