So it’s that time of year again and we’d decided to take our family holiday in Tenerife. Spain is a place I’ve been a few times. As I have been ill for a long time with Arthritis, Cyclical Vomiting Syndrome (CVS) and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD); I have always had to take my own medicine in the form of cannabis with me. I have found cannabis to be more beneficial in terms of treating my illnesses rather than the many pharmaceutical pills I have been prescribed.
This time it’s come to my attention that Spain has opened a few cannabis social clubs around the country and luckily there’s one that is only 1.5 kilometres from the hotel that we have booked to stay in. Upon seeing that the clubs were open for business my first thought was ‘how do I become a member and will they let tourists join?’ I sent them an email to explain my health issues and that I regularly use cannabis to alleviate their symptoms. I had decided that I couldn’t cope with another stressful journey carrying my own medicine. I have been very lucky for the last ten years or so but there is always the chance that something could go wrong and I did not want to ruin the family holiday. Understandably I really hoped that the cannabis club would get back in touch!
After waiting a few days I got a reply stating that I was more than welcome to join the club. This was great news as it meant that I had safe access to my medication and wouldn’t have the worry of taking my own or relying on the black market in Spain. At this point I felt relaxed and able to enjoy my holiday. The funny thing was that in the last two weeks leading up to the holiday I got really nervous – just as nervous as I would have been if I was taking my own meds! All that was running through my mind was ‘will they still let me be a member?’ I started to wonder if I should just take the risk of carrying my own. In the end I settled my nerves and decided to wait until I got there and try to join the club. If that had failed I could have tried to get a friend to post some out to me. It is very important that I have my medicinal cannabis with me as if I relied solely on the medication prescribed to me by the doctor the side effects would have made me like a zombie, impacting negatively on my holiday experience as I would have been too drugged to enjoy it.
So the time came to set off on holiday. I felt lucky in that a friend of mine was already over in Tenerife. He had already joined the cannabis social club there after I put him in touch with them. My plan was to land, drop the family and suitcases off and then jump in a taxi to the club to meet my friend and hopefully become a member. I had it all planned with military precision!
All went well with getting to Tenerife so I met up with my friend and headed to the club. The first thing I noticed upon arriving were the big cannabis leaf signs on the outdoor patio windows that were lit up by the lights of the Irish bar underneath. I’m glad I arranged to meet my friend as finding the entrance would have been a nightmare! The club itself is in a complex on the third floor up some iron stairs. Once you are inside – after having been buzzed in- you are greeted by a nice smell of weed and shown where to join. The young lady who helped me asked to see my passport and handed me a form to fill in. However the form was in Spanish but with some help from the lady and my friend I managed to complete it. I paid my fifty Euro joining fee and was passed my credit card sized membership card. Although this was better than any credit card. It meant that I was now able to get safe access to my medication.
Now all I had to do was choose which strain of cannabis to consume. I couldn’t believe how cheap it was, no strain cost more than six Euros a gram. So I decided to buy a couple of grams of Sweet Thooth and a couple of grams of Happy Kush. Having been told that all of the strains were grown outdoors organically I was not expecting the taste to be up to much. I know how difficult it is to grow cannabis outdoors and get it to taste nice in the UK, however, Tenerife has its own micro-climate that is almost perfect for cannabis cultivation.
I lit the Sweet Thoot and the first thing to hit me was the taste of sweet grapefruit on my tongue. Wow! This really tasted like good home grown shit. After this I quickly made a joint of the Happy Kush and went and bought a couple of grams of Double White and Big Bang 2 to see what I’d prefer to purchase the next day. As I knew that I had left my family for a while my friend and I made our way back to the hotel. As I left the club I had a big smile on my face – I couldn’t believe how chilled out it was. It wasn’t like the hectic atmosphere in Amsterdam it was very laid back and civil.
Once I got back to the apartment I inspected the buds I’d bought more closely and was very impressed by how good it looked for an outdoor grow. I was especially happy with how clean it was to smoke. Out of the strains I purchased there was only the Big Bang 2 that didn’t tickle my tastebuds. So I spent the first four days smoking a mixture of Happy Kush, Double White and Sweet Thoot. I have to say that the Sweet Thoot was a definite favourite because of its nice grapefruit taste.
Over the next couple of afternoons when I had the time I would meet up with my friend and go to the cannabis club for a smoke. What surprised me more than anything was the amount of people there. I had expected the club to be full but it was actually very chilled out and quiet. In other words it was perfect! However I only visited the club during the day when I felt that I had done all my family duties. It wasn’t too far to walk along the beach to get to the club from the apartment once I was confident with the route. This became my daily walk and exercise and I was loving the vibe.
On around the fourth day I visited the club to get my usual Sweet Thoot and Happy Kush when I saw that the menu had changed and two more strains had been added – as the Big Bang 2 and Double White had sold out. These had been replaced by Meduzze and Critical Bilbo so I decided to try those. As soon as I saw the Meduzze I thought that it looked really nice – however when I opened the bag I knew that it would be nice! The Critical Bilbo looked awesome as well so I decided to fire up a Critical Bilbo first. This was stronger than the previous buds on the menu. It really put me in a couch lock as the sun baked my body. As soon as I came out of the trance I built a joint of the Meduzze – Bingo! This was the one for me. I could taste the buzz and this became my new Tenerife bud of choice. After this I ended up mainly consuming the Meduzze with the odd gram of Critical Bilbo thrown in. Both of these strains were an 80% Indica 20% Sativa blend so sleep wasn’t a problem and my aches and pains weren’t an issue either.
I had an amazing trip although to make my next holiday even better I feel that I should learn the language or be more confident using the Spanglish that I already know. In fact I feel that I should just be more confident when meeting new people.
By Jay Blunt – Sheffield Cannabis Club
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