The marijuana industry has grown into its own these last few years, and we’re—sniff sniff—so proud! It’s no surprise that one of the most pivotal factors in bringing pot from counterculture to mainstream has been the shattering of dated stoner stereotypes.
From a perceived state of bleary-eyed burnouts, cannabis has now burst into a high society of hardworking professionals, responsible parents and witty intellectuals. In fact, pot culture has single-handedly introduced millions of dollars into the economy with thousands of new jobs to boot—a far cry from the munchie-driven couch surfers of yesteryear.
Because we’re such big fans of this forward momentum—and, admittedly, getting pretty attached to the innovative new market!—we’ve put together a list of 10 activities you can enjoy alongside your herbal enthusiasm to continue defying stoner stereotypes for the better.
1. Get Fit
Light-years from lazy, today’s cannasseurs have adopted some incredible pot-infused workout regimens. Join the whole gang in an event like the 420 Games, a canna-yoga class, or San Francisco’s coming-soon marijuana gym!
You can even start small with an at-home YouTube workout and build your way up to satisfying day-long bike rides that’ll have you feeling every muscle you put to work by the time you sink back into bed. Don’t forget to reward yourself without setting back your healthy efforts by utilizing a clean, powerful vape.
2. Get Brainy
Feed your brain and blow away your straight-edge friends with an impressive compendium of knowledge. You can take a free online class, watch a Netflix documentary or get “IRL” with a trip to the museum.
Smartening up doesn’t just mean loading your memory with facts, though; expand your mind with a brain game app like Luminosity—even compare your stoned and sober scores! You might even pair your learning adventure with an Einstein-style pipe that will have you feeling brighter just by lighting up.
3. Get Accomplished
Directionless burnouts we are most definitely not.
Use the creative perspective of getting lifted to take a good hard look at your life. Really go for it: pull out your best-writing pencil and a notebook—the whole shebang. Pull a puff from your most sophisticated pen for some inspiration and, in your most honest state, lay out a plan for your career ahead.
Where coffee-mode will have you making over-ambitious plans, weed will make sure you schedule in time for the things that really matter. Test your Myers-Briggs personality type or listen to one of the many career-oriented podcasts by industry experts. Even use your fresh mindset to take a second look at your resume and see how you can make it a bit catchier! The point is: map out career goals, make it a list and start checking items off while blowing stereotypes to smithereens.
4. Get Focused
Yeah, yeah, you might get a little confused your first time or two—but we’re High Times enthusiasts here. That means we can still experience the world with intention and drive, even after a couple of clouds. Use this downtime to re-center.
Chris Bailey of The Productivity Project (among others), swears by the power of taking time to slow down so your work hours are more energized, focused and deliberate. In other words, healthy breaks make for more productive work hours. Bailey likes meditation to get right to it, but if you’re more action-oriented, you can take a beat to lay out your life’s balance on paper.
You can do this with an easy worksheet that will help you rank the aspects of your existence, including family, fun, health, community and more—the kind of assignment your shrink might give you if you didn’t prefer herbal therapy instead. We like a lot of percolators to get these kinds of ideas bubbling.
5. Get Going
Instead of a slouch on the couch, pack a bag with a day’s worth of essentials and make the day a story worth telling. Hop a Lyft to the other side of town or an Amtrak to the next city over and get down to exploring!
Try a new cuisine, check out the local art, stop and savor an excellent view. Enhance your experience with a portable vape that’s ready to go when you are. Solo or with your crew, these are the days you’ll tell your kids about.
6. Get Skilled
Take your skill set to the next level right along with you.
Next time you light up, follow along to an internet tutorial and learn something new. Whether you’re interested in making your own concentrates or learning how to speak publicly, there’s a free class for you! Just be careful not to get lost in an endless list of internet tutes—you’ll want to get right down to it.
7. Get Cooking
Forget fast food and Twinkie-eating stoner stereotypes. There’s no time like the present to take control of your munchie meals. Maybe you even decided to “get skilled” as we suggested above with a solid cooking tutorial!
Make a list, and take a trip to the grocery store for a recipe that will wow. Bring a vape pen! You might make an epic new snack, dinner for your lover or even infuse some of the good stuff right into a nice butter/oil base for future endeavors! Nothing breaks the mold like planning ahead—or rolling your own pot sushi.
8. Get Cleaning
Clean your pipes, clean your vapes, clean your apartment.
Let’s move past this disheveled image of Brad Pitt ripping bongs on a potato-chip-drenched couch. Plus, it just feels good to know you spent your high time getting shit done that Mom would approve of. Go all out with a Marie Kondo-inspired overhaul, or just get those dust bunnies out from under your bed. Either way, you’ll wake up tomorrow quite pleased with what you did yesterday.
9. Get Giving
Studies show charity breeds happiness and happiness breeds charity. So how much happiness and charity will come from adding weed into the mix? Being charitable can sound like a big commitment, but really it’s not.
Sign up for you local NORML or Women Grow chapter. Be a conscientious consumer by taking the time to research the brands you buy from. Get stoned and donate your fun money for this week to the ACLU. Walk a 5K for AIDS.
10. Get Literate
Trade the “mans,” “dudes” and “bros” for a more Beatnik-inspired relationship between herbs and articulation.
If you’re not ready to dive right into a dense (yet mindblowing!) explanation of all things, like Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything, take it easy with an audiobook and a stroll through the park. Whether you prefer paper, ebook or audiobook, you can get inspired and break the mold with a motivating memoir, self help guide or just finally hitting up the classic that’s been on your list since, uh, 7th grade.
So that’s the list.
While we love and appreciate the “Half Baked,” “Fast Times” of the old school pot-smoker that first started breaking barriers, we’re also exhilarated by the burgeoning new world of weed types, smoke and vapor devices, and badass new services we never would have thought would make it to market—all because “stoners” have stepped up.
What activities do you “partoke” in to break classic stereotypes?
