One of the greatest aspects of cannabis are the myriad of ways someone can consume it. There’s of course smoking and vaping, dabbing, topicals, edibles and drinkables.

On location filming for Vice Canada. Watch and catch Virginia’s interview on Vice’s new show: Fertile Ground
What exactly do you sell in the marijuana industry?
I sell cannabis-infused teas, coffees, apple cider and a few other fun drinks.
How did you get into this line of work?
I got into this business shortly after being stopped at a ride program and was charged with possession of cannabis.
At the time I was a caregiver, and I felt that cannabis helped me heal from many different ailments, as well as surgery after my triplets. So I thought that people needed more discretion when using the product. This is when I came up with the idea of cannabis tea.
When I was pregnant with my triplets I had tried to make different cannabis teas, but it never really tasted right. It wasn’t until we learned how to infuse our teas that we could then play with different flavours and include the cannabis into those teas.
Now we have a great product that’s water soluble and you can medicate with full discretion.
I understand that your grandmother has Alzheimer’s and she uses your teas for her health?
My grandmother came to live with us when the triplets were almost four years old. She was already in full on dementia and she was having difficulty with anxiety and hallucinations.
Doctors had her on various medications and it seemed to give her a lot of headaches and other physical discomfort. We took it upon ourselves to see how she would do with cannabis, and at first we tried candy. Even though she liked it, we thought that maybe we could give her something that was healthier, so we tried with the teas and she quite enjoyed them.
“Twenty minutes after having her coffee or tea, her demeanor was a lot calmer and she would start recalling things that she did in the past. She would talk about her memories and share with the family. She would also get kind of giggly, which was fun.”
Mentally, it just calmed her down and brought her back almost to what she used to be.
Your grandmother now lives in a nursing home. Are you confident that when legalization comes, places like this will allow necessities like cannabis coffee and tea?
I do hope that nursing homes will start using products such as cannabis teas and other edibles to treat a lot of their patients. They could definitely benefit from it.

Can the future of wellness be found in a cup of tea?
It does vary, right now we’re using a Blueberry. But we have switched over to nano-emulsions and the benefit of having that is that every dosage is consistent.
One of the most difficult things that we’ve had with cannabis is consistency, because it changes plant to plant. But because we are using nano and micro dosing, this is no longer an issue.
Our herbal teas do quite well, Chamomile and Peppermint. For our black teas, Orange Pekoe and Earl Grey. My favourite is the Green Tea with Ginseng because it’s a wellness-energy blend, so the energy is quite a nice boost for me.
Is it true you took cannabis tea while pregnant with your triplets?
At first I did not consume cannabis when I found out I was pregnant. At fourteen weeks I found out that I was having triplets because I was very ill. I was nauseous 24/7 and I would vomit [almost] 7 times a day.
So I started treating by smoking cannabis, but there was that guilt aspect, so I purchased a vaporizer. But it was very difficult to go out and carry a big vaporizing bag, at the time they didn’t have nice little portable [vaporizers]. So that’s when I started medicating with the tea.
The other thing too is acceptance. There is no acceptance out there for a pregnant woman smoking cannabis. A lot of people were very judgemental. I didn’t want to deal with other people’s judgements and just wanted to treat myself the best way my body could handle.
I went full term with the triplets and they had no hospital stay, good weight babies, no illnesses. They were breastfed while I used cannabis [as well]. They are all 10 years old and they are all A students.
I know you are not a doctor, but would you recommend cannabis as a treatment during pregnancy?
I can only speak from my own experience. My own experience was that, at the time, I was given diclectin and I was very ill using that or Gravol. Cannabis was a way that I could treat my nausea and continue on with a healthy pregnancy.
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Mary’s Wellness line of teas, coffees, hot chocolate and ciders are available at many local dispensaries and online at www.HerbalDispatch.com.
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I actually consumed cannabis while pregnant due to major sickness as well. I only vaped, then 3 weeks before my due date I stopped (which sucked), made some edibles, and took 1 during labour (home water birth). It was such an awesome experience -got ‘into the zone’ real quick. Daughter was born at a good weight, has always been super healthy, was an excellent baby and is a very intelligent 4 yr old. There is such a stigma around medicating during pregnancy, but in the research I did, I found the only caution was smoking it (vaporizing or edibles recommended).
Good luck with your business Mary! Not a tea drinker but will prob give your product a shot 😉