A Bridge to Social Health and Wellness
Shakirah Bey grew up surrounded by cannabis and plant medicine — an approach that normalized her own need for medical cannabis as she grew older.
“My mom, aunts, and uncles [all consumed cannabis], which helped lift the stigma when I became a patient myself,” said Bey, 37, Assistant Inventory Manager, Ethos Cannabis – PA. “Cannabis was never hidden from me. It was just a fact that cannabis was a medicine adults used. I knew what cannabis looked like and smelled like, and I knew that it worked for many of the adults in my life.”
Bey consumed cannabis to help with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and with chronic pain that stemmed from years of bodybuilding and personal training. Unbeknownst to her during this time, though, was a third condition being addressed with cannabis.
“Looking back, it became evident that I had Tourette Syndrome my entire life,” Bey said, adding that she was not diagnosed until her twenties. “It’s difficult to get a diagnosis for certain conditions in my demographic and my generation. I’ve only met one other person with Tourette Syndrome in my life, and I’ve never met another African American woman with this disorder.”
Bey said that while Tourette Syndrome is often associated with verbal outbursts, she experiences painful and uncontrollable physical movements as a result of the neurological condition.
“These tics can leave lasting damage to my body — they cause painful knots in my muscles and can even cause scarring and bruising,” Bey said. “Even if I don’t have an attack, I’m healing for days or weeks after from how much the tics beat me up.”
While medication, cannabis or otherwise, does not completely eliminate the tics, Bey said “a daily diet of cannabis has made daily life easier.”
“Stress is a common trigger for tics, so keeping my stress under control is key to minimizing what I call ‘tic fits,’” Bey said. “That’s where cannabis comes into play. My routine is THC dominant, but I keep some CBD in there as well.”
Tourette Syndrome was added to Pennsylvania’s list of eligible conditions for medical cannabis in 2019. A 2017 study published in The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, shows promise that phytocannabinoids can help reduce tics. National advocacy groups have called for further research into the connection between Tourette Syndrome and cannabis.
Despite her lifelong exposure to medical cannabis, it was post-workout hemp CBD gummies that helped Bey learn just how much more there was to cannabis beyond THC.
“At first, I didn’t understand the difference between the strains — I just knew that sometimes I felt one way, and sometimes I felt another way,” Bey said. “Once I realized that CBD and THC bind to your endocannabinoid system differently, that helped me understand that there were so many components in cannabis that could help.”
Even with all this deep personal connection, working in cannabis was never top of mind for Bey. That all changed with a silly Facebook post that encouraged her to explore the possibility of changing careers.
“People were posting selfies and asking others what it looked like they did for a living,” Bey said. “Someone commented that it looked like I worked in a dispensary. And I thought, ‘Oh my God, why am I not working in a dispensary?’ I already had a connection to the plant but never thought of it as a career choice.”
Bey started with online classes to learn more about cultivars, major and minor phytocannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids. She followed that coursework with a trip to Colorado to learn how one of the most mature cannabis markets worked.
“I went to see the difference between medical and adult use and to see for myself how a grow operation worked,” Bey said. “I went to seminars and showed up to classes. I went anywhere I could to get more information.”
With a well-rounded cannabis education under her belt, Bey returned to Pennsylvania to switch careers into the cannabis industry. She took her first position as a budtender after a stint selling cosmetics to get more experience in direct sales.
“I figured that if I really wanted to understand how the cannabis industry worked, I would need to begin with the front-facing positions, because that gives you access to patients, management, and software,” Bey said. “I wanted to apply everything I learned in Colorado to the medical market in Pennsylvania.”
Now, for Bey, cannabis is not just a continuing theme in her life, but a unifying thread that runs through all things personal, professional, and medical.
“I’m very spiritually attached to the plant, and it’s become such a normal daily part of my life that I look at it the same way I look at my kale and my water and my vitamins,” Bey said. “Cannabis has created a bridge for me between not just physical and emotional health, but spiritual and social health.”
