Welcome to Living in the Weeds, a series that explores the experiences of #neurodivergent people who consume #cannabis.

Today’s guest is Jamila Hogan, aka Jay Mills. She is a cannabis entrepreneur, content creator, educator, author, and community organizer.

Jay talks about:

• How her son’s diagnosis spurred her own neurodivergence journey
• Her cannabis journey and how weed helped her find balance as a teenager
• The subtle ways her ADHD symptoms presented in childhood
• Why she doesn’t want to use pharmaceuticals to manage her symptoms
• Microdosing mushrooms versus cannabis for managing ADHD symptoms
• How Type II chemotypes of flower changed her opinion of CBD
• Her favorite and least favorite terpenes
• Her desire for growing seasons for cannabis flower to be treated like wine seasons

Ready to start tracking your cannabis consumption? Grab one of Lucy’s Tracking Journals here and save 10% off at checkout with code CANNABISWRITER.

Why I Love This Episode

Talking with Jay was incredible. She is a multi-passionate, multi-talented woman and I loved getting to know her her journey with cannabis and neurodivergence.

Like Mother, Like Son

Jay revealed that her own neurodivergence journey started with her son when they began therapy. She realized she shared many of his ADHD traits which sent her on a journey of self-discovery to come to terms with her neurodivergent self.

Girls are historically under-diagnosed with ADHD because it doesn’t often present the same way as it does in boys. There’s not necessarily the same amount of noise and movement that is found in boys, and girls are typically better at masking in social situations.

It made me wonder just how many mothers have had a similar realization when their child gets diagnosed – that all the ways they were struggling and coping were not, in fact, character flaws, but symptoms of a brain wired differently.

Jay describes being forgetful since childhood, having trouble with emotional regulation, and following through on tasks. But despite her love for the plant (during a time when it was seen as a Drug) she was a successful student who excelled academically, allowing her symptoms to be overlooked.

Pharmaceuticals versus Plant Medicine for ADHD

Jay and Lucy touch on their experience with pharmaceuticals in this episode as well, and Jay expresses her concern about the rollercoaster ride that stimulants can cause. She said, “it felt like if I started taking them, they were setting me up to not be as good as I was without them before I started taking them.”

Lucy shared her experience, which ultimately led her to the same conclusion, and this was eye-opening for me. I have never taken stimulants for ADHD (or any other reason), but I can easily see how someone could become dependent on them, like any other drug, in order to function. This is not to disparage pharmaceutical options as a whole, but I am of the opinion that they are over-prescribed for neurodivergent people.

Microdosing for ADHD

We also talked about microdosing mushrooms in this episode. This is not something that I have a lot of experience with while Lucy has dabbled with micro-dosing but hasn’t tried it consistently. This was the first time mushrooms came up in my conversations about neurodivergence, but it certainly wasn’t the last! Jay shares how she microdoses before hosting her events and before public speaking in order to help her stay present and combat anxiety. But one of the challenges of microdosing is getting the dose right and Jay had an experience where she took .4 mg and nearly had a psychedelic experience.

Type II Blends & Terpenes

While talking about her preferred cannabinoid blend, Jay calls out type II chemotypes, which are my favorite type of flower. Chemotypes classify cannabis flower based on the dominant cannabinoids, type I being THC-dominant, type III being CBD dominant, and type II having a blend of both. She calls Primo Cherry, which is a strain popular in the Washington DC area.

Jay also dives into her favorite and least favorite terpenes – and you’ve never heard someone rattle off so many terpenes with such strong opinions! She is well-versed in which terpenes work for her in certain situations and the effects that each terpene brings out in her. The ability to know whether a cannabis strain will work for you based on the terpene profile takes time tracking and self-awareness.