Looking for a Cannabis Safe Space? Join the Afro Cannada BudSistas!

In 2020 Natalie Cox founded Afro Cannada Budsistas with her business partner Khadisha Thornhill.  

Their mission? To provide a safe space for Black women to offer one another support while also normalizing cannabis through education, information, and exposure. 

Natalie, who is living with untreated anxiety, PTSD, and insomnia, also started Growing With Natalie; a company focused on organic cannabis and vegetable cultivation and teaching others to grow their own as well.

Khadisha, a chronic pain sufferer, runs the MsWeedWiki SPEAKS Podcast and a virtual chat on Zoom called the Budsistas Mental Health Check-in for Black women across North America to share cannabis online while discussing their wins and their losses trying to manage mental health in an overwhelmingly triggering outside environment.

Q&A with Natalie Cox

BGA: Why was it so important to create a safe space for Black women cannabis users?  

Natalie: Selfishly I wanted to fill my own need.  I wanted to be around other Black women who, like me, enjoy cannabis.

When I reconnected with Khadisha and realized I was not alone, it was a no-brainer.  “If you build it they will come.” became our mantra.

BGA: How has studying Horticulture at Durham College helped you grow better weed?  

Natalie: I’m so happy I decided to go to Durham College to study Horticulture.  Having a strong horticultural base makes for great weed because I have a better understanding of the relationship between soil and plants. 

Durham College has a very strong organic approach to growing and that fits seamlessly with my philosophy.  Our program incorporated cannabis into the curriculum which I thought was a pretty respectful way to acknowledge the many cannabis growers in the class. 

Because there were so many growers in my program we were able to collaborate and share information.  That collaboration made us all much better growers. And we’ve developed a strong network for the future.

BGA: If I want to start growing my own weed at home to smoke recreationally, what are the first steps?  

Natalie: Get a grow mentor.  I still don’t know everything, and I have my own grow mentor.  He’s someone I can ask a question in a pinch or just bounce ideas off. 

BGA: How can our readers join Growing With Natalie?   

Natalie: I’m on Instagram as Growing With Natalie and I’m working on getting growingwithnatalie.com up and running soon.

BGA: What are your favorite strains to smoke?

Natalie: I love strains that are heavy in Myrcene.  I grew Zkittlez and Jack Herer last summer and I loved those for a daytime strain. 

I’m into anything really funky and skunky.  The louder the better.  I bought a Tuna Breath from Tyendinaga years ago that I still dream about.

Q&A with Khadisha Thornhill

BGA: Why is cannabis so important to you?

Khadisha: Cannabis is a plant first and foremost.  It never should have been prohibited in the first place.

Growing cannabis is actually beneficial to the earth and I’ve found tremendous relief and balance from using it both therapeutically and recreationally.

BGA: What is your favorite cannabis accessory?

Khadisha: Currently it’s my dab rig.  I use cannabis a lot for pain management and using high THC concentrates with intention have allowed me to use less cannabis overall and save money.

Smoking cannabis, while traditionally my preferred method, results in my throat feeling sensitive at times.  Dabbing concentrates has allowed me to better protect my throat while actually savoring the terpenes and cannabis flavor that I seem to char away when I smoke it in a joint.

BGA: Where can we listen to the MsWeedWiki SPEAKS Podcast?

Khadisha: You can find the MsWeedWiki SPEAKS Podcast on ALL the major (and many minor) podcast networks including Spotify, Apple, Google, Amazon, iHeartRadio, Pandora and more!

BGA: What are some of the biggest barriers for Black people in the cannabis industry and how can we combat them?

Khadisha: In addition to the stigmas currently present in business infrastructures like banking and insurance, we still face stigma from a variety of healthcare workers who resist learning more about cannabis and our endocannabinoid system. 

Add to that the legacy impacts of almost 100 years of racial profiling, and targeted prosecution of Black and racialized persons by law enforcement, we have entire communities reluctant to believe that cannabis is actually legal, and not some scheme for the government to target us.

BGA: What are some of the most important things you learned in the Cannabis Industry Specialization program at Durham College?

Khadisha: The program gave me a valuable overview of the history of cannabis and the entire cannabis framework in Canada, beginning with the early ACMPR and medical marijuana programs.

The instructors represented a good cross-section of members of the current cannabis industry and were able to provide good insights as to where someone with my existing business skills can transition into this emerging and rapidly evolving industry.

I learned from this program that I don’t immediately need to develop an agricultural or scientific background to find my place in this industry.