Topic: Reefer madness

Cannabis experts are Ganjiers

Me in greenish black face

    WECI, We Sigh, is playing “Let’s Go Get Stoned” by Ray Charles. For the past hour the pre-SOB show has hit just about every refer referring tune you or maybe me could think of. I called and said, “You must have ‘Legalize It’ on the list.’ He did. We all smiled in our small boxes, in our small ways. Hurray. We’re celebrating 4/20 which was after my time, but you light it, I’ll smoke it. Or for those with a hankering to make a profession of it, there’s this:

    If you’re thinking about going in a new direction career-wise, you might think about training to become a sommelier and sip wines professionally. You could become a catador, which I understand means a cigar expert. Or you could go way out in left field and become a Ganjier, a Ganga expert.

Green Flower Tribe is offering a Certified Ganjier course at the Humboldt Wilderness Center in Humboldt County, California. The course takes less than two weeks, and they expect to sell out as they say they have for the past two years. The deadline to apply was Feb. 28th.  Hmm, I guess I shouda sent this out earlier.

    Green Flower calls itself ‘The cannabis industry’s most-trusted training provider.’

    Cannabis Now wrote “Green Flower Media, a Ventura, California-based company offers free videos—as well as a ‘premium’ option for a little under 50 bucks a month—that explore a wide variety of cannabis topics. Many of the videos are quite informative, providing useful tips for growers and consumers alike, but the company still has room to grow — much of Green Flower's content could be improved by an increase in production quality and a further emphasis on highlighting diverse voices in the cannabis community.” Meaning probably, theirs.

    With a name like Ganjier, I wondered how legitimate it might or might not be. A quick search brought up an article in Forbes Magazine, of all places. Under ‘Editor’s Pick’ (which probably means picked from the hard copy edition) we find ‘How to Become a Ganjier, the Sommelier of Cannabis’ by contributing, ergo freelance, writer A. J. Herrington.

    He begins, “The legalization of marijuana has led to a seismic shift in the cannabis marketplace for millions of consumers in states with legal pot.” He talks of the many new strains of cannabis flower and “a healthy selection of marijuana edibles, topicals, tinctures and more” which can overwhelm a consumer who is used to only one option on the street—take it or leave it.

    From this avalanche of possibilities enter the Ganjier, perhaps in a jester’s cap with little tingly bells at the end of each long pointy ear.

    “The liaison between customer and cannabis in dispensaries is commonly referred to as a budtender,” Herrington tells us. My first experience buying legally in Niles, Michigan was during the first Covid summer and customers made their orders with their cell phones from their cars. I called and a fellow came out who called himself a ‘budtender.’ Having been a professional bartender myself I quickly made the connection.

    Ganjier’s are not meant to replace budtenders. The point is to improve their game and make budtenders more valuable to the customer and the store owner.

    “The Ganjier is equal part cannabis aficionado and interpretive liaison--schooled in intricacies like taste, terpenes, and finish—serving as a conduit between cannabis and consumer, navigating its complexities and optimizing user experience,” according to Derek Gilman of Green Flower’s Ganjier program.

    Being featured in Forbes is nice but is not an endorsement.

    Who knows the actual value of holding a Ganjier certificate? Experience has taught me that having more certificates is better than having less. Also considering the expected growth of cannabis consumption lounges, a certified Ganjier, like a certified Sommelier, just might demand a higher wage.

    If I was young and dreaming of my future, being a Ganjier in some tropical resort wouldn’t be a bad gig for awhile.

    Regarding WECI’s SOB, 4/20 challenge, after all was said and done, I did come up with one tune the pre-SOB didn’t play: “Smoke Two Joints” which was a well-played song on the juke box at Bryan’s Bar on Hull Bay Road back when Basil Bryan owned it. Best fish in the world, but that’s another story.

    If there’s precocious, can there be postcocious? If so, postcociously I advise you partakers to enjoy the first song the SOB played when pre-was dropped and the serious blues became. It was, and I advise you to hear it, Shawn Pittman from his CD Hard Road, “Sativa in the morning, Indica at night.” Good advise which I have recently learned for my very own self. Puff, puff.