Thoughts From a Pure Blossom Staff Member on…

Behind our Buds

At Pure Blossom, cannabis is what we live and breathe. We’re here to keep it real with our community and share our love for the plant. Dive into what makes us the go-to spot in NJ, from empowering our customers to what’s next for the Garden State.

Personal Healing Through Cannabis

I was on ADHD meds when I started using cannabis to deal with the upset stomach and appetite issues from the meds. After a while, I didn’t like how the ADHD meds made me feel, but I continued using cannabis. Eventually, I found strains that helped multiple diagnoses at once. When I started seeing a doctor for IBS, I was given a medical cannabis recommendation instead of five pharmaceuticals.

At this point, I got more scientific; this was when terpenes in cannabis were starting to be talked about, so I centered my research on them. I used databases and peer-reviewed resources to research terpenes and stomach issues. I found various herbal treatments, explored their active compounds, and cross-referenced terpene profiles with scents and, if available, terpene tests of different strains. This process showed me how individualized cannabis medicine can be, how hard it is to find trustworthy information and how challenging it is to find the right treatment for your conditions. The ability to do this research can be a unique position—peer-reviewed journals are often behind paywalls, understanding high-level scientific research is a learned skill, and finding the right information is not easy.

Breaking into the Cannabis Industry

Learn as much about the plant as you can. There’s so much to learn about so many different aspects of cannabis. I truly think finding what makes you tick is what will get you the furthest in this industry. I am most focused on the science and medical side of cannabis, and it has presented me with unique opportunities to connect with patients as well as chances to connect with the scientists who are doing the work that I care about. The coolest part was they listened to my thoughts and theories and said they had never thought about those things and would be working on committing some scientific resources to those questions. As the most involved people in our burgeoning industry, we have much power to effect great, positive change while it is rapidly growing.

The Pure Blossom Experience

Pure Blossom is a little different from the moment you step in the door. Guests often remark at the unique vibe when they step in for the first time. I appreciate the warm and welcoming aesthetic when you enter, and our fantastic budtenders truly help to round out that initial experience.

Once inside, you’ll find budtenders who care a lot and are definitely far more knowledgeable than when I was shopping in dispensaries as a patient.

They do a great job of guiding people towards truly helpful products and are happy to pull me out for a conversation when they think my knowledge could be helpful or when someone would like to sit and speak a little more privately and deeply about what they’ve got going on.

Though we are not a medical dispensary, medical patients are what this entire industry was built on, so I am always proud to help patients learn more and find the best outcomes for them. I have sat and spoken, for over an hour at times, with a number of patients. It brings me such joy when they return with positive experiences and a sense of relief.

The Best Flower in NJ

As a registered NJMMP patient since 2018, Brighterside Farms, the first Living Soil growers on the legal market in NJ, immediately stood out to me as exceptional. Living Soil pushes organics to its limits, creating a complex microbiome where the plant controls its own feeding by signaling microbes to deliver the nutrients it needs. This unique growing method results in a beautiful, healthy, and aromatic final product many have come to appreciate.

It’s also crucial to remember:

We are so focused on THC, but there are so many compounds the plant is creating. I hope next time someone sees a low THC testing plant that, they give it a shot anyway because there are some truly special things to be found that you’ll never have the opportunity to try if you only smoke 27% THC or higher.

Onyx has also made a significant impact by bringing high-quality concentrates to the market. Their commitment to sourcing from independent cultivators and their upcoming Living Soil cultivation facility for Single Source Living Soil Hash Rosin is something we’re particularly excited about at Pure Blossom.

Empowering Consumers After the Sale

I love that we made a space to feature Elucidation Strategies and their Green Shoulder Program, which educates on cannabis history, community resilience, and ongoing science. The program offers a trusted cannabis user, or Sidekick, to visit adults’ homes, teach them about the plant, and guide them through consumption. I think it’s a wonderful thing to offer to consumers who may be new or nervous or may be diving into a new consumption method that they’ve never experienced before with access to new products in dispensaries. Having someone by their side to walk them through it can provide a more positive experience and make them more comfortable and confident when indulging on their own.

There are so many nuances to cannabis consumption, and our hands are pretty tied at the dispensary without being able to open packages, show off, or consume with customers in-store, so having a third-party service we can suggest that we can trust to share good information is wonderful to have.

Cannabis Research

There’s still so much to learn about cannabis. Recent discoveries by scientists like the Abstrax team show that terpenes aren’t the sole source of strain aromas as once thought. They’ve identified new aroma and flavor compounds in the plant that define popular strains like Chem and Trop Cookies. Similarly, Jeremy Klettke from Davis Farms in Oregon, working with Israeli labs, has uncovered up to 150 unique compounds in cannabis, far beyond the 17 typically tested in NJ. His work with older strains and landraces, which aren’t bred solely for THC, reveals a wider range of cannabinoids, offering more unique flavors, aromas, and effects than many newer crosses.

Better Cannabis Practices

I’d like to see a reduction in remediation practices in NJ. This is demotivating to the cultivators, who now have no reason to produce better because producing worse and remediating is easier than fixing problems. There also need to be better practices surrounding concentrates and RSO.

Currently, in NJ, there is one definition for all concentrates.

But we have at least a few unique product categories under concentrates that can be vastly different from each other. RSO is a very specific product, but in NJ, you can currently find a wide range of things labeled as RSO that do not fit the actual product description.

NJ Market & Beyond

The future of Cannabis in NJ is bright as long as regulators and legislators allow the industry to mature like so many other state markets.

I’m excited about Skunkfoot Farms, known for its quality organic products, and Bass River Buds, a local NJ brand launching with Living Soil-grown flowers. I’m also looking forward to drinkable edibles, a new product class that offers direct absorption into the bloodstream, providing effects for those who typically don’t experience them from traditional edibles.

There’s also significant room for improvement in the current NJ cannabis market, as poor flower quality and inadequate distillate don’t meet the quality standards that patients and consumers deserve.

Distillate is not viable for medical treatment. It can exacerbate many symptoms and cause negative feedback loops.

However, I’m optimistic about the future. I look forward to new brands prioritizing quality and care, elevating the industry. At our dispensary, we are committed to finding and supporting operators dedicated to producing true, high-quality medicine for our customers.